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MEMO  TO:                 Department ManagersFROM:           Mackintosh SmithDATE:             April 3, 2012SUBJECT:           In-Service Computer ClassFrom April 28, Computer Class will be held on Saturdays for two months. There will be 2 groups: intermediate level and advanced level.Please encourage your staff to attend one of the sessions. All teaching materials will be provided.Please send me the names of all interested staff by next Friday. These staff will take a test the week before May.Please send Mackintosh Smith the names of the staff interested in by next Friday. They will take a test in the last week of April.In the above memo, I have some questions about two words and a sentence:1. Department Managers Does "Division Managers" have the same meaning as "Department Managers"? Ifso, which one is more natural?2. Please encourage your staff to attend one of the sessions.Are the words “groups” and “levels” more proper than “sessions”? Because “groups” and “levels” are mensioned above. Do you think so?3. Please send me the names of all interested staff by next Friday. These staff will take a test the week before May.I thought the word "me" would make readers feel puzzled because they had to look through back to find out who is "me", so I preferred changing it to the person's name. In the previous sentence, "staff" has been mentioned, so I changed it to "they" to be coherent. And finally, "the week before May" also will take readers some time to know when they will take a test, so I changed it to "the last week in April". I made the following change:Please send Mackintosh Smith the names of the staff interested in by next Friday. They will take a test in the last week of April.What is your opinion? And besides these, are there any other problems in the memo? Thank you!

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

TO: Department Managers
FROM: Mackintosh Smith
DATE: April 3, 2012
SUBJECT: In-Service Computer Class
Starting April 28, Computer Classes will be held on every Saturday for two months. There will be 2 groups: intermediate level and advanced level.
Please encourage your staff to attend one of the sessions. All teaching class materials will be provided.
Please send me the names of all interested staff by next Friday. These staff They will take a test the week before May 1 (the last week of April) Note - this seems quite strange because the classes will be from April 3 for 2 months. That means that the last session is June 3. Why is the test only part way through?)
Please send Mackintosh Smith me the names of the staff interested in taking the class by next Friday. They will take a test in the last week of April. (Repeat? Why?)

In the above memo, I have some questions about two words and a sentence:

1. Department Managers Does "Division Managers" have the same meaning as "Department Managers"? No.

If so, which one is more natural? Both are natural.

2. Please encourage your staff to attend one of the sessions. A session is usually one class meeting.

Are the words “groups” and “levels” more proper than “sessions”? They mean different things. A level has different degrees of difficulty. A group is just a number of people together. A "short course" is a set of classes that cover a particular subject. It is not clear in your memo if each person will attend all the sessions for 2 months, or if they should attend only one Saturday (or two Saturdays, one for each level) during the two months.

Because “groups” and “levels” are mentioned above. Do you think so?

3. Please send me the names of all interested staff by next Friday. These staff members will take a test the week before May (the last week of April). I thought the word "me" would make readers feel puzzled because they had to look through back to find out who is "me", so I preferred changing it to the person's name. Don't do this. It is strange to have your name like this in a memo if the memo is from you - your name is at the top on the same page. In the previous sentence, "staff" has been mentioned, so I changed it to "they" to be coherent. And finally, "the week before May" also will take readers some time to know when they will take a test, so I changed it to "the last week in April". I made the following change: Please send Mackintosh Smith the names of the staff interested in by next Friday. They will take a test in the last week of April.What is your opinion? And besides these, are there any other problems in the memo? See my notes in blue typeface.

Ziawj2 · Answer

Thank you very much for your careful check!

I have some questions:

1. Starting April 28, Computer Classes will be held on every Saturday for two months.

In the original sentence, it is "From April 28", and you changed it to "Starting April 28". In my mind, we usually write "sb. start to do sth." "sb. start sth." . In them, "sb." is the subject and "start" is used as a vt.. But in "starting April 28", obviously "start" is a vt., and I do not know who "sb." refers to. I do not konw whether I expressed it clearly or not.

The meaning of the latter part is corrected very clearly.

2. All teaching / class materials will be provided.

I think both "teaching materials" and "class materials" refer to roughly the same thing which are used in the course while having a class, such as textbooks, handouts, etc. What are the differences in your opinion?

3. You said "It is not clear in your memo if each person will attend all the sessions for 2 months, or if they should attend only one Saturday (or two Saturdays, one for each level) during the two months. "

I think the writer means "groups". So could I make the following change to make it clear?

Please encourage your staff to attend one of the groups.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

ziawj21. Starting April 28, Computer Classes will be held on every Saturday for two months.

When you give a range of time, you can say:

a) the first and last dates of the period:

Computer Classes will be held on every Saturday from April 28 until June 28.

b) the starting date and the length of time

Starting April 28, Computer Classes will be held on every Saturday for two months.

Starting is a participle (not a finite verb), describing "classes". (The classes are starting on April 28.)

April 28 is the starting date for the classes.

ziawj22. All teaching / class materials will be provided.

Teaching materials are what the teacher uses.

Class materials are what the students use.

ziawj23. You said "It is not clear in your memo if each person will attend all the sessions for 2 months, or if they should attend only one Saturday (or two Saturdays, one for each level) during the two months. "

A course consists of a set of individual classses (class sessions).

Here is the clearest description:

There will be two courses of computer classes, beginning and advanced, held every Saturday from April 28 to June 28.

Please ask your staff to sign up for one of the courses.

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