Replying to an international partner: precision and register
At a bilingual school in Medellín, the student council must reply to an email from a partner school in Canada. The Canadian coordinator writes: “We would love to have your students join the virtual science fair on May 12. Could you confirm by Friday how many teams will present, and whether you need help with the platform?” The Colombian coordinator drafts: “Hey, thanks. We have like 8 teams maybe. Send us the link and we’ll see.” A teacher says the reply is too informal and vague, and that the partner needs a firm number to assign breakout rooms. The school has 26 interested students, but teams must have 3 or 4 members; two teams already have 4 members, and the rest have 3. One platform session supports at most 6 teams. The coordinator must answer by Friday and also ask about time zones, since the fair starts at 9 a.m. Toronto time.
1. Rewrite the coordinator’s draft into a suitable reply. Include the exact number of teams, a solution for the platform limit, and a question about the schedule.
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Subject: Confirmation – Virtual Science Fair, May 12
Dear Ms. Tremblay,
Thank you for the invitation. We would like to join the virtual science fair on May 12. We can confirm eight teams: two teams of four students and six teams of three (26 students in total).
I noticed that one platform session supports up to six teams. Could you arrange two sessions, or open a second room for the remaining two teams? Please let us know which option works best.
Could you also confirm the schedule? The fair starts at 9 a.m. Toronto time, which is 8 a.m. in Bogotá. Our students can be online from 8 a.m. local time.
Best regards, [Coordinator]
Why this works: it replaces «Hey» and «maybe» with a formal greeting, a firm number, and a specific logistical question. It also answers the partner’s two requests (number of teams and platform help) instead of leaving them to guess.
2. The draft says “8 teams maybe.” Why is that a problem for the partner, and what should the coordinator verify before confirming eight?
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“8 teams maybe” is a problem because the partner must assign breakout rooms, judges, and time slots before Friday. A vague number forces them to plan for an unknown range and may leave two teams without a room.
Before confirming eight, the coordinator should verify: (1) the 26 students have parental permission and will attend; (2) every team has 3–4 members-two teams of four plus six teams of three equals 26; (3) no team exceeds the platform limit; (4) whether the school can run two sessions, since eight teams exceed the six-team cap. If attendance drops, teams should be merged, and the partner should be told the final number, not «maybe».
3. Explain the time-zone conversion and identify one assumption that could make it wrong.
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Toronto observes Eastern Daylight Time in May: UTC−4. Bogotá uses UTC−5 all year, so Toronto is one hour ahead. Therefore 9 a.m. in Toronto is 8 a.m. in Bogotá.
The conversion assumes the fair date is after daylight saving begins (second Sunday in March) and that “9 a.m. Toronto time” means Eastern Time, not a generic “EST.” If the organizer schedules in UTC or the date falls outside DST, the one-hour difference would be wrong. The coordinator should write the time in both zones in the reply to avoid ambiguity.