Needless to say, you should pay special attention to the first mail you write your penpal. Here are some tips for writing interesting mails.

First of all, make your name, age and gender clear. It's not a special thing, but I often receive mails without them.

Write where you found your new pal's name. Some people join in many penpal sites. And if you tell your penpal where you get his/her info, it somehow makes a good impression on you.

Tell your hobbies and interests to your penpal. If you have similar interests to his/hers, it promotes friendship. Even if you don't, your penpal will get to know more about you.

If you write your interests are things like music or movies or books, tell them what kind of books you like, who is your favorite acror etc.

According to my experience, the best word written at the end of your mail seems 'Your new friend'. 'Yours' or 'Sincerely' is OK too.

Women sometimes write 'Love' to their female penpals, even in their first mails. But if you're a male and write to a female penpal for friendship, never use 'Love'. It is scary.

You shouldn't write something that forces your new pal to write you, such as 'Whatever happens, do write back'. It makes your new pal feel bound.

Your penpal will be sure to answer if you send a nice mail.
The rate of the answers to your snail mail is higher than those to your e-mails. About 80~90% of my new penpals write me back,but as for e-mails, only 60~70% answer my mails, though I write almost the same things. So if you want to have as many e-mail pals as possible, write to more people than you actually expect as your penpals.

Don't send a lot of e-mails at a time by writing many addresses in one mail, especially by CC. It gives your new penpal a bad impression. Each person who got your mail will think that you don't especially hope for him/her to become your penpal.

Be honest with your penpal. It is the basis of correspondence.

Here are two examples of nice first mails. I actually write like this to my new pals and four fifths of them write me back.

Hello.My name is Yoko and I'm a Japanese girl. I found your entry at the penpal site `MyPal' and was interested in it. I hope we can be friends.

I am 15 years old and in the 9th grade. I live in Tokyo. I like popular music, romantic movies, cooking and many kinds of sports. I belong to a basketball club at school. My favorite subject at school is biology.
I hope you will write me back.

Your new friend,
Yoko

My name is Akira. I'm a 20 year old Japanese male. I found your name in `penpal Garden"and decided to write to you because I'm interested in the U.S. and I am looking for an American penpal.

Let me tell you more about myself. I go to Sophia University and major in English. After I graduate, I will be a teacher. My hobbies are travelling, reading detective stories, skiing, drawing and lots more.

My favorite singers are Celine Dion, Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston. How about you? Who is your favorite singer?

I hope to hear from you soon.

Yours,
Akira

Next, I'm showing some bad mails that are sent to me sometimes.

Hi! I am a Japanese girl. I am intereted in talking with people from all over the world. Write me back as soon as possible. Bye.

My name is Akira. I'm 19 years old. I like music, movies, plays, books and going out. What are you interested in? What do you think of Japan? What do you want to be in the future? Do you like Leonardo DiCaprio?
Don't you think you want to talk with a Japanese boy?

Don't forget to write to me.
Love,

The first bad example is too short. You will understand why the second one is wrong by reading the tips above for writing first mails.

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