The Difference of Writing a Letter for a Friend and for an Editor of a Newspaper

The differences of writing letters to different audiences are being affected by formality, grammar, choosing the content to be included on the letter and the approach of writing. Writing a letter to a friend is informal compared to writing an article to an editor. Informal in the sense that you can include in your letter whatever topic that comes out from your mind as long as it touches your interest. Experiences, meeting new people and involvement on activities in school are some of the ideas that you share to your friend without thinking the grammar, punctuation marks and periods. You can even add some jargons that makes your letter more interesting and sometimes makes your story funny.


On the other hand, writing a letter to an editor is formal in the sense that you must organize your ideas so that you can address your topic in the most convenient way that is straightforward and not confusing. In this type of writing, you need to consider your grammar, the approach of writing (opinionated, clamored on problems that occur or informative about a topic that is new to the reader) and the content of your essay (a very important aspect that covers the body of your article).


For me, writing in Filipino is easier compared to writing an essay in English because I can easily express my thoughts and ideas about a certain topic. Whereas in English, I need to think first what is the equivalent translation of my ideas so that the understanding of the main thought of my article will not be sacrificed. For example, telling a friend of how difficult it is to access food in where I am right now and what are the reasons behind is easier to draft in Filipino. In English, I still need to state the whole thought in a way that the reader will not misunderstood my main point.


Errors such as the spelling and grammar are being watched out of course if your writing an article and this is my weakest area in writing essays in English. I am very weak in using tenses and I always use words spelled differently but sounds the same like compliment versus complement, meet versus met and the use of has, have and had. But of course in writing an essay, I also formulate my ideas in English first but in times that I do not know how to express it in English, I then try to draft it in Filipino. Probably this is a good thing because you can easily asked help if you establish clearly what you really wanted to say and understand what you really wanted to share.


I think with constant practice and exposure to the community speaking pure English will later on improve my skills in writing, speaking and listening in English language.

Who is Rotsen Kho Yute?

Knowing one person is sometimes a very difficult task to do. We often encounter misinterpretation, wrong impression and judgmental on one's true identity. But as the saying of Danny Martin states "Knowing yourself is not so much about introspection and interaction. To know yourself is to realize that you are more than the little self that has been given to you by your history - the pattern that others made - that your true self is, in truth, much larger and includes other people, other cultures, other species even that life is less about being and more about interbeing. We come to know ourselves, then, through coming to know each other. And the deeper that knowledge, the richer and more creative the world we build together." And I believe, this is the reason of this activity.

My name is Rotsen Kho Yute. I am a Filipino, born February 1, 1991 and is currently one of the representatives of the Philippines in the Global Undergraduate Exchange Program, funded by the U.S. Department of State, administered by the Fulbright Commission in the Philippines and World Learning in Washington D.C. I am a fourth year civil engineering student in Central Philippine University, my home institution in the Philippines.

Even though I am majoring in engineering, I still have passion on other fields like music, law and government. If I will be successful in earning my degree as a civil engineer, I will continue my studies in a law school. I do sing but I am not a professional singer. I am the previous conductor of the College of Engineering choral group in Central Philippine University and luckily last year I became the best conductor in my home school.

I love to join on several organizations as long as they are related to my field of studies to avoid spending my time on irrelevant activities like partying and clubbing. I like reading books about vampires excluding the books of Stephanie Meyer, witchcrafts, warlocks, magics and conspiracies. In the Philippines, I have the complete series of Harry Potter in hardbound cover, books of Anne Rice that are only projecting stories about vampires, some witchcraft handbooks and the books of Dan Brown. Aside from that, I also spend a lot of time in exploring the potentials of computer hardwares. Though my knowledge about computer hardwares is limited, I am still proud that I know something about it.

I like to play volleyball, chess and badminton. I am looking forward to learn basketball but I can't because when I was on my freshmen years in college, I had a head injury when I accidentally hit my head on a steel bar in a jeepney. I am asthmatic and was diagnosed with a pre-existing minor heart condition in which explained as running in the history of the family.

I hate self-centered and materialistic individuals. I also don't want to murder the correct pronunciation of my last name. Before, I had a very short temper but right after I was chosen as an exchange student, I'm working very hard to improve and widen my patience on different things that I encounter to avoid conflicts with other people. My greatest fear in life is being betrayed by a friend that's why I don't easily give my trust to them.

And lastly, I am looking forward to become not only a successful engineer but also a successful businessman in my country. Engineering is a very vast field that's why I believe that it is not only business majors but also engineers can be a good manager of a company.