Keeping in Touch

Hello students!

How many of you use WhatsApp these days?  How would you describe it to someone who has never used it before?

The biggest growth in mobile phone use in the last few years has been text messaging. Users send written messages rather than leaving spoken ones. 2013 is all about quick and mobile internet.  Our messaging has progressively shortened into a more abbreviated texting to accommodate thumb typing. Another important fact is that capitalization and punctuation are now optional.  Users normally use UPPERCASE to emphasize one or two words. BUT PLEASE DO NOT TYPE ENTIRE SENTENCES IN UPPERCASE AS THAT IS CONSIDERED RUDE SHOUTING.

Anyway, this new slang saves us tons of keystrokes to say things like “omg”, for instance.

So, how good are you at this? Here's an activity for you to try.

Activity 1

What do these typical texting slangs mean?

1. ATB 2. BTW 3. FYI 4. CUL8R 5. GR8 6. LOL

7. OIC 8. NE1 9. WKND 10. THX 11. XOXO 12. OMG

Below, you’ll see the most common text message expressions for 2013. Any idea what they stand for? Google them up if you're not sure. 

1. HMU 2. WUT 3. IDK 4. WBU 5. IDC

Activity 2

A) What do the text messages (a - k) mean? Can you translate them into ordinary English? Make a note of your answers in your copybook. 

 

B) Now put the messages in order. Andy's message (a) starts the sequence.

1. A
2. ...
3. etc ...

Did you know…? 

 

Email is older than the Internet. It started in 1965, and by 1966 it was already possible to send messages between different computers. The @ sign was introduced into email addresses in 1971 and quickly became standard.

You’ve got Mail! 

 

Activity 3

Watch the following  scene and  write the answers to these questions:

1. Briefly describe  what kind of relationship you think these people  have.
2. Interpret and write down the information these  people are swaping, using ordinary English. 
3. If you've seen this film, briefly explain how this email swap starts and how it ends.
4. If you haven't seen this film, predict what might happen as a result of this email swap.

Click on the link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8dZsBV_ZlM

Journal 1   Have you ever been involved in a similar situation? If not, do you know of anyone who has? Write  a few lines about it.