KEEPING IN TOUCH

"Txt msgng": what does it stand for?

The biggest growth in mobile phone use in the last few years has been text messaging and social network. Users send written messages rather than leaving spoken ones - we use a special kind of language because we want to write quickly. How good are you at it? Here's an activity for you to try. 

Activity 1

Match the text messages on the left with their meanings on the right. 

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 notebook. 

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

1) A 

2) ...

etc ...

C) Andy and Jill met up as a result of their text messages in activity B. How did they continue their conversation the following day? Write 6 possible text messages they sent each other the next day. Here's an example:

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 

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 swapping, 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. Share your guess with a classmate.

References: Harmer, J.(2004 )Just, Reading and Writing Intermediate, Marshall Cavendish Education Ltd

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

WhatsApp is a messaging app that was founded in 2009 by two former Yahoo employees, Brian Acton and Jan Koum.

WhatsApp is one of a number of messaging apps that have taken advantage of data plans on smartphones to provide a practically free alternative to texting. 

Currently WhatsApp has over 450 million active users and is adding roughly a million a day, with most of their growth coming from Europe and Asia. 

Unusually for an internet company WhatsApp is very hostile to advertising. This accounts for both its low revenues and its popularity with users.

Reference:

http://www.independent.co.uk/

July 2014.

Task 1

Do you text your classmates by using WhatsApp? 

A.Text a friend from the class to invite him or her to go out; include- at least, 6 of the expressions presented in activity 1.

B.Take a screenshot of the conversation.

C.Send it to the class e-mail address: theghoust.writers@gmail.com.   
In the subject write: "WhatsApp + ( your name).

D.In the e mail,  also include the complete text.

Good luck!!

Your teachers.