You're supposed to write quickly!
Section 1 Before You Read
PAIRWORK
1a Can you read the following expressions?
How would you usually write them in English?
Example:F2F--face to face
How R U?
CU! BTW CUL8r
1b Write any more expressions like the ones above.
Section 2 While You Read
You're supposed to write quickly!
Can you write in English?
And can you also write e-mail English?
Maybe not.
E-mail English is a new kind of written English
that is being used to save time.
A lot of e-mail English words might look
unfamiliar to us- many look like rubbish!
This is because they come from a computer
program called ICQ,which means I seek you.
ICQ is an e-mail "chatline" that people use to
have online conversations with friends.
One Canadian teacher says,
"People can use their computers to talk to each other.
But you are supposed to type quickly
so the other person doesn't get bored,
so using e-mail English helps you write quickly.
E-mail English mostly uses two types of word.
The first is "abbreviation".
This is formed by using the first letter of each word in the phrase.
For example, BTW means "by the way",
and CSL means "can't stop laughing".
The second kind of word is a "homophone"
it's created by combining letters and symbols
or numbers to sound like other words.
An example of this would be to write "great"
as "gr8", or to write "see you later" as "CUL8r"
When you write e-mail English you do not use
punctuation marks only in the traditional way.
You are also supposed to use them to show the emotion you are feeling.
These are called "emotions".
The advantage of using punctuation marks is that you can make faces with them.
The most common one is the happy face
it looks like this:and it is made with a colon and a right bracket beside it.
E-mail English is fun
it's almost like writing riddles.
You can learn it easily by yourselves,
and experiment with your own ideas.
It is not rude to write e-mail English,
but it is important to use it only at the proper time
when you are e-mailing a friend,
or sending a message to a friend
on a mobile phone.
But you shouldn't use it in class,
and remember your teachers will not be pleased
if you write e-mail English in a test!
Section 3 After You Read
3a Write the names of the three types of e-mail
English at the top of each column.
Then write an example of each from the reading.
3b Scan the reading to answer these questions.
Section 4 Go For It!
Complete the chart.
Then consider the questions below.
Choose your answers.
Discuss your answers with a partner.
Do these two on your own:
1.I had a great weekend.And you?
2.Oh no!I am going to be late.
Do these two with a partner:
3.I have seen that movie four times.
It's great.
4.Excuse me.Could you please help me?
My e-mail English ideas
Our e-mail English ideas
If you have time!
Write a note to some friends using e-mail
English or practice typing e-mail English messages on a computer.