Something terrible's happened. I'm in such a panic!
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Try to calm down. What's the problem?
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I've lost it. I've lost the project. It was all the memory stick
and now it's gone. All our work has disappeared!
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Oh dear. How annoying!
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Annoying? Annoying? It's disastrous! I'm so angry with my self I
could scream.
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What happened exactly?
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I don't know. I was in a rush. I was working so fast that I wasn't
concentrating properly. What a stupid, stupid thing to do!
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Take it easy. It's not the end of the world.
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But it is! It is! Why do I do such silly things?
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Don't worry. Everything'll be ok.
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How can you stay so calm?
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Because there's someone who I'm sure can help. Laura! She's our
computer expert.
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But Laura's left the project. She hasn't got time for this.
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She'll make time. This is an emergency! Don't worry!
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Listen 5 times
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Lesson 2: Conversation
Poor Holly. She's so upset about losing all that work.
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I know, but I can't believe she's lost everything. Anyway, I hope
Laura can help.
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Well, that depends on Mum and Dad. Have you ever lost anything on
the computer?
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I have, actually. I did a big science project last year. It was
all on my laptop and somehow I lost half my files.
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How on earth did you manage that?
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I don't know. Perhaps I didn't save them. Or maybe I deleted them
by mistake?
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I hate losing things. I lost some money last week.
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Really? How much?
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Quite A lot. It was my birthday present from my uncle.
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Where did you lose it?
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In the shopping centre. One minute it was in my pocket and the
next minute it was gone.
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What a shame! Maybe A pickpocket took it?
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Maybe.
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I thought I'd lost my keys the other day and I couldn't get into
the house. I was locked out. I had to wait two hours for Mum to
come home.
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What a nuisance!
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Yes. And then I found the keys on my desk. I'd forgotten to put
them in my bag. So stupid.
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I couldn't find my mobile the other day. I looked everywhere. I
thought I'd lost it, like you and your keys.
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So you found it.
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I borrowed Laura's mobile and phoned my number. I could hear my
ringtone coming from my room, but my room was in such a mess that
I couldn't see it. I tracked it down eventually. It was under a
pile of clothes.
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Well, at least you found it.
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Unlike my mum, who lost her engagement ring somewhere on the beach
last summer. And unlike my dad, who left his camera in a
restaurant and didn't realize it was missing until five days
later.
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You're A forgetful lot, aren't you?
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Well, losing things does seem to run in the family.
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Listen 5 times
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Text messaging - GR8 or not?
Text messaging - GR8 or not?
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Language Magazine recently conducted a survey asking people about
text messaging.
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Those taking part were asked if they used text messaging, and what
effect they thought it was having on the standard of English used
by young people.
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Of the people surveyed, 48% used text messaging; 51% thought it
made the standard of young people's English worse; 49% thought it
made no difference.
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Here is sample of the replies showing widely differing opinions.
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I'am particular concerned about text messaging because of the
harmful effect it has on young people's spelling.
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Of course, many of my pupils are fully aware that 'b4' is fine in
a text message but is inappropriate in a piece of schoolwork.
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More problematic is the text messaging convention of using a
capital letter to represent double letters in a word e.g. tomoRow
and lOKing.
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Fewer pupils realise that this is actually wrong and it creeps
into their written English.
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But even this convention seems to be disappearing and 'tomorow',
'loking'. etc. is becoming the norm. Anna
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Why are we getting so worked up about text messaging?
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Why do we assume that it is just a teenage craze?
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It is, in fact, a recognised means of communicating in business.
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Billions of text messages are sent each year by adults who find it
quick and easy to use, and can't imagine how they ever managed
without it.
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I know I do. Don't you? Ahmed Eid
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I have always had a bee in my bonnet about punctuation.
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Without it, written English can be rendered meaningless.
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The fact that punctuation is used in text messages solely to draw
little pictures - :-) = I'm happy, is ridiculous.
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NO capital letters! No full stops!
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It is so difficult to make out what the message is! I'm sure you
have the same problem. Aimee
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Let's analyse why those who use text messaging see it as an
advantageous means of communication.
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Firstly, in my opinion, it is such a quick and immediate way of
passing on inrormation, asking and responding to questions and
making arrangements that it is obviously here to stay.
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Secondly, it is very private - more private than the telephone
where anyone in the vicinity can hear at least one side of the
conversation.
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You have to admit - these are very positive advantages. Jiffen
Patel
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My major concern is the very limited vocabulary needed to be
proficient at texting.
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Feelings are expressed using smiley or disgruntled yellow faces or
'emoticons'.
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The rich and varied content of the English language is limited to
a few stock phrases, and young people are losing the ability to
express themselves in any way other than 'GR8' and 'H8'! Maria
Ferreira
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Text messaging is here to stay.
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More and more young people have mobile phones and choose texting
as a quick, efficient means of communicating.
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Some people want to ban text messaging! What a ridiculous notion!
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What we have to do is to ensure that young people know that the
language and conventions of texting, with all their abbreviations,
missing punctuation and odd spellings, are appropriate only for
texting and should not be used in any other form of written
communication.
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We won't do that by trying - and failing - to ban it.
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As adults, one of the main reasons we don't like the idea is that
to many of us it is 'strange' and 'new'.
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So, learn about it, be willing to use to appropriately, and then
you can advise young people how to use it wisely and selectively.
Sara Evans.
