Email, SMS, and Online Chat

For my students and anyone who like to learn some thinks used in the electronic text communication such as email, posting to online chat rooms and newsgroups, and SMS (Short Messaging Service) messages between mobile phones. This way you don't get confused if you suddenly see only letters or symbols ( as typically used for emotions representing a facial expression).
This lists are a courtesy of www.askoxford.com !

Abbreviations
Some of the more established abbreviations used in all types of electronic communication are listed below:

@	at	MOB	mobile
AFAIK	as far as I know	MSG	message
AFK	away from the keyboard	MYOB	mind your own business
ASL	age, sex, location	NE1	anyone
ATB	all the best	NOYB	none of your business
B	be	NO1	no one
BAK	back at the keyboard	OTOH	on the other hand
BBL	be back late(r)	OIC	oh I see
BCNU	be seeing you	PCM	please call me
BFN	bye for now	PLS	please
B4	before	PPL	people
BRB	be right back	R	are
BTW	by the way	ROTF(L)	rolling on the floor (laughing)
C	see	RUOK	are you okay?
CUL8R	see you later	SIT	stay in touch
F2F	face to face	SOM1	someone
F2T	free to talk	SPK	speak
FWIW	for what it¿s worth	TTYL	talk to you later
FYI	for your information	TX	thanks
GAL	get a life	U	you
GR8	great	WAN2	want to
HAND	have a nice day	W/	with
H8	hate	WKND	weekend
HSIK	how should I know?	WU	what's up?
HTH	hope this helps	X	kiss
IANAL	I am not a lawyer, but - (as a disclaimer)	XLNT	excellent
IMHO	in my humble opinion	XOXOX	hugs and kisses
IMO	in my opinion	YMMV	your mileage may vary (i.e. your experience may differ)
IOW	in other words	YR	your
JIC	just in case	2	to, too
JK	just kidding	2DAY	today
KIT	keep in touch	2MORO	tomorrow
KWIM	know what I mean	2NITE	tonight
L8R	later	3SUM	threesome
LOL	lots of luck / laughing out loud	4	for

Emoticons
Emoticons typically represent a facial expression and are used chiefly to mark the tone of the preceding sentence or to indicate the writer's feelings. The following are some of the more commonly seen:

:-)	happy (a 'smiley')	:-(	unhappy
:-D	laughing	:-||	angry
;-)	winking; just kidding	:-V	shouting
:-*	kiss	|-O	yawning
:-o	surprised	:-Q	I don't understand
:-(	frowning	:-&	tongue-tied
:-c	very unhappy	:-X	my lips are sealed
X=	fngers crossed	:-P	sticking one's tongue out
:'-(	crying	:-/	sceptical
:-|	bored, indifferent	:-Y	aside comment

Learning a foreign language takes time

Learning a foreign language occurs incremental. Thus it takes time for the brain to grow new cell to store and handle a new language. It is absorbed (or not absorbed) in doses, and runs from zero to whatever ceiling is reached.

Children naturally learn no fewer than 500 words by the age of 2 years. This happens as Skinner, a behavioral psychologist, explained through a process that uses of positive and negative reinforcement. This reinforcement can occur in school but also a home. Parents play a vital role in their children’s learning process.

Changes are gradual and occur at different rates for different people and in different aspects of learning.

At first, beginners understand little and produce nothing. (Something we all might agree with.) Then gradually they understand individual words, fixed formulas, and disconnected items in speech or text. There is often little creative scope, frustration is common, and regular praise and reassurance are essential.

Translation is constant and often obvious. Generally, learning to understand is faster than learning to express. (Thus listening to a language is important.)Performance is usually poor at this stage and dominated by the mother tongue. Children are trying to translate from Chinese into English.

At the next stage, learners begin to produce their own phrases and sentences. They become able to use their own creativity and make mental connections (sometimes correct, often wrong, and constantly developing) between items already encountered and partly learned. They make guesses what things mean, or how they might be expressed, and modify them in the light of experience.

At the following stage, many learners stop. They become frustrated because the feel they are unable to express what they think in their own language.

This is the time (usually around Junior High School level) to especially motivate students again. It is the level at which the performance skills (speaking and writing) often improve rapidly without being obvious to the student, given opportunity, stimulation, and time for assimilation.

Then the learners have reached the advanced stage. They start using their own creativity, seeking skillful selections of meaning and subtleties of their culture, to incorporate them into the new learned language. All going well, the inner translation continues to decline and the fluency, speed, and accuracy continue to develop.

At this level, many learners achieve a close approximation to the skills of the native speaker of the target language.

The Pleasure of Being a Teacher

Just recently I ran into one of my former students. He was in one of my first classes I had taught at J.R. American School.

I had just gotten onto a bus and had sat down, when suddenly a young man next to me asked me, if I would still remember him.

Although, I was not able to recall his name, I noticed a familiarity. (It isn’t easy to recognize a high school student you had taught when he was still in elementary school.) Nonetheless, it was a pleasure to discover that he still remembered me and to hear that he had done well since he had left our school. He had done so well, that he is now preparing to take the entrance exam to the National Taiwanese University.

This episode reminded me again that my work as teacher will affect the life of my students. Being able to influence the life of others in a positive way give me great pleasure! It gives me furthermore the energy to strive to become a better teacher and friend.

To all the Students

If you are trying to learn English, use all the resources you can get. First find a friend, either in real life or on the internet, to practice your skills no matter how small your skills are. Repetition is what builds memory and thus the brain cells, which are responsible for learning a language. Don’t get caught up on trying to learn a specific accent. It does not matter if you learn with an American, British, Australian or any other English speaking person. Important is that you use what you have learned.

I have included some links to two useful websites. One is Teacher Bills Blog. This blog is especially useful for people who want to improve their listening skills. The other one is Learning English, a great resource page from the BBC. It offers a vast range of activities. Just click yourself to the part you like best. I will add more links in the future.

Lastly, utilize chat programs such as Skype, MSN, or Yahoo to chat with English speaking people for free. The great think of these programs is that you don’t even have to leave your home.

So, now, go on and have fun. The more you enjoy learning, the faster you will improve. Ask questions! Become actively involved!

The Role of Parents

Parents play a very important role in the learning process of their children. As children spend only a few hours studying English at school, additional time has to be devoted at home to practice. Doing homework does not only mean doing the written work assigned by a teacher but also spending time practicing what has been learned. Students should spend some time (e.g. 10 to 30 minutes) every day listening to the audio material (CD or tape-recording accompanying their books etc.).

The research of Cognitive Psychologists, as the ones published on the Science Daily Website, shows that learning a language starts with intense listening. During the seven years I have taught ESL, I have noticed that students, who listen to their audio material daily and interact with their parents in English, are the ones who speak English fluently. However, to persuade children to listen to their audio materials daily needs the support of their family. Constant encouragements and praise (not punishments) are needed. Therefore, parents play a very important role in the learning process of their children.

The Teacher

I have been teaching ESL for twenty years now.

It is an interesting occupation. I had never thought, I would teach for so many years and then at the same school (Cummings English School). Why? Well, one of the most rewarding things about teaching is to see the seeds you're plantings grow and eventually bear fruits. I have seen students grow from the time when they came to our school as a four year old child until they went to high-school, by which time they often do not find the time to attend a cram-school for English anymore. Some of my students, who had left, returned after years to tell me about how I had positively changed their life. Not only in respect to their English abilities but also in respect to how they have seen their life and life in general differently since attending my classes. Attending our school has opened their minds beyond the borders of Taiwan.

No matter how small these changes or success stories are, these are the moments that give you the energy, that you need to teach a group of often unmotivated students, who have been forced by their parents to attend English school, and teach them English with joy.

It would be nice if some other Teachers would share their thoughts but also some the students to use their courage and write their thoughts in English here.