Internet Language?
Moderators: Dimitris, maneki neko2, Lorikeet, Enrico Palazzo, superpeach, cecil2, Mr. Kalgukshi2
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workmanatwork
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Tue Mar 18, 2003 11:39 am
Internet Language?
I have found the internet has made great effects onto the original use and usage of certain language, say,Chinese. DOES Anyone of you have found such facts? Could you offer me some examples and give me your comments on it?
I think people on the internet use some kind of jargon, that's it. But then, every other sphere of human activity may have its own jargon. Internet is becoming more and more part of peoples lives so naturally internet jargon may be penetrating the English language, no doubt about it. I am not so sure what do you exactly mean by internet has made great effects onto the original use and usage of certain language ?
I'm not sure about how great the internet has affected English. It has brought in new words however I think with time many will fade from the language. A few will become ingrained.
In grammatical terms, I'm not really sure if the 'net will consolidate various forms of English, fuse them together, fragment or whatever. Judging from instant messagers though, I would say we may be taking a step backwards in time.
Just my $0.02
Corey
In grammatical terms, I'm not really sure if the 'net will consolidate various forms of English, fuse them together, fragment or whatever. Judging from instant messagers though, I would say we may be taking a step backwards in time.
Just my $0.02
Corey
It is undeniable that the use of the Internet has spawned alternative ways of spelling English, which are fast replacing standard forms, so much so that some of my Chinese opposite numbers don't know good English any more, but assume that "Shakespeare wrote "2 B or not 2 B".
Actually, I consider it an annoyance, and potentially leading to factual illiteracy or semiliteracy.
Actually, I consider it an annoyance, and potentially leading to factual illiteracy or semiliteracy.
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Norm Ryder
- Posts: 118
- Joined: Wed Jan 29, 2003 9:10 pm
- Location: Canberra, Australia
the internet's effect on language
Season's greetings to all.
I guess we can find every level of formality on the net. "Texting", of course, comes not so much from the net as from the cell phone, where it has an obvious purpose and value; but people in a hurry will translate it to their e-mails and then to the net.
People like to 'talk' on the net, and their grammars will approach that of the spoken word. I have a friend who is studying medicine. She grabs minutes between her ward-work to throw off e-mails to her friends in which you won't find a single capital letter or much formal punctuation. She hasn't time for proof-reading her text: if she tried, other friends would'nt hear from her.
I've also come across people researching their family history - and other things - who have obviously had very little schooling; but despite their lack of language accuracy they have something they want to say, and they're not afraid to say it. And I believe that is an advance. Their need to communicate may even lead them to discover more precise ways of expressing their meaning.
However - there has to be a 'however', hasn't there? - as a former trainer of young people entering government and business, I think they often have a problem in understanding the reasons for more formal language in public communication, and the traditional methods of achieving it. We were trying to teach "plain English" writing, but it was often difficult to get our learners to understand that this didn't mean 'writing the way you talk'; in fact, it often meant using a stricter logic, a different vocabulary and more rigorous editing to make their meaning unambiguous.
So, with writing on the net, much of it goes back to who you want to understand you, and the time you have to take them on your ride. Of course, one would like to think that the informal styles were not the only ones of which the writers were capable - especially if they've got through high school. But maybe that's where wormanatwork's original question was coming from.
Let's hear from other experiences
Norm
I guess we can find every level of formality on the net. "Texting", of course, comes not so much from the net as from the cell phone, where it has an obvious purpose and value; but people in a hurry will translate it to their e-mails and then to the net.
People like to 'talk' on the net, and their grammars will approach that of the spoken word. I have a friend who is studying medicine. She grabs minutes between her ward-work to throw off e-mails to her friends in which you won't find a single capital letter or much formal punctuation. She hasn't time for proof-reading her text: if she tried, other friends would'nt hear from her.
I've also come across people researching their family history - and other things - who have obviously had very little schooling; but despite their lack of language accuracy they have something they want to say, and they're not afraid to say it. And I believe that is an advance. Their need to communicate may even lead them to discover more precise ways of expressing their meaning.
However - there has to be a 'however', hasn't there? - as a former trainer of young people entering government and business, I think they often have a problem in understanding the reasons for more formal language in public communication, and the traditional methods of achieving it. We were trying to teach "plain English" writing, but it was often difficult to get our learners to understand that this didn't mean 'writing the way you talk'; in fact, it often meant using a stricter logic, a different vocabulary and more rigorous editing to make their meaning unambiguous.
So, with writing on the net, much of it goes back to who you want to understand you, and the time you have to take them on your ride. Of course, one would like to think that the informal styles were not the only ones of which the writers were capable - especially if they've got through high school. But maybe that's where wormanatwork's original question was coming from.
Let's hear from other experiences
Norm
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LarryLatham
- Posts: 1195
- Joined: Thu Jan 16, 2003 6:33 pm
- Location: Aguanga, California (near San Diego)
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Norm Ryder
- Posts: 118
- Joined: Wed Jan 29, 2003 9:10 pm
- Location: Canberra, Australia
Net Lingo
Larry
You can flatter some of the people all of the time, and all of the people ... etc
I guess you've got about another ten years of lazing around, letting your forty
years of experience come to the surface before you catch up on me.
Actually, it keeps coming to me how my "net language" (and experience) isn't flexible enough to match (e.g.) Iain's, or my knowledge of grammar anything like Roger's or Stephen's (again, e.g.), which makes surfing on this beach one helluva buzz (or does that sound like a 70 year old trying to play at 30
)
Anyway, folks, forgive me if my linguistic limbs are sometimes considerably stiffer than yours. It comes from playing with Latin in my youth
Norm
You can flatter some of the people all of the time, and all of the people ... etc
I guess you've got about another ten years of lazing around, letting your forty
years of experience come to the surface before you catch up on me.Actually, it keeps coming to me how my "net language" (and experience) isn't flexible enough to match (e.g.) Iain's, or my knowledge of grammar anything like Roger's or Stephen's (again, e.g.), which makes surfing on this beach one helluva buzz (or does that sound like a 70 year old trying to play at 30
)Anyway, folks, forgive me if my linguistic limbs are sometimes considerably stiffer than yours. It comes from playing with Latin in my youth
Norm
Hi everybody! In my opinion the Internet is a great help in the process of learning a new language.It not only provides you with tests, quizzes or even books on-line, but also gives you an opportunity to speak English or any other language you want with folks all around the world.
This way you can practise your knowledge of a given language. However, there are differences between a normal chat and a chat you can have on the Internet (I assume it's obvious, so I'm not going to explain them) but nevertheless, speaking from my own experience, it allows you to exchange/verify your ideas or/and get to know other people's beliefs. That helps a lot when you have to express your own views in a foreign language.
I highly recommend chatting to people in various chatrooms on the Internet( provided it's a meaningful talk
). As a teacher trainee and someone who's been learning English for quite a long time, I can say that talking to people and seeing that you actually can be understood by native speakers is really higly motivative and shows students the reasons for which they should learn English.
I have just found this website and it's really fantastic. It's a great source of knowledge and I have already learnt about the things I didn't know about before.
Till later,
Maciek
This way you can practise your knowledge of a given language. However, there are differences between a normal chat and a chat you can have on the Internet (I assume it's obvious, so I'm not going to explain them) but nevertheless, speaking from my own experience, it allows you to exchange/verify your ideas or/and get to know other people's beliefs. That helps a lot when you have to express your own views in a foreign language.
I highly recommend chatting to people in various chatrooms on the Internet( provided it's a meaningful talk
). As a teacher trainee and someone who's been learning English for quite a long time, I can say that talking to people and seeing that you actually can be understood by native speakers is really higly motivative and shows students the reasons for which they should learn English. I have just found this website and it's really fantastic. It's a great source of knowledge and I have already learnt about the things I didn't know about before.
Till later,
Maciek