Email and blogs

MAILS BLOGS AND NEWSGROUPS

Exercise 8 : Put the following e-mails in the correct order.

A) Dear Ms Saarland,
Thank you very much for your email of the 7th March. I am looking forward to working with you in the coming months and years and to seeing you soon.
Regards
Graham

B) Re: Our first meeting
Hello again Susan’
Sorry for the delay in replying but I had to forward both our schedules to my boss to get his input.
Anyway, I’ve attached a copy of your schedule with the best slots for me shaded in red. Any of these is fine, but I’d like to meet as soon as possible.
Cheers
Graham

C) Dear Graham,
Sorry meeting up is turning out to be so complicated. I guess we are both just so busy that everyone wants our time! I’m holding meetings with my new colleagues here almost every Monday and Friday for the foreseeable future, but I’m usually free midweek. Please find attached a copy of my schedule for the first two weeks of April. Please pick any slot you like and I’ll do my very

best to make it then. Thanks for your patience. All the best Susan

D) Dear Mr Smith,

I would like to introduce myself. My name is Susan Saarland and I am the new South Western sales manager for Chou Cream English Schools. The previous sales manager for your area, Chris Jones, has been promoted to Head of Marketing and has asked me to pass his best wishes onto you.

I look forward to doing business with you and hope we get the chance to meet soon

Yours

Susan Saarland

E) Dear Graham,

Thanks for your quick reply. If it is convenient with you, I will be able to meet with you very soon indeed as I am visiting one of your colleagues on Wednesday, 25th March. I am planning to finish the meeting at 12:30 p.m., and would be very glad to meet you any time after that.

Best wishes

Susan

F) Dear Susan,

Thanks for making the time to meet up with me at such short notice, but I’m afraid I’m attending a conference abroad on that day. I’m flying back on the Sunday and will be available anytime from Monday

Exercise 9: Formality or informality

1. Match each expression in column 1 with one or two of similar meaning in columns 2 and 3.

2. What are the differences between the similar expressions?

Column 1	Column 2	Column 3
P.S.	Regarding	By the way
enclose	See you soon	Re:
I am very grateful (for)	Best wishes	All the best
Ms Saarland	I'm	Hi
Regards	Hello	Sue
With reference to	I would like to add (that)	attach
I am	Susan	Cheers
Dear	send on
I hope to see you soon

Exercise 10

Correct errors in the following e-mail messages:

1. I have found the nice restaurant near here.
2. I'd love to meet you on Thursday night.
3. I'm looking forward to seeing you very soon.
4. Would you like to go out for dinner on this Wednesday?
5. Dear Mr David

Tomorrow is fine- I’m free all day. See you then.

PPS I am meeting with an old classmate of yours on Friday.

To Doctor Smith.

Why don’t we meet at London?

Thanks for the invitation, but I am flying abroad on that day.

I am going out with my friends.

Text 1: Why E-mail Looks Like Speech (by Naomi S. Baron)

Surveying the burgeoning literature on email, we find the medium depicted in a variety of ways:

• Æletters by phone email as a form of writing
• Æspeech by other means email as a form of speech
• Æmix and match email as a combination of written and spoken elements
• Æe-style email as a distinct language style
• Æcontact system email as a still-evolving language style

The first two approaches attempt to pigeonhole email into the mould of existing modalities of communication: either email is essentially a written message conveyed by a new electronic medium –‘letters by phone’ – or it is speech that happens to be

Written down for transmission purposes – ‘speech by other means’. These two models (especially the latter) predominated in the early days of email and continue to thrive among the general public. Language and media specialists tend to offer more complex models. The ‘mix and match’ approach empirically tallies the speech-like qualities of email and those that look more like writing. An alternative tack speaks of ‘e-style’ (or a synonym) that is neither speech nor writing. Recently, David Crystal has mapped out the distinct linguistic properties of what he calls ‘Netspeak’, which he defines as the language of computer-mediated communication. Finally, the ‘contact system’ argument suggests that the unfolding of email is very much like the development of a pidgin or creole. While the system has an identifiable grammar, there is also broad variation across users and usages. Since the system is still undergoing considerable transformation,

There is no certainty how it will end up. Seen through this model, it is too soon to tell if email will eventually look more speech-like, more like writing, or become a distinct genre.

Technology often enhances and reflects rather than precipitating linguistic and social change: The growing American tendency for all writing to become more informal, less edited, and more personal and candid largely derives from transformations in American education over the past 125 years, along with a decline, especially over the last half-century, in concern for 'public face' – that is, the way we reveal to others who we are (or wish to be) through such avenues as dress, decorum, and language.

GLOSSARY

survey /s veI; NAmE s rveI/ verb

1. to look carefully at the whole of something, especially in order to get a general impression of it inspect: The next morning we surveyed the damage caused by the fire.
2. to study and give a general description of something: This chapter briefly surveys the current

state of European politics.

burgeon /bɜːrdʒən/ verb (formal) to begin to grow rapidly

burgeoning adj.: a burgeoning population, burgeoning demand

pigeonhole /ˈpɪdʒɪnhoʊl/ verb

1 ~ sb (as sth) to decide that sb belongs to a particular group or type without thinking deeply enough about it and considering what other qualities they might have

categorize, label: He has been pigeonholed as a children's writer.

mould (BrE) (NAmE mold) /moʊld/ noun

1 [C] a container that you pour a soft liquid or substance into, which then becomes solid in the same shape as the container, for example when it is cooled or cooked: A clay mould is used for casting bronze statues. They broke the mould when they made you (= there is nobody like you).

2 [C, usually sing.] a particular style showing the characteristics, attitudes or behaviour that are typical of sb/sth: a hero in the 'Superman' mould.

thrive /θraɪv/ verb to become, and continue to be, successful,

flourish: New businesses thrive in this area.
tally: verb (tal•lies, tally•ing, tal•lied, tal•lied)
1 ~ (with sth) to be the same as or to match another person's account of sth, another set of figures, etc.
match up: Her report of what happened tallied exactly with the story of another witness.
2 ~ sth (up) to calculate the total number, cost, etc. of sth
tack: noun [U, sing.] the way in which you deal with a particular situation; the direction of your words or thoughts: a complete change of tack. It was a brave decision to change tack in the middle of the project. When threats failed, she decided to try / take a different tack. His thoughts wandered off on another tack.
unfold: verb
1 to spread open sth that has previously been folded; to become open and flat: to unfold a map. She unfolded her arms.
2 to be gradually made known; to gradually make sth known to other people: The audience watched as the story unfolded.

unfolded before their eyes.

pidgin / 'pIdзIn / noun [U] 1 a simple form of a language, especially English, Portuguese or Dutch, with a limited number of words, that are used together with words from a local language. It is used when people who do not speak the same language need to talk to each other 2 ~ English, French, Japanese, etc. a way of speaking a language that uses simple words and forms, used when a person does not speak the language well, or when he or she is talking to sb who does not speak the language well.

cre•ole / 'kri ∂ωl; AmE –oωl / (also creole) noun 1 [C] a person of mixed European and African race, especially one who lives in the West Indies 2 [C] a person whose ancestors were among the first Europeans who settled in the West Indies or Spanish America, or one of the French or Spanish people who settled in the southern states of the US 3 [U] a language formed from a mixture of a European language with a local language (especially an

African language spoken by SLAVES in the West Indies)

edit / 'edIt/ verb

1. to prepare a piece of writing, a book, etc. to be published by correcting the mistakes, making improvements to it, etc;
2. when sb edits a film / movie, television programme, etc. they take what has been filmed or recorded and decide which parts to include and in which order.

Exercise 11: Comprehension

Decide whether the following statements are true or false

1. The ‘letter by phone’ and ‘speech by another means’ approaches are unanimously considered outdated
2. Writing does not fit into email
3. The so-called ‘Netspeak’ is neither writing nor speech
4. Today e-mail may be said to be a distinct genre
5. The ‘contact system’ approach prefers thinking of e-mail as of a language in progress
6. Modern American writing style is business-like
7. The informality of today’s American costumes affects language as well

Exercise 12: E-mail and chat room jargon

Communication

in chat rooms has evolved into its own pseudo-language that allows people to ask questions or make comments with a minimal amount of typing. Look at the following acronyms and match them with the correct explanation:

1. MUSM - a) before
2. T2GO - d) time to go
3. RUOK? - m) are you okay?
4. JK - s) just kidding
5. WYWH - n) wish you were here
6. MYOB - l) mind your own business
7. ASAP - q) as soon as possible
8. HAND - h) no reply necessary
9. TIC - i) welcome back
10. CU@11am - t) see you at eleven a.
11. SC - j) tongue in cheek
12. IMO - f) in my opinion
13. RU CMNG? - r) are you coming?
14. PCM - p) please call me
15. BTW - c) by the way
16. UR GR8 - g) you are great
17. B4 - a) before
18. NRN - o) stay cool
19. TNX - b) thanks
20. WB - h) no reply necessary