Let the mobile madness take you - and improve your English
Watching my ten-year-old son grow up is an amazing thing in itself - and is a source of constant fun, surprises and challenges. A topic of intense discussion in our house over the last year or more has been his fascination with his mobile phone. If you’re a parent, I bet you know what I mean!
Kids’ mobile skills are pretty impressive, to say the least. For one thing, their finger and thumb dexterity is streets ahead of mine!
Over the last few months, I’ve realized that this fascination with mobiles - and for that matter, other communications technologies - has significant benefits to multi-lingual families such as ours. That is, it’s a perfect opportunity for our kids to learn how to read and write in English! Brilliant.
I guess it’s stating the obvious. But, in my situation, where my son is not in the slightest challenged by the rudimentary English taught at Danish ‘folkeskole’ - here’s an opportunity to expose him to real and proper English. I take every opportunity to chat online, write texts and write emails. His English reading is improving, as is his comprehension and vocabulary. And we’re connecting in my own language, which is highly satisfying for me.
Have you noticed a difference in your kids’ communications skills as a result of mobiles, chats, emails and the like?
December 9th, 2007 at 5:24 pm
My only concern is the jargon and junk words that are commonly used to communicate with online chat and the like. These make my head spin. I often watch my kids banging away at a keyboard and most of it makes absolutely no sense to me when I read it …
December 10th, 2007 at 12:14 am
I completely agree. They write another language, which is fascinating in itself. It seems to be a way of hanging out, rather than actually communicating about something specific.
But at least we as parents can show them what’s right by writing to them in proper English (or whatever the native language is) with clear, common-sense vocabulary and punctuation.
December 11th, 2007 at 5:40 pm
Gosh, you guys sound like real old grouches! The beauty of the English language, as demonstrated over hundreds of years of development, is that the language quickly adapts to meet the needs of the time. For centuries, English has been evolving to be able to describe the world around us as it expands. This was true in the world of exploration, when English borrowed and created new words to describe the wonders of the American continent, Australia, New Zealand and other places. It’s why we have words like kangeroo, cowboy and potato.
And it’s true now as the world expands into cyberspace. Not only do we need new words, but also new faster ways of expressing ourselves for the new mediums (some may argue that should be media). You were part of that change as we moved from the letter to email, and now that change is continuing in texts and chat rooms.
Many things considered incorrect when they first entered the language are now common. My favourite example of this is ‘unwell’. This was ‘invented’ by the Irish (first known usage was in 1755 - previously a person was well or not well - never unwell).
December 13th, 2007 at 2:13 pm
Good point, Dan. Of course language evolves constantly - which is a wonderful and, at the same time, challenging thing. But back to my original point: I see mobile and Internet technologies as a great way for kids to learn how to read and write and get their points across quickly and clearly.