Unit 10 Page 105 Lesson D2

Page 105.

Lesson D: E-communication.

2 Listening. Text messaging.

Read the sentences below about text messaging. Then listen to Ally, and check the sentences she agrees with. Which ones do you agree with? Discuss with a partner.

I couldn’t live without text messaging. I use it all the time, I mean, it’s just so convenient. You can send messages whenever you want, and from anywhere, anytime.

And it’s quicker than a phone call. I love it! I mainly send messages to my friends, and sometimes to my mom. It drives my mom crazy, though. My phone is always going beep beep beep, when we’re having dinner, she hates that.

She thinks it’s really annoying, but it doesn’t annoy me. And anyway, Mom likes it when I send her a text, you know, if I’m late getting home from school or something. I send her a message and say, “I’m OK, I’m just late.” And she sends me a quick message back. So she doesn’t have to worry about me at all.

And it’s good, too, because I don’t have to answer all my mom’s questions in front of my friends, you know, like “Who are you with? What are you doing? What time are you going to be home?” and all that kind of stuff. I mean, if you’re on the phone, it’s kind of embarrassing, you know, to answer all those questions in front of all your friends. So messages are way better.

I can just tell Mom all that in a message. I mean, I like to have my phone for emergencies, but messages are good when I’m just late getting home, that kind of thing. Now, with my friends I write all kinds of stuff we talk about anything and everything. We’re always, you know, sending each other funny messages, nothing important, just fun stuff. We’re always laughing and joking around, so it’s just fun.

My mom says texting’s a waste of time. She says, “Why don’t you just call your friends and talk to them?” But texting is cheaper, you know, than phone calls, and it’s quicker, and it’s just more fun. Mom thinks it’s like learning a foreign language, with all the symbols we use, but it’s not difficult. It’s easy to do. Even she can do some!