Listening

Warm Up

Helpful Words and Phrases

Listen and repeat.

  1. slang
    • ex. My grandparents can’t understand young people’s slang.
  2. misinterpret
    • ex. Ann misinterpreted the picture. She thought it was a picture of an animal, but it was a fur coat.
  3. acronym
    • ex. The acronym BTW means "by the way."
  4. baffle
    • ex. The difficult math problem baffled the students.
  5. evolve
    • ex. The city has evolved. It used to have so many trees, but now it’s only buildings.

Article

Read the article below and answer your tutor's questions.

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A recent study showed that children’s internet slang confuses 48% of parents. Nearly half of the 1,000 parents surveyed admitted that there is a language gap between them and their children.

According to the study, parents find it easy to use emojis like the smiling and winking faces, as well as the heart and thumbs up. However, some parents misinterpret other emojis. For example, a number of parents have used the crying with laughter emoji to communicate sadness. In some of the worst cases, the poo emoji had been misinterpreted as food.

Similarly, acronyms and some new internet words baffle parents. One example is the acronym “LOL.” Many parents think that this means “lots of love,” which is what it used to mean. However, the meaning has evolved and the acronym now means “laughing out loud.” When parents see new words like “hangry,” they often think that their children misspelled the word “hungry.” However, the meaning is actually a combination of the words “angry” and “hungry.”

Discussion

Choose a topic and discuss the questions with your tutor.

Generation Gaps

  • Do you think parents and children in your country also have a language gap? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • Aside from the language gap, what other differences are common between parents and children in your country? Why? Discuss.
  • Do you think it's possible to minimize the generation gap? Why or why not? Discuss.

Children and the Internet

  • Do you think children today understand the internet better than their parents? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • Should parents monitor their children’s online activities? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • Do you think some children are addicted to the internet? Why or why not? Discuss.