EMAIL EMAIL
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The purpose of this exercise is twofold:
1. to learn how to use email;
2. to practise your writing and informal language.
WHAT IS EMAIL?
Email is electronic mail. Instead of writing a letter, putting a stamp on it and taking it to a letter box, you can simply write a message on the computer and send it to any email address in the world! It's quick and easy. Just click a button to send it. Usually when you send an email it arrives at its destination in a few minutes. Sometimes its there in a second! Its very quick and convenient.
The first thing you need to do is get an email address. There are a few different ways to do this. One quick and easy way is to use one of the free sites. They are listed below.
There are several parts to an email address. Your address may look like this -
koala@myisp.com.au1st part: This is your personal identification
2nd part: This symbol means 'at'. It is in all email addresses after the personal ID
3rd part: This is the name of the organisation that provides your address
4th part: This says whether your address is commercial (com) or government (gov)
5th part: This says which country you are from. American addresses have no 5th part. Other countries all have a code Australia's code is
Your teacher may give you an address related to whre you are studying. If not, you can get an address from one of the free email sites listed below.
FREE EMAIL SITES
Go to one of the sites below to get an email address. Follow the instructions. You will be asked for a userid (user identity). (When you choose an email ID for yourself, its best to keep it to 8 letters/numbers or less.) You will also be asked for a password. Make sure you REMEMBER your userid and your password.You'll be able to get an email address in a matter of minutes. When you have your address you can send email to anyone else who has an email address. For example, your classmates or friends across the world.
You can get into your email anytime by typing in the address of the email provider you used (above). So make sure you REMEMBER that too. In fact as soon as you get your address, get a pen and paper and write down these details.
1. your user name
2. your password
3. the net address of the email provider
Now find out your classmates' email addresses and write an email to one of them!
YOU CAN SEND EMAIL TO:
a) your whole class;
b) one or two people in your class;
c) anyone else anywhere in the world (if you know their email address).
d) emailing lists for special interest groups.
CLASS MAILING LISTS
If you are going to use a class mailing list, your teacher will give you instructions on how to send mail to the list.
A class mailing list is a way to send the same piece of mail to everyone in the group. You just write it once, type in the address of the group, click send and off it goes! The mail will arrive and be available for the other group members to read in a few minutes. (Of course, you can still send to just one person if you want to by typing in that person's address!)
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TO THE TEACHER It's not difficult to create a list. You may need to seek technical assistance. Ask for help creating the list a week of so before you're ready to use the list with the class. That way there will be plenty of time to get it ready. |
When you are connected you should begin by writing an email to the group. Here's an assignment for you.
Begin by writing something for the group to read. Finish the sentence below and write a paragraph on the topic (give information about where, how to get there, what to do there, cost, etc.). Do it NOW.
A great place to go on the weekend is ...
When you finish writing, send your email to the group mailing list. It should arrive within a few minutes. Then read your classmates' email.
Other topics your class could write about in later sessions are:
a. good ways to study vocabulary;
b. how to find opportunities outside the classroom to speak English;
c. the funniest thing / most embarrassing thing that has happened to you in Australia;
d. what you will be doing in the future; three years from now;
e. an interesting site on the Internet (Maybe you found a great site to read something about your country, or a site to learn about Australian slang. Maybe there's a great site about how to build a motor-bike. You can use this class email list to tell your classmates about what you found that interests you and may interest others.).
EMAILING LISTS
An emailing list is made up of a group of people who are all interested in the same subject. Your class mailing list is one type of emailing list. Other email lists are made up of people from around the world. There is an ESL teachers' list with over 30,000 members from around the world.
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TO THE TEACHER How to subscribe to an emailing list for your students . You will need to click on Email lists on the Homepage. Click on La Trobe Uni SL-Lists. Read the information there and follow the instructions. It's easy. You'll probably need to start organising this a week or so before you are ready to start using email in the lab.The site also has links to information about netiquette (good manners on the Internet). You can find this under the heading, Hints on Using the Net.You may like to download some information for your students. |
If you are going to use emailing lists, your teacher will have joined you to a general introductory list based at La Trobe University in Melbourne. This list includes ESL students from all over the world. This is a starting place where you can learn a bit about emailing and can practise. From there you can join a list where you can read and join discussions on a subject that interests you. The choices are:
INTRO-SL Student EFL/ESL Discussion List for New Members CHAT-SL Student EFL/ESL General Discussion List (Low level) DISCUSS-SL Student EFL/ESL General Discussion List (High level) BUSINESS-SL Student EFL/ESL Discussion List on Business English ENGL-SL Student EFL/ESL Discussion List on Learning English EVENT-SL Student EFL/ESL Discussion List on Current Events MOVIE-SL Student EFL/ESL Discussion List on the Cinema MUSIC-SL Student EFL/ESL Discussion List on Music SPORT-SL Student EFL/ESL Discussion List on Sports SCITECH-SL Student EFL/ESL Discussion List on Science & Technology
Don't get too enthusiastic. If you join one list you may get anywhere between five and fifty (or more) email messages a week. If you join all of the lists imagine how much mail you will get! You'll have to sit up all day and all night just reading your email! So choose the one that interests you most. Your teacher will give you some information about how to join and also how to stop receiving the mail later on.
ABOUT EMAILING LISTS
When you get mail from a mailing list, it doesn't just go to you. It goes to everyone in the group. There may be five people in the group or a thousand and five people. You can just read the mail if you want to. Sometimes you may feel like writing to the group about something that someone else has said. For example, if someone on the movie list said that Jackie Chan stinks and you disagree you might want to say so. Or if someone on the music list said that Elvis Presley is still King, you might want to agree and say why, or disagree and say why. It's always up to you whether you want to write back or not. If you do, it's a good opportunity to practise your informal writing skills. Talking about informal writing skills, your teacher has probably got some information for you about netiquette. Netiquette means using good manners on the Internet. Have a look at that now. You can also look at the Homepage and click on Hints on Using the Net and then click on Netiquette Quiz.
Now you should be ready to post an email to the introductory list and subscribe to an email list that interests you.
Happy mailing!
And in case you've been asleep for the last half hour, here's a quick quiz to wake you up!
HERE'S A QUICK QUIZ ABOUT EMAIL
1. When you send email, how long does it take to get there?
2. Emailing lists are
:3. Why do you think we use email in the classroom?
4. It's rude not to reply to mail on a mailing list
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Answers to quiz: 1a, 2c, 3a (surprisingly, email has been shown to improve learners' speaking!), 4c
