Twinglish - English on Twitter

What is Twitter?

Twitter is a social networking service (like Facebook or My Space) that allows users to send and read messages. Users post their messages on their wall and read messages sent by other people they 'follow'.

Each twitter post, called a tweet, uses a maximum of 140 characters which is about 30 words at most. That means you can write a couple of short sentences or one long one.

Twitter is very popular with famous people. US President Barack Obama has nearly 8 million people following his updates.

What's Twinglish?

In Asia, especially in Japan, people are using twitter to practice English. Visit Twitter's website and search for twinglish and you'll see a constantly updating list of Japanese English learners tweeting in English.

Why you should use twitter

Because most English learners live in places where there's little opportunity to learn English, Twitter is a good way to start thinking in English.

Switch your brain from your native language to English is a very important part of the learning process.

Choose your words carefully, focus on your grammar and directly communicate with the English-speaking world. With a little of effort you can start corresponding with other learners and native speakers too.

Perhaps you are thinking what should I write about. It really doesn't matter! People tweet about everything and everything. It's common to see such simple posts as "I'm hungry". People usually write about what they're doing on the big news events of the time.

To make what you're writing about easier to find by others, use the hashtag, the “#” symbol. For example, "English grammar is really confusing! #learnenglish". #learnenglish the subject of your post and is something people like you other English learners may be looking for. #twinglish is a popular tag in Asia.

We're on twitter and you should be too!

Speak to you on there!

Do you have a Twitter account? Do you like using it? Why or why not?

Are the following statements True or False?

• 1 - Twitter messages are known as tweets.
  
  False
  True
  
  
• 2 - You cannot use less than 30 words in your message.
  
  False
  True
  
  
• 3 - Politicians may use Twitter.
  
  False
  True
  
  
• 4 - Thinking in English is an important skill.
  
  True
  False
  
  
• 5 - People post messages on any subject.
  
  False
  True