Texting English vs Spoken English: The Difference

Introduction:

Texting English is used predominantly in our society today for positive reasons, such as facilitating fast communication and allowing communication with respondents who are unable to speak directly. What would you do in a situation where you would have to introduce yourself to a colleague, teacher, friend, or even a stranger? At first, your mind may wander to simplistic phrases such as

• “Hello, I am John. What is your name?”

• “Lovely weather today, am I right? How’s your day going?

Emulating a conversation in our heads and being excited because we can control what each individual says, but in a real discussion, it's difficult to gauge what might come from another individual's mouth. It may cause some people to fear diversity in conversations and resort to common phrases just to have the safest possible chance of not making a mistake. However, not thinking before you speak can seriously alter how English is perceived.

Texting English:

Texting English is a form of abbreviations used in conversation; it’s heavily used in messages to quickly send and receive information as efficiently as possible. Here are some examples of it,

• Btw is short for By the way

• Hru is short for How are you

• Ttyl is short for Talk to you later

Abbreviations like these exist for numerous different phrases and work pretty effectively when talking to friends. However, typing is fixed. In other words, typing has limited emotion or meaning to it; there aren’t any feelings to understand, which causes it to be dull and not thought of. It's silent, fast, edited, and unresponsive at times, whereas real communication is loud, slow at times, and responses are heard almost immediately. The emotion is the primary factor that makes real conversations enjoyable for both individuals participating in them. Texting is fun, but it doesn’t allow either person to fully understand what the other is saying, and abbreviations make it seem like a forced interaction instead of a fun experience.

Texting English is like its own language; it has its own distinct grammar rules. In fact, the majority of people don’t even use proper grammar when texting, as it's improper and takes too much effort to include. Texting is important for communication when individuals are unable to communicate in person and need a quick source of information, but it shouldn’t be a replacement for actual communication, where real emotion and feelings are put into each word. Talking to someone face-to-face allows both people to understand each other more fully, and sharing information about each other feels more natural. Overall, it's important to text when necessary, but it should never be a substitute for actual communication.

How Does Texting Affect Speaking?

We established that texting should be secondary to speaking, but why? Firstly, abbreviations can hinder the ability to truly understand what they mean and how to properly enunciate them. For example, saying btw may cause by the way to feel harder to pronounce because your mind is not accustomed to saying the full phrase. Abbreviations simplify things to a point where direct communication feels a dozen times harder than it needs to be.

Secondly, vocabulary tends to become passive. Typing is a rule for everyone, and all habits that you follow are typically done by everyone else. Getting used to seeing the same words over and over again can significantly tense up your vocabulary. Times when new vocabulary words are read aren’t fully interpreted by the mind because it’s not actively being processed; only your eyes scan the word. In a real conversation, new words are heard upfront, and you can hear the proper pronunciation and the emotion that goes into the word. There’s also more leverage to ask questions about certain words physically, rather than texting.

Lastly, your mouth is not trained properly. As mentioned earlier, hearing words in context enables individuals to incorporate those words into their vocabulary in the future. Speaking English is similar to exercise. The muscles, sound, and breath are all important factors in clear speaking. Constantly texting overtime weakens your ability to vocalize words for long periods of time

Is Texting Harmful?

Texting is not harmful; it simply needs to be mitigated in certain situations. In our technologically advanced era with all sorts of devices, texting has become a norm, and can even save us in some circumstances. However, it shouldn’t be a replacement for regular communication between friends. It can cause the brain to blank out during conversations because it’s so accustomed to texting abbreviations and not thinking critically. Texting is systematic and efficient, but it partially trains speaking skills.. Speaking, however, is enjoyed thoroughly and builds proper communication skills, which are applied to a variety of different scenarios.

Conclusion:

Ultimately, texting isn’t the worst crime. Be sure to limit your interactions and try to communicate with people face-to-face or over the phone. Emotion can be understood, which is the foundation of a conversation. Our group at Hope through English aims to enhance everyone's communication skills and foster confidence in our peers to master all aspects of English. 

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