The Internet
Objectives:
 Internet vocabulary
 Using the web
 Using email
In your office is a network of computers. The Internet is a network of networks.
The most famous and visible part of the Internet is called the World Wide Web
(www).
On your computer there are many files. A file can be a document, a web page,
a picture, an mp3, a movie, etc.
Each file on the Internet has a Universal Resource Locater (URL). You
probably know many URLs like www.yahoo.com.tw, www.google.com etc. To
access our online English programs you can use the URL www.tou.com.tw
We often call the URL a ‘web address’ or ‘internet address.’ The NDI’s Internet
address is www.ndi.org.tw
What is your organizations Internet address?
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If you don’t know the URL or if you want to find information on the Internet,
you can use a ‘search engine’. The most famous search engine is Google (
www.google.com ).
Your can also use a ‘directory’. The most famous directory is Yahoo
(www.yahoo.com ). Another important directory is the Open Directory
(www.dmoz.org ).
Email
Electronic mail is one of the most useful Internet applications. Today, most
people have an email address. With email, you can communicate to anyone,
instantly, anywhere.
Both web addresses and email addresses contain a domain name and a top –
level domain name. In the address ‘ www.yahoo.com ’, ‘yahoo’ is the domain
and ‘com’ is the top level domain. ‘tw’ is a country-specific tld (top level
domain).
In a web address, the domain name is preceded by ‘www’. In an email
address, the domain name is preceded by a person’s name and the ‘at’
symbol - @
In English we do not say @ ‘small mouse’. We say “joe at yahoo.com”, not
“joe small mouse yahoo.com”.
What is your email address?
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______
When you write an email you need to:
1. Enter the recipients email address (recipient=person who will receive the
email).
2. Write a subject-line
3. Write the message
The subject-line is very important. It should be short and relevant. Examples:
‘Information Request’, ‘Meeting Agenda’.
The content of your subject line must not look like spam (junk email), so don’t
write messages like: ‘Hi’. ‘Hello friend.’ ‘Please read’, ‘important’. Never write
your subject or message IN BLOCK LETTERS.
In your message, you can be casual or formal. If you are writing to David
Smith, for example, you can begin the message with:




Hi David,
Hello David,
David,
Dear Mr Smith,
End your email with:
 Regards
 Your name
 Yours Sincerely
Discussion Questions
1. Why should you use BLOCK LETTERS?
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2. How can you ensure the recipient reads your mail?
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Chat rooms
Internet chat lets you communicate with one or more people in ‘real-time’.
Chat rooms can be used for fun or for online classes or meetings. You can
access chat rooms with Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger or from web sites
or other programs.
In a chat room, you can type messages or use a microphone and/or webcam
(camera). When you use a camera and microphone, a chat room can become
a ‘video-conference.’