Instant messages

Read a conversation by instant messages to practise and improve your reading skills.

Instructions

Do the preparation task first. Then read the text and do the exercises.

Preparation

Matching_MjIzMzU=

Reading text

You there, Beatriz?

Hang on, Andrew.

OK. What's up?

It's Caroline's birthday tomorrow.

Oh yeah, that's right!

You thought about what to get her?

You mean a present? Weren't you buying one from both of us?

I'm sorry! It totally slipped my mind!

😳

And I'm working 'til late.

So …

Could you pick up a gift today?

I guess. What sort of thing were you thinking of?

Dunno. Got any ideas?

One sec. Phone.

OK, I'm back.

Just had an idea for a gift.

Go on.

New headphones?

Nah. Jeremy said he was getting her headphones.

OK. What then?

Have you seen those gift certificates for a spa? Maybe one of those?

She'd love that!

I'll pick it up today then.

Thanks a million. Appreciate it.

No worries. See you tomorrow then?

Yep.

What time was it again? 4?

4.30. I can pick you up at your house if you like.

👍 👍 👍 👍

CU then.

Bye for now.

Discussion

What do you prefer – sending messages to your friends or phoning them?

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Worksheet129.04 KB

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Language level

B2 - Upper intermediate

Topics

social media

It depends on the situation. Lately, I prefer texting. I think it's more suitable for almost any case. My friend can be at the driver's seat or has an important meeting, so I just show him my intention to share some information with him and, if he's free we can talk. It became more weighty now, due to the COVID-19 when many of us have to work home with unnormalized hours. Of course, if my message is urgent I call him without all this "texting prelude". But it's not happened often. Mostly I phone just to know what's new or so. I would like to say, it works quite well with my buddies. As for me, I also prefer it when my friend texts me instead of phone calls. I fell more comfortable when I can arrange my time and free some of it for calling in advance.

First, I text my friend if I am at work. Second, I contact her if she didn't text me back. Third, I come over to her house and find out why she didn't respond.

I think it's depend on the situation. Sending messages is useful to talk about daily matters like what's going on with them or just to get in touch with . But if I need to convey something that it's urgent and important I'd rather calling them. If my friend is busy which it could happens once in a while i would firstly send a message to agreed an special time when we can have a conversation.

If the situation is not really urgent, I prefer just sending a message than talking through the phone. Because I can keep it simple and not everybody is in the situation to picking up their cellphone. By sending message we also can think about what we want to say first and not talking spontaneously

Hi everybody. If I have to tell something important and urgent, I will call my friend. Sometimes when I haven´t seen my friends in a long time, I make a long call to tell them about important news in my life. Despite WhatsApp has a lot of "emojis" I think is really hard to express your emotions. I use messages when I want to tell something short, or without importance.

Hi everyone! I think it depends. For example, if I need to say something very important and urgent, I make a call. But, if I don’t need to get a response shortly, I think a message is better than make call. Guys, I’m new here and I would like to ask something. If I write wrong, please correct me. It will helps me a lot. I’m Brazilian and I’m here to improve my English. When I write phrases and texts, I prefer do this without see on Google Translator, because I don’t know if it’s possible to completely trust in it. Thank you!

Well, Prefer to call my friends rather use messages. It bit costly compare to message but in short we convey our thought to the point. Often we need to write very long messages just to share some unnecessary news or thought.

Well, I prefer phoning my friends rather than texting since it is not always possible to write long messages to your friends. Also when you write short texts , they usually don't convey the exact message properly since it lacks the tone of voice. It looks really blank when you text (in most cases). So phoning is better if your friends are not busy.

Well, that depends on how crucial the information is. I'd call them up if it's a matter of urgency. However, I'll still do so even if it's not. Say contacting an old time kind of a "lost and found" friend. In this context, I would love to hear them express their feelings/ experiences through laughter, listen to their verbal talk and get a deeper understanding from their tone of voice. Yet still l could send them messages, especially when I am in the middle of something important, say at work or school where alot of interruptions would obviously be inevitable.

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