Zeng Yunshuo, Class 4, Senior 2, Shenzhen Foreign Languages School Instructed by Lai Xinyan

The world has undoubtedly witnessed a whole range of dramatic transformations, since the era of internet began. We now have access to a brand-new form of communication, where an equally novel form of language has come into being known as net talk. Now that this peculiar style is prevailing, people are simultaneously arguing about whether it is appropriate to use this language.

For those in favor of its use, it is from their perspectives that net talk provides a bright vision of the future development of language. Net talk uses lot of abbreviations; for example, “BTW” means “by the way,” and “CU” means “See you.” Furthermore, when we are expressing our feelings, net talk tends to be more direct, such as simply sending “TAT” to illustrate that one is sad. In this way, the time taken by typing can be largely shortened and efficiency greatly improved. To fit in with the current rapid pace of life, this modification in language usage is probably essential.

On the contrary, as the opponents would claim, net talk does harm to the general norm of language usage. Although it seems convenient to type “BTW” instead of “by the way,” what if this form of abbreviation passes on through centuries and generations? At that time, our descendants will not be able to write even a complete and grammatically correct sentence.

On top of this, the replacement of depiction is difficult to find, even if in a visual form. Despite the fact that “TAT” looks just like a crying face, due to the loss of literary beauty it can never be a substitute of “welling one’s eyes with bitter tears.”

From my point of view, both sides display distinctive aspects about the development of net talk, and neither should be neglected. It is wise for us to adopt net talk as an easy means of communication, particularly when we are engaged with work or study, to save more time.

On the other hand, we should not ignore the education on literacy and literature, so that future generations can still appreciate the magnificence of our culture.