Communication and its forms

Communication and its forms

It is important for people to communicate. They express their thoughts, opinions, feelings, emotions. People can get and give information, discuss problems etc. Communication is the way of exchanging information – thoughts, ideas, messages...

VERBAL COMMUNICATION

1. SPOKEN LANGUAGE

 - face to face communication (dialogical), personal, you can ask questions, we may repeat some words or retell them in a simpler way - stress, tone, pauses also help the speaker to express the meaning 

- speech also includes laughter, sighs, filler phrases /um, you know/  • disadvantage of spoken communication: - when something has been said it cannot be taken back

- if you are excited, sometimes it is hard to express an idea

1. WRITTEN LANGUAGE

- one-way communication (monological) - the reader cannot react immediately /feedback/ - it is more formal way of communication, ideas are more structured, organized /with examples/, planned • but it also has disadvantages: - long explanations can be confusing and boring

vocabulary: rich, words are not repeated (we have more time for writing) - punctuation is also very important in written texts: brackets( ), comma (,), colon (:), semicolon(;), exclamation mark (!), question mark (?), full stop (.), dash (–), apostrophe (')

NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION

- sign language – gestures, body language, postures, facial expressions, eye contact, colours...

- we always smile, frown, make different gestures, shapes and movements with our hands.

 Examples: • We can shake hands and nod our heads, wave goodbye, kiss goodbye, wink at someone, lick

our lips, raise our eyebrows, kiss, hug...

• When someone is yawning, he/she is tired or bored,
• When someone is sitting with eyes and mouth open wide, he/she is fascinated or surprised
• When someone is banging fist on the table, he/she is angry,

- sign language is mostly used by deaf people (a system of gestures and hand movements) - when people are in danger, they send a mayday - a system of sending messages, using dots and dashes is called Morse code. - different system of written signs is included in Braille  (used by blind people)

Symbols and colours

- traffic signs, pictograms (internationally known: H= hospital, P=car park) - owl (symbol of wisdom), red rose (symbol of love), - black colour (symbol of death), white colour (symbol of innocence)

WAYS OF COMMUNICATION

- face to face communication, chatting, gossiping, phone calls, fax messages, text messages, notes, letters, e-mails, postcards…

MODERN MEANS OF COMMUNICATION

- walkie-talkies, home phones, mobile phones, faxes, Internet, social networking sites, TV, radio...

COMPUTERS AND THE INTERNET (pros and cons)

- computers have changed our lives, they help us work faster, more effectively - the Internet contains a lot of information from different areas of society, we can find everything there - it makes our life easier, it's very fast and comfortable - emails offer a cheap, easy and fast alternative to traditional methods of correspondence (or telephone) - we can chat with friends, shop online, send emails, listen to music, watch films, date someone, pay bills

- cons: - it can be addictive

- some people spend hours chatting with "friends" online without meeting them

- some people think that they have lost their time and privacy

- some older people don't know how to use it, don't understand modern technology

- some people are lost when they have to write without a "spell-check"

- virtual life gradually replaces real life (we are losing personal contact with other people)

MOBILE PHONES (pros and cons)

- they are more convenient than home phones, we can take it everywhere - but, on the other hand, we are reachable everywhere at any time - we have to pay for the minutes spoken - using a cell phone when you are driving is forbidden and can be dangerous - it is impersonal communication - people send messages, they don't meet each other personally - when we are talking on the phone we cannot see the reactions, facial expressions of the listener - when we are talking on the phone in public places, everyone can hear what we are talking about 

• DEVELOPMENT OF COMMUNICATION

- humans communicated through sounds, facial expressions, gestures and body posture - it was very primitive way of communication.

- later they used pictures, signs, and finally letters

- in 15th century Johann Guttenberg invented printing and written texts were easily spread among people.

- the new inventions in the 20th century (radio, television, computers) caused mass communication among people and the information started spreading in a very short time.

- the number of people using mobiles rapidly increased

- nowadays we cannot imagine our lives without mobiles or computers and other modern technologies.

• There are different ways we talk to our friends (peers) at the parties, classmates or teachers at school or to police officers at the police station.
• When we are talking to our friends we feel relaxed, we use slang, we have our own language and special expressions only we can understand. In informal communication we use simple structures, ellipsis, slang, swear words, interjections ('wow'). We can whisper, shout, mime, cry, laugh... When we are writing text messages we use abbreviations, such as: LOL (laughing out loud), CU (see you), ICQ (I seek you), B4 (before), OMG, GR8 (great)...
• When we are talking to officers, unknown people, we use formal expressions, don't use so many gestures, don't laugh that much, we are polite, answer questions in a neutral way, don't show emotions...

VOCABULARY

shake hands ‒ potriasť rukou

nod head ‒ kývnuť hlavou

thoughts ‒ myšlienky

opinions ‒ názory

deaf ‒ hluchý

face to face ‒ tvárou v tvár (osobne)

laughter ‒ smiech

sighs ‒ povzdychy

feedback ‒ spätná väzba

punctuation ‒ interpunkcia

banging fist ‒ udrieť päsťou

wave ‒ mávať

wink ‒ žmurkať

yawn ‒ zívať

raise eyebrows ‒ zdvihnúť obočie

mayday ‒ SOS

Morse code ‒ morzeovka

Braille ‒ Brailovo písmo

blind ‒ slepý

gossip ‒ klebeta

walkie-talkie ‒ vysielačka

social network ‒ sociálna sieť

comfortable ‒ pohodlný

correspondence ‒ korešpondencia

privacy ‒ súkromie0

replace ‒ nahradiť

reachable ‒ dosiahnuteľný

facial expressions ‒ výrazy tváre

gesture ‒ gesto

posture ‒ postoj

body language ‒ reč tela

frown ‒ mračiť sa

peers ‒ rovesníci

whisper ‒ šepkať

shout ‒ kričať, vrešťať

swear words ‒ hrešenia, nadávky

interjections ‒ citoslovcia

abbreviations ‒ skrátené výrazy

polite ‒ slušný, zdvorilý

rapidly increased ‒ prudko sa zvýšil

forbidden ‒ zakázaný

means of communication ‒ prostriedky komunikácie

owl ‒ sova

wisdom ‒ múdrosť

exchange ‒ vymeniť si

persuasion ‒ presviedčanie

development ‒ vývoj

sign language ‒ znaková reč (posunková)

text message ‒ textová správa

to text somebody ‒ poslať SMS

take back ‒ vziať späť

kiss goodbye ‒ pobozkať na rozlúčku

say goodbye ‒ rozlúčiť sa

greeting ‒ pozdrav

pull face ‒ robiť grimasy

get in touch with somebody ‒ byť v kontakte

yell ‒ vrieskať

whistle ‒ pískať

addictive ‒ návykový

way ‒ spôsob

traffic signs ‒ dopravné značky

offer ‒ ponúkať

contain ‒ obsahovať

alternative ‒ náhrada, alternatíva

printing ‒ tlač