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WiFi
WiFi

Learn English with this WiFi English lesson

Date: Oct 26 2018

Themes: Tech

Grammar: Be Able To

Intro

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Can you imagine life without WiFi? It wasn’t that long ago that the world didn’t have the internet. To get information back then, people used dictionaries, encyclopedias, movies, and the telephone, among other things. The word WiFi itself meant nothing to us, so it didn’t matter if your phone or laptop could get it.

It wasn’t as easy to get information back then, but maybe being without internet has its advantages. If you don’t have a smartphone, you don’t have to rely on getting access to a good signal. Without WiFi, it’s not important to live somewhere that gets a strong connection. Some people might even prefer what life was like before the digital age, as hard as that is for many of us to believe.

Do Jessica and Gary depend on WiFi in their homes and for their phones? Find out by reading today’s English lesson about technology.

Dialog

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Jessica

Jessica

Gary

Gary

Jessica:  I do a lot of work from home, Gary.

Gary:  Yeah.

Jessica:  And today my internet connection went out…

Gary:  Oh, no.

Jessica:  …and I lost signal. My signal was coming in and out, and it stressed me out so much.

Gary:  I bet you rely on that signal to be able to keep you connected to the internet, because your business…

Jessica:  Exactly.

Gary:  Yeah.

Jessica:  I find it so funny, though. I left the house yesterday, and I didn’t have my smartphone on me. And the panic that I felt was absolutely ridiculous. Because I feel like, in this digital age, we have to have access to the internet at all times.

Gary:  And what’s really funny is that WiFi is so important at home, but what’s actually interesting is that with smartphones, WiFi isn’t that important because they’re connected by another type of technology. So we’ve got this double back-up thing happening…

Jessica:  Yeah.

Gary:  …which is really neat.

Jessica:  Very cool.

Gary:  Yeah.

 

Grammar Point

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Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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Discussion

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Jessica lost access to WiFi today. It was challenging for her because she works from her home, and she uses the internet for her job. Yesterday she left her cell phone at home, so again, she wasn’t able to connect to the internet. She was surprised at how worried and anxious it made her feel to be without a way to get online.

Gary obviously understands how Jessica feels. He knows that she needs to be able to use the internet for her work. He points out that smartphones have a back-up system when they can’t connect to WiFi, which demonstrates how important it is for people to know that they can use the internet. It’s just what life is like in this digital age.

How do you feel when you can’t use WiFi? Is life simpler without the internet?

 

Comments

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Tracy1989214

China

I rely on Wifi everyday. If I can’t use Wifi,I feel uncomfortable.

09:47 AM Oct 17 2014 |

1 person likes this

goodmahsa

goodmahsa

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

due to some reasons I lost access to permanent Internet , in simpler words I didn’t have Internet at home for about one year .Believe it or not life was much better and more beautiful since I had my husband all the time with myself but now again he spends a great deal of his time surfing the internet and it makes me sick :(

10:37 PM Oct 14 2014 |

Seiyf_khawas

Turkey

man said , “your love looks like WiFi ,for me”


“what ” asked she, “my love is a WiFi for you ? “


yes said man..with smiles..Im a mobile phone and you are my WiFi ,I connect to life with your love ..


“ohh !! you are my smartphone , crazy man” said she. 


:)


really WiFi offers us many good advantages for communicating with our families,relatives,friends in hotels,restaurants,airports,in the buses,ships ..also in the streets..


:)


from Ice age to Digital age ..



a little note : WiFi means Wireless Fidelity  is a local area wireless technology that allows an electronic device to exchange data or connect to the internet . source: wikipedia


:)

07:25 PM Oct 14 2014 |

fcf515

fcf515

Taiwan

I am a heavy user of WiFi. When travelling, we always have to ensure there is free WiFi in the hotel we stay. And when eating at a restaurant, it is pleasent if the restaurant provides WiFi for its patrons. We felt awful last time when we found the connection of the hotel’s WiFi was weak and unstable, because we couldn’t watch online videos or visit any websites.

09:06 AM Oct 14 2014 |

meysam66

meysam66

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

I haven’t used WiFi!! Why? becouse I don’t have a smartphone. I bought a cellphone about ten years ago!!! it keeps working. I use the internet about 10 hours a day,becouse my job is stock marketing.

05:27 AM Oct 14 2014 |

max1983max

max1983max

Germany

Previously, in order to go to sleep I had to turn off the light, and now WiFi.

11:13 PM Oct 13 2014 |

Irene Forever

Ukraine

Oh, I just adore WiFi. I don’t even know what would i do without that great invention of the mankind. It allows me to feel relaxed lying in bed and surfing on the Internet wherever i wish. I don’t use it much while being outside, but when i’m at home, it’s my pleasure to have it.


shahriarheydari

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

Addiction to Internet some times getting worse than cocaine  :D

05:31 PM Oct 13 2014 |

 julito

julito

Argentina

I am wondering how we people from older generations have survived living without this high technology, smart phones, Facebook ,Twitter and so forth. What a Great Leap Forward to instant communications, no matter where we live or are, but watch out ,there is no more secrets in this virtual world, this technology is vulnerable to hackers and so on. Much is written about the pros and cons of the Use of Internet.

SÉRGIO

SÉRGIO

Brazil

That´s new era! people more virtually conected than phisically!! Whether good or not, who can know it??

12:41 PM Oct 13 2014 |

Yemeni4u

Yemeni4u

Yemen

Whether you think life was easier back then, or better now, the Internet has created a sea change in the way we live our lives. Let’s take a look at the way things were before the Internet took over our lives.


1. Apples were something that grew on a tree. Amazon was a river in South America. And a tablet was the pill form of an Advil or Tylenol.


2. Computers were large clunky boxes relegated to libraries, offices and college computer labs. Laptops didn’t come around until the 1990s. To save a document, you relied on a floppy disk to do the job.


3. “Chatting” was something you did with a friend over coffee.


4. To communicate with friends and family who lived far away, you hand wrote letters and mailed them at the post office.


5. To make a phone call, you used a landline phone. You know, the kind that was attached to the wall of your kitchen and used metal wire lines for transmission. If you wereout of the house, you had to find a payphone. Cell phone usage didn’t become widespread until the 2000s.


6. To look up phone numbers, you called 411 or used a phone book.


7. People would actually answer the phone when you called, since voice mail and answering machines were not around to “leave a message at the beep.”


8. Libraries were filled with books and encyclopedias that you’d have to read when you were writing a research paper. No “Googling” or searching the Web for answers.


9. Buying music meant going to the record store and buying a record, CD or cassette tape and playing it on your record player, Walkman or Boom Box. Going to the record store to pick out a new album was a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon with friends.


10. You used paper maps to navigate your way on the roads. No GPS back then.


11. Parents couldn’t track their kids with “Find My Phone” or other GPS cell phone-tracking apps. (Thank God!)


12. If you needed money, you had to walk into a bank and make a withdrawal. ATM use didn’t become widespread until the late 1980s.


13. If you wanted to talk to many friends at the same time, you had to be in the same room with them. No instant messaging back then.


14. Parents picked up their kids at a set time and location. If you needed a ride, you were there waiting. None of the current, “I’ll text you when I need a ride, Mom.”




10:20 AM Oct 13 2014 |

vik32

vik32

India

i guess life is better with internet as it makes you independent. no matter where you are, in what situtation you are internet is always there to help you out. the best thing about internet is that it isn’t made for any specific or particular group it is for all. be it housewife, working woman, kid, adolescent ,working man etccc.. it helps us all. 

05:23 AM Oct 13 2014 |

Michele1

Michele1

Italy

I am also so glad to use smartphone now .I am often connected to the internet during the day expecially when I have to drive to many places. But I also am little sad because most  people don’t like to socialize, no more like two or three years ago.Every day I meet many students going to the schools,sometimes  in group of more than 6 -7 people,walking and using their smartphones, without to talk with  their close friends,like if they were not there with them…They look like to stay toghether as ghosts,they don’t speak, all mute, looking only at the smartphone’s screen…I hope they will modify their behaviours soon to live better .

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