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Burning a CD

Burning a CD

Date: Aug 29 2003

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

English is a complicated language. One of the things that makes it so difficult to learn is that it’s always changing. New words and expressions are invented every day. Some of the language that changes the most is that which relates to technology. Every time a new technology is created, someone has to create the language to describe it.
A good example of a new technology related expression is “Burning a CD.” “Burn” is the verb used to describe the action of recording data (information or music) onto a compact disc.
Read on to learn more!

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

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

“Burning a CD” is one of a million different expressions that are used to describe technology. Here are some more common examples of techspeak:
rip
[v] to transfer music from a CD to a computer
url
[n] the address of a web page on the world wide web
JPEG
[n] a type of digital photograph, a compressed digital photogragh (usually of natural or real-world scenes / not non-realistic images, such as cartoons or drawings)
gif
[n] a type of digital image, a compressed digital image (usually of non-realistic images, such as cartoons, drawings or text / not natural or real-world scenes)
download
[v] to transfer data, music, images or computer code from one computer to another (usually using the internet, but not always)
surf
[v]  look around the web casually and randomly, without seeking anything in particular
processor
[n]  the part of a computer (a microprocessor chip) that does most of the data processing; the processor and the memory form the central part of a computer
To find more techspeak definitions, check out: hyperdictionary.com

 

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Discussion

Like I mentioned, there are lots of different examples of techspeak. Unfortunately, I can’t list them all here. I tried to give you the most common terms. Hopefully, they’ll give you a little bit of familiarity with the kind of language you’ll need to know if you want to speak intelligently about technology.
Good luck!
John

 

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