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Listen "Episode 155 How To Use Current News Articles To Learn English"
Episode Synopsis
Today we're reading an article from Reuters about the release of the online App from Meta, Threads and it's competition with Twitter. You can find this article here:https://www.reuters.com/technology/metas-twitter-rival-threads-hits-100-mln-users-record-five-days-2023-07-10/
Engoo also has an article about this thing. You might find that easier, although it is one of their advanced articles. You can find it here: https://engoo.com/app/daily-news/article/meta-launches-twitter-rival-threads/VNQPOBvoEe6bYgPW13_vtQ
Once you've found all the vocabulary and read the article consider what kinds of questions you could discuss about this topic with co-workers. Here are some of my ideas:
Are you using Threads?
What do you think about Twitter?
What do you think about Elon Musk?
Do you think Twitter is going to be dead now that this has happened?
Do you think Musk really will sue Zuckerberg? And if so, do you think he'll win?
And what's going to happen next?
How do you feel about advertisements on social media?
If you've done everything you can think of with the article then why not try writing your own version. This is a great way to practise your writing skill, but remember you can write it in whatever style you like. You could write it as an information article, like this Reuters article, or your could write it as an opinion piece, just talking about your perspective of the two Apps, or the two CEO's or the software for each, whatever you like.
Vocabulary from Article
Words
Dethroning - to take someone or something off the highest point
Microblogging - Twitter has such a small word count, but people say how they feel now so it's considered micro-blogging
Speedier - faster
dropped - went down
Monetizable - something it's possible to make money from or charge money for
Public disclosure - something explained or told to the public
Takeover - When one person or company buys another company
Analytics - the statistics and findings from study or research
Indicates - shows or demonstrates
Prior - something that happened before or previously
Infrastructure - the structure that something is built on, could be roads or the internet
Trajectory - the direction something is heading
Tanking - dropping very quickly, and in a bad way
Burgeoning - growing very quickly and recently
Mocking - making fun of, laughing at
Behemoth - something very big, a giant
Resemblance - looks like, looks similar to
Rely on - depend on, need to survive
Turmoil - a lot of change and confusion
Uproar - everyone is very upset
Discourse - conversation or discussion
Phrases
Fastest-growing online platform - getting bigger than other online Apps quickly
hit the milestone - 'milestone' means some important point or measurement. So to 'hit the milestone' means you reached an important point.
organic demand - demand that has grown without advertisement, often by word of mouth.
fastest-growing consumer application in history - an app that people who are online use
was down - has dropped
hit an all-time record - the record or important number is higher than has ever been seen before
launching and invite-only beta - started a first version of the App but only invited people, you couldn't join if they didn't let you
maintains a waitlist - to keep a list of people who want to join
geared toward - aimed at or made for a particular group, organisation or kind of people
alleging that - saying, but right now we don't know if it's true or not
would-be rivals - they could be competitors
bears a strong resemblance to - looks very similar to
limits its appeal - stops it from being appealing or interesting
clear path - an easy way to go
pitching itself - telling everyone what it is or what they should expect.
Engoo also has an article about this thing. You might find that easier, although it is one of their advanced articles. You can find it here: https://engoo.com/app/daily-news/article/meta-launches-twitter-rival-threads/VNQPOBvoEe6bYgPW13_vtQ
Once you've found all the vocabulary and read the article consider what kinds of questions you could discuss about this topic with co-workers. Here are some of my ideas:
Are you using Threads?
What do you think about Twitter?
What do you think about Elon Musk?
Do you think Twitter is going to be dead now that this has happened?
Do you think Musk really will sue Zuckerberg? And if so, do you think he'll win?
And what's going to happen next?
How do you feel about advertisements on social media?
If you've done everything you can think of with the article then why not try writing your own version. This is a great way to practise your writing skill, but remember you can write it in whatever style you like. You could write it as an information article, like this Reuters article, or your could write it as an opinion piece, just talking about your perspective of the two Apps, or the two CEO's or the software for each, whatever you like.
Vocabulary from Article
Words
Dethroning - to take someone or something off the highest point
Microblogging - Twitter has such a small word count, but people say how they feel now so it's considered micro-blogging
Speedier - faster
dropped - went down
Monetizable - something it's possible to make money from or charge money for
Public disclosure - something explained or told to the public
Takeover - When one person or company buys another company
Analytics - the statistics and findings from study or research
Indicates - shows or demonstrates
Prior - something that happened before or previously
Infrastructure - the structure that something is built on, could be roads or the internet
Trajectory - the direction something is heading
Tanking - dropping very quickly, and in a bad way
Burgeoning - growing very quickly and recently
Mocking - making fun of, laughing at
Behemoth - something very big, a giant
Resemblance - looks like, looks similar to
Rely on - depend on, need to survive
Turmoil - a lot of change and confusion
Uproar - everyone is very upset
Discourse - conversation or discussion
Phrases
Fastest-growing online platform - getting bigger than other online Apps quickly
hit the milestone - 'milestone' means some important point or measurement. So to 'hit the milestone' means you reached an important point.
organic demand - demand that has grown without advertisement, often by word of mouth.
fastest-growing consumer application in history - an app that people who are online use
was down - has dropped
hit an all-time record - the record or important number is higher than has ever been seen before
launching and invite-only beta - started a first version of the App but only invited people, you couldn't join if they didn't let you
maintains a waitlist - to keep a list of people who want to join
geared toward - aimed at or made for a particular group, organisation or kind of people
alleging that - saying, but right now we don't know if it's true or not
would-be rivals - they could be competitors
bears a strong resemblance to - looks very similar to
limits its appeal - stops it from being appealing or interesting
clear path - an easy way to go
pitching itself - telling everyone what it is or what they should expect.
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