Emoticons

--> I encourage auditory learners to listen to authentic recordings during our private English lessons, İngilizce özel ders, in İstanbul. I introduced my student B. to the use of this, that, these, and those with this TED talk by Rives.

Basically, the student listens for the meaning of each emoticon, and then introduces what the punctuation marks and abbreviations represent.

>^..^<

This is a cat.

^ ^

These are the ears.

> <

These are the whiskers.

Our favorite is YLLAMBWLAW, you look like a mermaid but walk like a waltz.

It is great for a Turkish student's listening skills, too, because the letter W does not exist in the Turkish alphabet.

Draw emoticons in the comments!