Twerking, Selfie and FOMO: Should we tolerate or discard this new breed of words?

The news that words such as ‘twerking’, ‘selfie’ and ‘FOMO’ have been added to the Oxford English Dictionary has been greeted with much consternation.

Twerking, a provocative dance, and selfie, a self-portrait photograph usually taken on a mobile phone, now appear in the dictionary’s online edition.

FOMO, an acronym that stands for fear of missing out, and refers to anxiety caused by seeing social media posts that imply something more exciting is happening elsewhere, also made the grade.

There was widespread criticism of their inclusion.

Michael Dirda, a journalist writing in the Washington Post, summed up the general mood by saying: “Like so much digital terminology, many of these new words are ugly.

“Most of these new words and acronyms are probably never meant to be spoken by actual human beings. They live and breathe only on the tiny screen.”

He added: “No doubt they have their place, but let them stay there.”

A classic selfie

So is it snobbish to agree with Dirda or should we be fighting against the use of these new words?

In theory, English teachers should be teaching a clean and correct version of the language, with no place for fly-by-night slang.

Having said that, the main reason that native English speakers are in such high demand in non-English speaking countries is that they use a ‘genuine’ version of the language. This is preferable to the stilted and unrealistic English found in many textbooks.

If native English speakers use these words enough, then why not include them in the dictionary? And why not teach them to your students (provided they are relevant to the topic at hand)?

Words appear and develop in a way that we cannot control.

The poet Samuel Coleridge denounced ‘talented’ as a barbarous word in 1832 and a letter-writer to the Times, in 1857, described ‘reliable’ as vile. The reason – they were considered  too ‘American’. I think we would all agree that speakers of British English would now use these words without hesitation.

They became a part of our language, whether we liked it or not.

A man enjoys a spot of lunting

Similarly, words fall out of fashion and become obsolete. ‘Twattle’, meaning to gossip, was popular in the 1600s. Had you been around in the 1800s you may have heard the word ‘lunting’, meaning to walk while smoking a pipe.

But both words don't appear in most modern dictionaries. Why? Simply because nobody uses them anymore.

So, despite all the grumbling - twerking, selfie and FOMO are now officially a part of the English language. Whether they will stand the test of time remains to be seen...

Tragedy in Tanzania

Our first real UK-TEFL blog post has unfortunately, and rather unexpectedly, taken on a rather sombre tone.

Usually tales from the world of TEFL are filled with excitement, wonder and friendship as teachers report back on their exciting new lives overseas.

Earlier this month however, there was a shocking development in Zanzibar, a semi-autonomous Tanzanian island which lies off the East-African coast.

Two British teenagers, Kirstie Trup and Katie Gee, were the subject of a horrific attack. Acid was thrown in their faces, chests and hands by two men on a moped who drove past them on the streets of Stone Town.

The pair, both 18 and from London, suffered chemical burns and had to be flown home for treatment at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.

Kirstie and Katie were teaching at the St Monica nursery school whilst volunteering for a charity.
 

Kirstie Trup and Katie Gee.

Thanks to the nature of their work this has naturally caused concern in the TEFL community and may have made some people re-think whether teaching abroad is a good idea.

Thankfully we can re-assure you that incidents like this are extremely rare.

We have trained tens of thousands of TEFL teachers over the years and sent them off to work all around the world. Most of these trips run smoothly and an overwhelming majority of our graduates come back to the UK having had the time of their lives. You simply have to glance at the testimonials and newsletters on our website to see that this is true.

To further prove how safe TEFL is, we are also planning to host a series of guest bloggers over the coming months to report back on their time overseas.

So, if you were considering teaching abroad and had been put off by this news, please take it for what it is - a freak, one-in-a-million occurrence.

Tanzania's Minister of Tourism condemned the attack while the Foreign Office said the majority of 75,000 British nationals have "trouble free" visits to Tanzania every year.

No motive has yet been established although visitors to Zanzibar have been reminded to always maintain respect for local customs.

A stretch of Zanzibar's stunning coastline.

We do offer placements in Tanzania, however Kirstie and Katie were not trained or placed there by UK-TEFL.

Since returning to the UK Katie has thanked all those who supported her during the ordeal. It has also been announced that the girls have both secured places at university.

We wish them all the best in their recovery.

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Welcome to the UK-TEFL blog.

We offer accredited courses in TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language).

Since forming in 2006 we have transformed the lives of tens of thousands of people by training them as TEFL teachers.

Our internationally recognised qualifications unlock the door to working all over the world thanks to the thousands of job opportunities we have on offer.

The aim of this blog is to provide you all with all the news and views on the world of TEFL. We will track all the latest industry developments and also offer expert opinions thanks to our years of experience.