How do you text your instructor?

[J]

Personally, I hate that texting crap, so I don't. My Hapkido instructor uses twitter for the younger students who might have questions so they can write him, as well as school updates. Twitter only allows like 140 characters, so if the question or answer is long, formality pretty much has to be lost. He prefers formal writing, and urges everyone to do so, but he makes it an exception for long messages for the sake of space.

I have some Japanese friends who use Japanese "emoticon" in place of English ones. They're not acronyms like LOL, or emoticons like , but instead it's usually (笑) which is pronounced warai (meaning smile, or giggle), or they just use w (for warai). It's sort of a blend of both lol and .

He'll learn it over time, but you should help correct him when you can. You really need to do something about the kids teaching him bad things. It's not exactly like giving a monkey a gun, but he could use it wrong. Manners, etiquette and morality should stil exist even in cyberspace. I know very religious folks who use OMG. Despite what it means, they still defend it as being okay so long as it acronymed. It's no different than saying "gosh", or "shoot". You and everyone else know what you're saying, regardless of any substituted word.