Wiki Everything…even Wikileaks!

Now that the first semester is almost finished, we have less and less time to thoroughly investigate all of the subjects which interest us or that we have to research for our studies. Consequently we’re relying more and more on “twitterings” and “wikis” and social networks to get and exchange information  which is condensed and shortened to attract the largest possible audience and to make sure everyone understands the main points….sort of the equivalent of “Fast Food” for junk food addicts (much information can be considered “junk food” if you’re not careful!). As many of you already know; the term “Wiki” means “quick” in Hawaiian. Even the term surfing the internet came from a water sport which was invented in Hawaii. Ward Cunningham, an American computer scientist; inventor of one of the  5 most popular internet sites: “Wikipedia”, was the first person to use the wiki format in 1995. Wikis really underscore the philosophy of an “open internet” allowing anyone to edit, delete or modify content which has been entered on a web site using browser interfaces.

What’s up with “WIKILEAKS”?

A certain type of “Wiki” is making the headlines now with the infamous and controversial site “Wikileaks” which was created to make any type of information available and open to internet users even state secrets. To get a better handle on this news event, go to http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2034040,00.html?xid=newsletter-europe-weekly to listen to an interview with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange via Skype on Nov. 30, 2010 (script + audio) led by TIME magazine’s managing editor Richard Stengel. You can also read more at the following address: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2034040,00.html#ixzz17Km9vj3w  Good luck and happy surfing!

Conversation Exercise: Examine the following Time Cartoons and discuss their humor and irony and how they relate to the Wikileaks news story. (For more cartoons go to: http://www.time.com/time/cartoonsoftheweek)

Linguistic interest:

American accent/Australian accent; semi-formal level of language

Modal expressions such as: “to be used to (something/doing something)”;

Number expressions: “thousands of”; “hundreds and thousands of”

Political and legalese terms: to spin; to balkanize; to cover up (secrets); global affairs; peace process; the Middle East; to conduct diplomacy; political endeavors; to court; the Supreme Court; the US Constitution; the First Amendment;  the Bill of Rights; Espionage Act; to strike out a law; American exceptionalism; the Founding Fathers; the European Enlightenment; Free Speech; etc.

Phrasal verbs and colloquial expressions: to come out with; to lock down; to cover up; to tap into; to throw out (a case); to give rise to; to be hard done by something; etc.