E-mail Etiquette

When we converse, we expect other people to observe certain rules of behaviour. The same is true for e-mail, the most popular form of online communication. Here are a few pointers to help you communicate more effectively.

Clearly summarize your message in the subject line.
Properly titled messages help people organize and prioritize their e-mail.

Don't use the CC (Carbon Copy) function to copy your message to everyone.
This is particularly true at work. These days everyone receives too much e-mail. Unnecessary messages are annoying. If only a few people really need to receive your message, only direct it to them.
Similarly, when responding an e-mail, do not respond to all recipients. By choosing Reply to All or a similar button when responding to a message, you may end up broadcasting your response to your entire company.

Use BCCs (Blind Carbon Copies) when addressing a message that will go to a large group of people who don't necessarily know each other.
Just as it's not polite to give out a person's telephone number without his or her knowledge, it's not polite to broadcast everyone's e-mail address. For instance, when you send a message to 30 people and use the To: or CC: fields to address the message, all 30 people see each other's address. By using BCC:, each recipient sees only two--theirs and yours.

Keep your messages short and focused. 
Few people enjoy reading on their computer screens; fewer still on the tiny screens in cell phones, PDAs and other mobile devices that are becoming increasingly popular. Recipients tend to ignore long messages.

Avoid using all capital letters. 
IT MAKES IT LOOK LIKE YOU'RE SHOUTING! IT'S ALSO MORE DIFFICULT TO READ.

Don't write anything you wouldn't say in public.
Anyone can easily forward your message, even accidentally. This could leave you in an embarrassing position if you divulged personal or confidential information. If you don't want to potentially share something you write, consider using the telephone.

Use a smiley to make sure that a statement is not misunderstood. 
Smileys are typically used in personal e-mail and are not considered appropriate for business. They should rarely be used in the office. If your message needs a smiley for better understanding, most likely you should not be delivering it via e-mail. Even with a smiley, someone may misunderstand you.

Avoid sending e-mail to large numbers of people unless you have a serious reason to do it. 
E-mail broadcast to many recipients may be considered spam.

Nasty e-mail should also be avoided.
These messages have their own term: flame. Flame e-mail is an insulting message designed to cause pain, as when someone "gets burned."

As a courtesy to your recipient, include your name at the bottom of the message.
The message contains your e-mail address (in the header), but the recipient may not know that the return address belongs to you, especially if it's different from your real name.

From: Learn the Net (www.learnthenet.com) is Copyright 1996-2008. Michael Lerner Productions. All Rights Reserved.

Train your English with Audio Books

Hasta 20 grandes maestros de la literatura se pueden leer y escuchar en la colección bilingüe y con audiolibro en inglés que EL PAÍS ofrece este verano a sus lectores cada domingo a 4,95 euros. The Canterville Ghost (1887) de Oscar Wilde será el primer relato de la serie, que saldrá al precio de un euro el próximo domingo 22 de junio. El relato del maestro de The Picture of Dorian Gray arranca en la campiña inglesa, con la gótica mansión Canterville como escenario. Con sentido del humor, Wilde enfrenta al pobre espectro de Simon Canterville a la convivencia con una familia norteamericana, los Otis. Aunque Simon lo intentará de mil maneras distintas, los prosaicos usurpadores de su morada serán invulnerables al miedo y al fantasma irá perdiendo su dignidad y sus ganas de asustar.

Tanto a Wilde, como a Virginia Woolf o a Dickens, se lo podrá leer (y escuchar) en inglés. Cada relato enfrenta página a página la traducción con su original: a la derecha en castellano y a la izquierda en inglés. Y también habrá un glosario para recordar que accursed es maldito, tangle, maraña o que el océano mueve su piel en sea-tides, mareas. Todas estas palabras se encuentran en negrita en el texto en inglés. Además del glosario de la A a la Z, cada relato contará con una breve colección de frases hechas que se encuentren en el cuento en cuestión.

Las breves biografías de expertos como Miquel Berga, profesor de literatura inglesa de la Universidad Pompeu Fabra de Barcelona, las traducciones de Álvaro Abella o Laura Salas, los glosarios y los cedés con la versión en audio en inglés en el fondo son solo guindas. El verdadero placer es dejarse llevar, en castellano o en inglés, por las palabras de los genios. Por ejemplo, por el sonoro y suntuoso arranque de The Colour Out of Space (H.P. Lovecraft, 1927): "West of Arkham the hills rise wild, and there are valleys with deep woods that no axe has ever cut. There are dark narrow glens where the trees slope fantastically, and where thin brooklets trickle without ever having caught the glint of sunlight".

J'Attendrai Le Suivant_short film

J'Attendrai Le Suivant (I'll Wait for the Next One), is a highly-awarded, thought-provoking French short film. It won the Best European Short Film Award in 2004. It's truly amazing what a talented filmmaker can do in three minutes and fifty-four seconds. (With English subtitles.)

Do you exercise? :)

It is well documented that for every minute that you exercise, you add one minute to your life. This enables you, at 85 years old, to spend an additional 5 months in a nursing home at $5,000 per month.

My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was 60. Now she's 97 years old and we don't know where the hell she is.

The only reason I would take up exercising is so that I could hear heavy breathing again.

I joined a health club last year and spent about 400 bucks. Haven't lost a pound. Apparently you have to go there.

I have to exercise early in the morning before my brain figures out what I'm doing.

I like walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me.

I have flabby thighs, but fortunately my stomach covers them.

The advantage of exercising every day is that you die healthier.

If you are going to try cross-country skiing, start with a small country.

And last but not least: I don't exercise because it makes the ice jump right out of my glass!