Internet Basics for ESL Students
Lesson 2
Hardware and Internet Software

What is inside your computer? What are the names of the different parts?

Computer chips are now everywhere - in cars, watches, toasters so maybe everyone used a computer today.

key vocabulary: chip, RAM, LAN, WAN, memory, hard drive, cables, ports, Pentium, SCSI, sound card, MB, GB.

Dictionary

• The Wordsmyth English Dictionary-Thesaurus

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Dialogue 1 - Jim is at a store buying a computer.

Pair work. Practice the conversation. Clerk: May I help you? Jim: Yes, I want to buy a new computer. Clerk: How much RAM do you need? How big a hard drive will you need? Jim:Well, Windows 95 needs at least 32 MBs RAM, and I'll be using a lot of word processors and game programs. Clerk: I recommend a Pentium 300 with an 8 GB hard drive.

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Pair work: What kind of computer do you want? If you have a computer, what do you have?

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Dialogue 2

Pair work. Practice the conversation. Jim: Does this desktop come with a monitor? Clerk: Yes, a 15 inch monitor is included, but I suggest buying a 17 inch one instead. Jim: What kind of sound card does it have? Clerk: It has a Sound Blaster 16.

Group work: discussion - What kind of computers have you used?

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Reading: When only a few computers are hooked together, usually in a single office or building, the result is called a Local Area Network (LAN). When the computers are connected over a greater distance, for example sales offices throughout a city, the result is called a Wide Area Network (WAN). Connecting all of these LANs and WANs together results in an Internet. The Internet is the world wide connection of all different kinds of networks. A new kind of network is emerging for businesses called an intranet. This refers to all the computers in a company sharing data using the same kind of system as the Internet.

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Match:

LAN	a. Megabyte
RAM	b. Small Computer System Interface
SCSI	c. Local Area Network
WAN	d. Gigabyte
MB	e. Random Access Memory
GB	f. Wide Area Network

Check your answers c - LAN e - RAM b - SCSI f - WAN a - MB d - GB

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Dialogue 3.

Pair work. Practice the conversation. Clerk: Which computer do you want? Jim: I want an IBM. Will I be able to use MAC and NEC software on it? Clerk: Most big software packages are multi-platform. You won't be able to use MAC and NEC formatted floppies. Jim: That's okay. I'll take this one.

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Group discussion: Was the Internet a good place to learn? What did you learn? What are some of the problems studying English on the Internet. If you could write a web page, what would it have on it?