Internet English: A Barrier or an Entry Point?

Hello everyone, welcome to the Typing… Podcast. I am Ruby.

Before we start, let’s check out some words to see if you speak “Gen Alpha” language. The first word we have is “mogging,” it describes when someone look so attractive they make another look bad in comparison. The second one is “sussy baka,” it refers to someone acting strangely or suspiciously. And the last one is “choppelganger,” it refers to a less attractive or worse version of something or someone.

If you got them all right, congratulations, I am super impressed. If you don’t know any of them, honestly, same. I had to look them up in a slang dictionary.

As a non-native English speaker, I often feel that online language is a strange kind of test. It it not like textbook English. In a textbook, even when the grammar is hard, I usually know what I am supposed to learn. But with internet slang, sometimes I don’t even know where the meaning begins. Is it a word? Is it a joke? Or is it something everyone understands except me?

That feeling can be quite frustrating. It is not only a language barrier, it is a cultural barrier. You may understand the grammar, but still feel outside the culture because you missed the joke behind the word.

However, I do not think online language only works as a barrier. Sometimes, the same confusing words become an entry point.

Let me explain what I mean. When I first see a word like “auro farming,” I might not understand it. But then I see it again in a caption, then in a comment, then in a short video. I start to notice that it is used to describe someone who looks effortlessly cool. After a while, I still do not have a perfect definition of this term, but I start to understand what kind of context I can use it in.

This is different from memorising vocabulary. It is more like learning by living around the language. I begin with confusion, then recognition, then I start to use it. At some point, I can use the word myself, not because I studied it carefully, but because I have seen it work enough times.

Textbooks are useful because they give us rules and strutures. I still need that. But online language gives me something else, it shows me humour and the small cultural details that make language feel alive.

It also makes me less afraid of using English. When I use English in real life, I often worry about grammar, spelling, and whether my sentence sounds natural enough. I try too hard to sound correct. However, online, the pressure feels different. People shorten words, make jokes out of mistakes, and they don’t take grammar too seriously. The language is not always correct, and somehow that makes it easier to join in.

Of course I am not saying internet slang is the best way to learn English. It can be messy and confusing. And sometimes, it disappears before I even fully understand it.

But for me, as someone still finding a way to cross the culture barrier, that matters. These words may make me feel left out at first, but once I know them, I feel a little closer to the culture behind them. Not fully inside it, but closer.

So, I do think these “Gen Alpha” internet words have taught me something about English that a textbook could not.

That’s all for today’s episode of Typing… If you are intersted, you can find more content on our website.

Thank you for your listening. Until next time. Bye!