A message to all English students. Yesterday I was questioned by an italki user after I had deleted a students' emoticon. My reason for doing this is as follows: Emoticons have their uses, for cellphone texts. If a student intends to learn English correctly, words should replace emoticons. It is part of the learning process. Students should also not use abbreviations such as Spb for St Petersburg, nor should they use "etc." The object of placing text in the notebook is to learn by the corrections. If words fail, try harder!