How to Talk on MSN

1. Follow the link in Resources to install MSN Messenger. On the MSN home page, click the 'Messenger' link. Click 'Download Windows Live Messenger' from the Options menu on the left side of the screen. After the download is complete, follow the onscreen instructions to finish the setup. When the login window opens, click 'Sign Up for a Windows Live ID' if you do not already have one.

2. Start a conversation by signing into MSN with your new Windows Live ID. When the MSN window opens, you'll see a list of all of your contacts. Anyone who has an icon of a green person beside his name is online. A gray person icon means a person is offline. Double-click on an online contact's name to open a new conversation window with him.

3. Use emoticons to express emotions during a conversation, or when you're feeling silly. Click the smiley-face button to the left, above where you type your messages, to get a drop-down menu of all of the available emoticons. Just click one and it will appear in your message. You can also hold your mouse over one to find the keyboard shortcut. Then you can type the shortcut instead of going to the menu.

4. Talk to your kids and teens on MSN by learning some of their slang. Ask your kids to make you a list of their favorite online terms--such as 'lol,' which stands for 'laughing out loud.' After a few conversations with them, you'll start to pick up the lingo yourself.

5. Use the nudge button (the smiley with lines around it, two spots to the right of the emoticon button) to get someone's attention on MSN. It causes her window to shake and make a doorbell noise. But don't use it too often. This can really irritate people and cause them to block you so you can't talk to them anymore.

6. Watch the bottom of your screen if you're carrying on a conversation with more than one person at a time. Each time someone sends you a new message, the minimized version of their conversation window will flash orange. This lets you know when someone has responded and when someone hasn't. Don't get into too many conversations at once, or you won't be able to keep up.