The English alphabet is very useful to create short forms of long phrases or names. English speakers split these short terms into two main categories depending on their clear pronunciation. The first category is called an acronym, which uses the first letters of a phrase to make a real new word. For example, people do not say individual letters when they read “UNICEF” [United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund] or even “laser” [Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation], because they pronounce them as a single continuous word. The second category is called an initialism, which also uses the first letters of a long name. However, people cannot pronounce these letters as a single word, so they must read them letter by letter using the alphabet sounds. For instance, everyone says individual letters when they speak about the FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation] or the famous TV channel BBC [British Broadcasting Corporation]. Did you know these differences? What other examples can you think of?