11.   Some people master those skills quickly, but others find the process odious, especially for taking notes or composing e-mail messages longer than a few sentences.

12.   Students using the site, at www.epals.com, compose e-mail messages in their native languages and then click on a button for automatic translations.

13.   That includes only three hours per month of online time, but that should be plenty just for e-mail, especially if you compose your outgoing messages offline.

14.   The software lets you manage the phone book and compose short messages from your laptop.

15.   Users of Pilot can also jot down upcoming appointments, update contact lists and compose simple messages they want to send later.

16.   You then can read any messages that previously have been downloaded, as well as compose new messages, which will be sent the next time you go online.

17.   Those who compose messages for these cards try to cater for a wide spectrum of customers.