Hi Jonathan, I would strongly urge you not to use these words. Saying them may be acceptable in some parts of America (like the New York area). But if you write them, in any forum, it displays an ignorance of the language and you will not be respected. This is different then slang. Always write; "want to" and "going to". Cheers...

"Wanna" and "gonna" are very casual words that replace "want to" and "going to." You should only use them in notes (e-mail or texts) with friends or peers. "I wanna go to the movies tonight." = "I want to go to the movies tonight." "I'm gonna get some dinner first." = "I'm going to eat dinner first."

Say "want to" and "going to". You won't make extra mistakes if you write this properly. It's strange how learners think that using these slangy forms makes them sound "better" or "more authentic". It's really the opposite. Take a look at how the native English speakers on this website write - how many of them use "wanna/gonna"? Unless the native speaker is making a joke, it never happens. If you want to use these expressions between friends, wait until the other person uses it first. (This is a basic rule of using slang.) If you use "wanna/gonna" to try to look friendly or casual, it just looks like you're trying too hard to seem "cool".

Gonna= going to Wanna= want to Americans are lazy when we speak. We tend to put words together and call it good.

Just as an aside, yesterday I put a Spanish phrase in my google translate phone app, and it came up with "gonna" within the English translation. I was quite surprised to say the least. But then again, it is American! :)