Just like a LOSER

Indeed, time flies. It’s unbelievable that I’ve stayed at home for about 2 months. People out there will tease me for failing to spend the couple of months wisely. Reflecting myself, I can see it’s really an unforgivable waste of time. I was accustomed to waking up very late in the morning. Shame on me! I was damn pathetic for teaching myself to have a very dreadful daily routine. Having meals, drinking, going online, getting a rest – these were what I kept in mind at all times. I’m telling you, this is really a bad habit which isn’t supposed to be utilized by a bachelor like me!

By the way, I didn’t let the time go as wasteful as you might be thinking about. Ya, I did read books and do some revision. What revision? I know if you expect only do studying people typically do such thing, I recommend that you think again because it’s totally unacceptable. What’s so funny that even studying people like some of Uni students and school children reluctantly take a book and read. Talking about school children, there’re undeniably a lot of students who don’t get their homework finished on time. Sounds odder whether they spend more time reading books or something.

The process of learning or it’s more precisely called ‘education’ can take place everywhere and anytime. Doesn’t have to take place only at schools and higher educational institutions. Also, doesn’t have to be experienced only by many school children as well as varsity students. Putting multiple effort truly matters and vocabulary must be often ‘updated’ too. Even though the mastery of grammar is good enough, there’s still no point if your vocabulary is less. Both are, in fact, inter-connected and are two crucial elements.     

I’m keen on reading books whose contents are inspiring and inquiring. Yep, promise I’ll do it soon. I know there’s a large bookshelf of a variety of books near my room door. Completely useless whether I’ve never touched one. Humans themselves are to seek for knowledge and everybody knows that. 

 

Time is money. One of English proverbs which is always stuck in my mind. It’s true that I’ve wasted plenty of time all this while. Choosing to work at a 3-star hotel previously was a very good decision. Nevertheless, got to confess and surrender that it didn’t even suit my soul. That’s why I must be thinking of something from now on. I too envy since many friends of mine are so good in managing their ‘leisure’ time while I’m not. One of them is attending a sewing class. Wow, that’s cool! Another is working as a salesgirl somewhere and so are the rest.

Can’t just let the time elapse like an empty can! Must be doing something! My desire to get to work is still full of enthusiasm! Yeah, I still wanna work. But not a job that puts me under pressure all the time just like before. I’m on my way, considering and negotiating. I understand that ‘the early bird catches the worm’. I’d much rather become the early bird than a loser.

A few weeks back, my effort of delivering the forms of GSTT and KAFA appears no reply. I’d given myself the chance if I would be called. The month of July will be ending soon. I can’t wait for it any longer and an urgent step must be taken. I’ve determined to work at a bakery. Gotta sacrifice a bit although I’ll spend more time working. That’s a lot better, at least.

Furthermore, the fasting month is just around the corner. The circumstance will grow even worse so long as I’ve done nothing yet. I can never remain jobless! Other people have got their first monthly income and me nothing! Admitting how idle I’ve become, of course, if possible, I wanna stay at home as long as possible. In the past, the time was slightly limited, didn’t even chance to stay much longer at home and shortly gotta go pack. This is the real time I’ve been looking forward to, staying at home until I feel fed up.  

The truth is it’s not worth staying at home by doing nothing. I’d do something. Get to work! Yes, work! I must really work. Quitting isn’t what I’m after. If not, where on earth I wanna earn money to sustain my convocation day this October? A hotel payment is nearly RM600 for a three-night stay. So, getting to work is what I’m presently thinking!

Do read on and please click here:

http://keyrolnua.blogspot.com/2011_10_01_archive.html

Language Loss

The higher your educational background is, the bigger possibility your hometown dialect is getting lost on you. You may disagree but can do nothing cos I myself have been experiencing all this!

 

In Malaysia, like many other countries in the world, has a variety of dialects spoken by Malaysians regardless of which state they come from. 

Diverse dialects notwithstanding, Malaysians still find less difficulty understanding any communication they’re involved in. The most preferable language amongst these varieties is standard Bahasa (or standard Malay). It functions just like a lingua franca and is widely spoken in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. It's also a language which is well understood and accepted by the whole Malaysians, be it in Peninsular Malaysia or even Borneo Island (Sabah and Sarawak)

You know what? This phenomenon is typically undergone by local university students. Seeing that a varsity comprises thousands of students coming from the entire country, like it or not, they’ve no choice to make themselves understood unless to try hard speak standard Bahasa. 

Based on my personal experience, my hometown dialect is dying. Don’t carry out a Terengganuvian dialect test or else I mightn’t pass with flying colours. The purpose of claiming such things doesn’t mean to underestimate the dialect, but just realise that my dialect is now fading away. 

I’m quite positive that I’m still able to interpret certain terms most typically spoken although I’m not used to. Instead, I’d much rather speak standard Malay words. It’s still stuck in my head when a friend of mine corrected me for mentioning a standard Malay word [rosak] for ‘punoh’. 

Presumably I’d see eye to eye about this scenario too. I firmly dare to say that the way one speaks is also affected by their educational background. You can distinguish between the educated and the uneducated, can’t you? Have a think, then. 

I assertively believe that Malay dialects are very unique that much research has been done. I used to find a few books investigating thoroughly about Kelantanese and Terengganuvian dialects. Isn’t this interesting? 

The teaching of Malay literature component at school has engaged me more in gaining new Malay vocabulary I was never familiar to before. Reading Malay short stories [ Cerpen ] for instance, has exposed me with bombastic Malay words and, of course, rarely are they used in spoken Malay. Some words are too classic spoken in the bygone era. At first, I thought the words were wrongly pronounced such as ‘drebar’, ‘payah’ and ‘dan’ as in ‘Tak dan aku nak cuci muka tadi!’. The word ‘dan’ here isn’t a conjunction. 

I’ve no idea whether or not we really should perpetuate our hometown dialect. I’ll leave it to you to evaluate it yourselves. 

Should we ‘Martabatkan Loghat, Mantapkan Bahasa Melayu’ ?

In fact, the government urge us to…

‘Martabatkan Bahasa Melayu, Mantapkan Bahasa Inggeris’

Grammar Vs. Spoken English

Suppose you’ve already read one of my recent posts, I’m pretty sure you may have believed that grammar is my number 1 basis to learn a language like English. You may be right. We’ll see. 

Click here if you haven't: http://keyrolnua.blogspot.com/2011/07/my-secret-recipe-how-to-score-english.html

How d’ you feel about the statement ‘Malaysians speak very formal English’?

I see this is the truth as Malaysians most commonly go to a national school or a national type school where standard British English is generally taught at. The Malaysians are therefore constantly facing a little mess primarily in understanding what the English speak. 

Idioms, proverbs, slang and other literary devices including personification, metaphor and simile – these are merely a quarter of the key elements in the English language that help beautify the art of the language and so do many other languages.

In spite of the fact that these elements are essential in a language acquisition, only will Malaysian school children be exposed in detail when they begin knowing literature components (Bahasa & English) in their secondary school education. In contrast, the emphasis of literature in Advanced Arabic is too little. How come? 

The Malay proverb ‘Melentur buluh biarlah dari rebungnya’ stresses the significance of education at the early age, ever since a baby can see the world. Let’s scratch that for a sec., shall we?

There’s a couple of most popular ‘patterns’ of communication in our daily routine: writing and speaking. I think I’d better put it this way: Writing is formal and speaking is informal. Recalling what I studied in the subject ‘Discourse Analysis’ at Uni, writing is classified ‘formal’ because it’s something well planned and speaking isn’t. I guess if speaking were a well planned thing, a speaker would take time to utter a word and that’s flipping nonsense!  

Thus, grammar doesn’t always come first. It really does especially in essay writing but when it comes to speaking, the English have to take grammar for granted sometimes. Take note whether you determine to speak English so good as the English native speaker.

It seems as though a trend nowadays that informal English is more frequently applied either on TV, radio, daily papers or whatnot. This big exposure of informal English is also seen in English movies. Watching English movies is a means of improving one’s English communication skills. This is very good for a second language speaker like us so we aren’t too much orientated towards formal English which makes us nerdy, hello!

Slang such as ‘guys’, ‘dude’, ‘wanna’, ‘gotta’ is regularly used in spoken English. Go find out yourselves what these slangs stand for or you won’t learn anything. 

Click here to learn more on British Slang:

 http://www.effingpot.com/slang.shtml

When interacting, the way you converse with a bosom friend and a lecturer is totally unlike. The way you communicate with your dearest parents and with little children are never the same either. A teenage boy would probably wish ‘peace out’ to his buddies which simply means ‘goodbye’ or ‘see you around’.

Think of abbreviations in modal verbs like shall [ I’ll do it ] and would [ He’d be back soon ]. Now, think of ‘Be’ verbs like am, is, are, was, were as in [ I’m playing computer games ] and ‘Have’ verbs in the subsequent sentences [ She’s gone to work ] and [ I’ve got to go! ].

The English normally seem to leave out such verbs and just pronounce them in abbreviation form that have the second language learners bewildered and blur. And that’s the distinction we can obviously see on Malaysians today who tend to mention word by word. The native speakers won’t get trouble to see what we’re trying to say, conversely we shall.

I’d like to insist on the utmost necessity of learning informal English rather than concentrating too much upon formal English. I’m not telling you that learning formal English isn’t the least bit crucial, yet informal English can never be taken for granted just like that.

My lecturer loved stressing the obligation of an English teacher to speak as much formal British English as possible in class. At the same time, clarify to them any slang terms in our lessons, if any. This kind of step will avoid students’ misunderstanding.

Grammar is to be learnt to make us proficient in the international language. Nevertheless, the essentiality of informal English knowledge oughtn’t to be forgotten. Both of them are equally vital!

In a video I watched via YouTube the other year, this English tutor suggested that learn phrases! Strictly speaking, I’ve no favourite links yet which assist me in phrases. I benefit English movies a lot and learn English phrases from. On top of that, our current film industry has been flooded with American movies. Whether we like it or not, we’ll be served with American English much often. Sooner or later, our English will turn to be so American, to my mind. 


Now, I am gonna leave you with this how-to-speak-English-fluently video. Enjoy watching!


Click here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qs5vBuvsYU4&feature=related

Facebook Hacker

Two nights ago, I felt damn hurt like a broken glass after reading some silly messages and seeing a so-called YouTube sharing video which were allegedly sent by a male student of SMK Sungai Pusu Gombak – where I taught before.  

I was about to believe that the sender was him at first without any skepticism (AmE: skepticism) at all. If I clicked ‘unfriend’ immediately on the poor kid’s FB, I would be the stupidest person in the world. Thank God, I didn’t.

The bad intention had already been blocked as soon as a friend of mine chatted with me via YM asking for certainty regarding the same embarrassing messages she got on her FB. How surprised I was as she claimed it was me who did the sending! O-M-G. How ‘extraordinary’! I grew puzzled. Shortly, we realized we both had been deceived after all! All of this was done by a fucking HACKER!  

Both of us noticed this as finding each of the messages we both received was exactly the same! In addition, how odd it might sound to me since all the so-called friends’ embarrassing comments were fully written in ENGLISH!   

To be honest, my FB had never been hacked previously. The incident that night was freaking creepy and worrying. Even if I already set my chatting box offline, the impermissible chatting box still appeared on my FB.

Anyhow, I was a bit relieved since many friends of mine have known that my FB was being hacked. They really should be thanked. Meantime, I chanced to ask for their help. They insisted me that change my password ASAP and don’t ever display my photo. Yet, I can’t feel so contented. My FB is still being hacked. Shoot!    

Very hopefully, my posting on the FB wall that informs my FB is being hacked at present has helped overcome this situation, at least. It is hoped that my friends who have become the victims understand what is going on.  

The question is,

“How come my facebook has been hacked? What’s the hidden motive?”

I am pretty sure that this is actually a means the Christianity and the Jews have implemented so as to destroy the Muslims unity. They envy us! By doing so, they expect the Muslims will disunite. As a result, the break-up among the Muslim will occur! 

WHAT’LL THEY GET IN RETURN?

What else they will benefit by doing such things besides smiling and enjoying the moment. They will laugh at us for being easily deceived.

THAT’S WHY,

The Muslims must be a lot wiser! Use the brain or ‘aql’ to the fullest. The incident has given me strength and reminds me to be even more alert and careful at all times.

When A Dream Come True

Life is believed to be incomplete without dreams. A new born baby on earth today will begin dreaming of something before long. A question can be raised here, ‘Does a dream truly matter to us?’ If you ask me, this is how I would reply: ‘Yup. Definitely, it is.’

Living without dreams is just like a dead corpse. Living without dreams is similar to instilling ourselves without visions. Needless to say every one of us has got, at least, a dream with them. Even the drug addicts have got their own dreams. It is false and slightly unacceptable to point out that all sufferings being faced by someone are the consequences of what they have dreamt about. In fact, I dare to say that there is no mankind dreaming of something bad or I am wrong?

I personally agree that a dream is suitably called an aspiration. To attain the dream, it entails and demands much effort and consistency from a person himself. So the dream will at last come true as expected.  

A dream is also similar to a goal or an objective. A Muslim, for instance, should often dream of entering Allah’s paradise in the hereafter if that is what he wants, in fact. Conversely, our eyes can be the best witnesses that nowadays most Muslims are getting away and away of God and the religion. Wealth is what they are busily seeking for. Astaghfirullahal ‘azim.

I have had ‘thousands’ of dreams ever since early childhood. More dreams of mine have already become a reality. I therefore feel very grateful to Allah the Almighty for making my dreams come true. Confessing that humans are greedy, there are a lot more dreams I have not achieved yet.

When I was a small kid, I was firmly forbidden to eat at any fast food restaurants such as KFC, Pizza Hut and Mc Donald’s. Only could I hear my buddies’ exciting stories having meals there – but nevertheless they have been no more than my one-stop centres presently.

A few years ago, I was too curious to feel myself how fast an express bus is driven. In August 2006, it was the first time I got up an express bus to Kuala Lumpur. The express bus has been the most frequent public transport I have gotten up for homecoming for the last 5 years.

In the past, I only got to see passengers queuing up getting on a plane like MAS and Air Asia – but today, things changed! I have gotten on a plane for nearly 15 times.

I had always wanted to travel to Cameron Highlands previously. It is located in the north of Pahang – but in January 2010, it was a reality. I could feel the cool climate there. I was thinking that if all the 14 states in Malaysia had such a pleasant climate like Cameron Highlands, most probably that Malaysia wouldn’t be situated near the Equator. Am I not correct?


Click here to read: http://keyrolnua.blogspot.com/2011_12_01_archive.html

An SPM candidate would love to pursue studies at university, be it local or international ones and so would I. Now it sounds relatively incredible as I have already graduated. It is like a miracle that I got admission at a very prestigious varsity like UIAM. I am proud of being a graduate of the higher educational institution. Subhanallah!


Click here to read: http://keyrolnua.blogspot.com/2011_10_01_archive.html

As long as I am alive, dreams will always be there. I still have got so many dreams. Dreaming of:

• Flying much farther to overseas especially to 4-seasonal countries
•  Furthering studies in a Master’s Degree and Ph.D, subsequently
•  Travelling around all continents in the world.
• Performing hajj in Saudi Arabia.
•  Registering a cooking class and learning how to cook.

Those dreams will never be a reality without struggling extra hard. That is why I am such an ambitious guy. It is not wrong to be ambitious, is it?

In short, dreams do matter in everyone’s life. Without a dream, a person lives without any direction and objective. In the Islamic perspective, mankind lives in order to worship Allah by constantly enjoining the good and forbidding the evil. Well… dreaming of entering Allah’s paradise is a dream too, right? 

The Language Barrier

I hate waiting and so do many people on this planet.

Do you believe that on the other side, waiting can bring a good thing? How’s it possible?

Al-kisahnya...

It’s such a sunny day. I accompanied Mom to a branch of Bank Rakyat near the Paya Keladi Shopping Centre. I stopped my motorcycle right in front of the bank. I thought Mom wouldn’t take too long but I was totally wrong. I had to wait for her nearly 1 hour! Oh my God, I swear I do hate waiting! Nobody likes, anyways.

Dunno what to do, I just looked around. Many walking people came from various ways, from the north, the south, the west and so on. My eyes moved wildly like a beggar looking at those walking people with diverse characters. Indescribably boring! There’s a premise in front of me which was under construction. The workers looked hardworking enough cos I saw how sweaty they were. Macam orang dah mandi hujan pulak!

Then, I observed a couple of sellers, a married couple selling ‘rojak buah’. Agak terliur sebenarnya memandangkan perut menderita kelaparan. They’re ever so diligent and maybe they have children who’re still schooling, who knows? And that’s their work to keep surviving. At least, it’s a halal (legal) job although no air-cond. This kinda job requires a very energetic and patient person as it demands a lot of sacrifice. Their daily sale relies much on how many customers bought what they sold.

I saw two women selling miscellaneous items of handicraft such as man-made baskets, wooden, carved clocks and a lot more. I felt so proud of them. They worked for survival. They don’t get involved in crime, praise be to Allah (alhamdulillah). I was slightly attracted to the way they did the selling. Through my observation, I enjoyed the moment so much.

Shortly, there’s a group of Australian tourists who approached them. The old Australian lady seemed fascinated at the beautiful man-made baskets. I found the language barrier caused the sale process to meet a little predicament.

At the same time, a lady about 35 happened to pass them by. She suddenly returned and came approach the selling ladies. Oh I see, she actually came for help. She spoke English with the Australian tourists. Even though she didn’t speak that fluent, it’s alright. At least she could speak English. Ada berani?

What’s more interesting was her self-confidence and courage that maybe it sounds somewhat complicated to find a Malay in the city having such characteristics. I saluted the lady! I praised for her self-assurance. Her intention was really nice. Oh, by the way, I overheard the conversation between the lady and the tourists.

Lady: “From where?”

The tourist: “Australia.”

It’s fine whether she spoke Manglish. I know she’s supposed to ask “Where do you come from?” or “Where’re you from?”

THE LANGUAGE BARRIER!

In this case, it’s proven that English mastery really matters! Of course, it doesn’t make sense if I suggested that the sellers learn English. In reality, many people don’t realize its significance until they’ve undergone such a situation themselves. Yes, I used to read some people’s experience that were quite similar to this ‘state of affairs’. Indeed, they’re amongst the most excellent English learners today and I’m not lying!

SCRATCH THAT!

I remember the news I watched on TV recently and very surprisingly the interviewee pointed out that the Malays are rich of courtesy.

That the Malays are rich of courtesy makes me proud of my own nationality! Thank you the MALAYS for ‘inventing’ this incredible record!

Poor You Abang Polis

Ha! Ha! Ha! Laugh out loud people! What happened to me at one night recently made me unable to keep quiet. The question is what actually happened in that night?

It’s almost at midnight. Right after picking up my sister by motorcycle at Taman Bukit Bayas Indah [kampung sebelah], I stopped by at a 7 Eleven outlet because my other sister at home asked us to get her a loaf of bread. Only did my sister come in and I stayed outside.

It’s already half past 11. Whilst waiting for my sister to purchase the bread, my eyes unexpectedly caught two motorcyclists over the less heavy road, Jalan Pasir Panjang. Who’re they? Robbers?

Before long the motorcyclists stopped beside me. I thought they too wanted to get something from the outlet, I didn’t look at them – yet, I knew they were around. So unfortunately when one of them came approach me! Damn! What did he want?

He requested my Identity Card or I/C. What the hell! At first, I never believed in him. How come? Please don’t tell me you don’t realise that statistically there’s lots of snatch theft cases nowadays. We really gotta be careful all the time. Remembering that thing, I just ignored his request and called my sister to go home ASAP.

“We’re running out of time, sorry Bro! We’re in hurry. Please let us go!” – I begged Abang Polis.

The man wearing a helmet was getting obstinate and urged me to display my I/C (Americans call ID), motorcycle license and road tax right away! He firmly introduced himself as a policeman. He appeared unfriendly and requested my I/C impolitely. They behaved just like a group of robbers to me. Served them right!


To prove that they’re ‘original’ policemen, he showed me his police I/C. I know the police Identity Card isn’t the same as ours. It’s slightly more different than ordinary people's.

Guess what? I didn’t trust him even a single word! I didn’t! I obstinately kept ignoring him. My sister came close to us after that. The policeman once again asked, “Where do you live?” I kept dumb and remained silent. I was too obstinate! ROFL…

“I know everyone can pretend like a policeman and so can I. How can I trust you?”

Several policemen then came at us and another man displayed his police I/C as well. That mattered to me so as to prove that they’re truly policemen not criminals! Ceh wah berlagak macam aku pulak polis!

My sister helped answer the policeman’s question in relation to our dwelling and she persuaded me to display my I/C to him. I most reluctantly did eventually. Tak pe la.. kesian sangat kat abang polis ni…

After checking it out, the policeman returned the I/C to me. Alhamdulillah. Eventually, I trusted them that they’re the police. Nothing was fake!

Deep in my heart…

“Mujur aku terlebih rajin bawak lesen, road tax & pakai helmet malam ni. Kalau tak, mampus! Matilah aku nak menjawabnya!”

We went home whereupon. SELAMAT!

On our way home, I couldn’t stop laughing when recalling the bitter moment just now. I couldn’t imagine how frustrated the policeman was cos I didn’t trust even a single word of his. ROFL!

By the way, I’ve got some advice here, not for us but particularly for the police out there! Hey, look at the motto at any police stations in Malaysia, ‘Mesra, Cepat, Betul’.


There’s a value of courtesy (budi bahasa) identified on the motto – the adjective ‘Mesra’. Talking about the ‘tragic’ moment I underwent that night, I totally disagree if the value of courtesy has been widely applied by the discourteous policeman. He came at and spoke to me like a robber! Who on earth wanna entertain such people?! Where’s the ethic the police apply all this while gone? Therefore, I’d like to stress that courtesy really matters or otherwise the police will certainly experience the same moment like the ‘poor’ policemen!

Always keep in mind that... 

Budi Bahasa Budaya Kita

My Secret Recipes: How to Score ENGLISH?

I can smile significantly at the present after nearly 9 years I’ve stayed focused on English grammar without desperation. Listen up! Neither am I talking about English spoken language (or speaking skills) nor about English linguistics that discusses the study of the English Language. I don't wanna talk about English literature either! Literature studies the beauty of a language. I love it too. Yet, that’s not what I'm gonna talk about. My concentration now focuses on English grammar. Hope you see what I mean.

Would you like to know the secrets of my success? I bet many people do!

Once upon a time, approximately 9 years back, something, like a feeling of curiosity, appeared in myself and I assume it as ‘hidayah’ from Allah the Almighty for having me enthusiastic in the English Language learning. I was actually not the least bit interested in English previously, nonetheless it doesn’t tell you I never did my English homework at all. I used to do my English homework myself and looked up my bilingual dictionary (Malay – English/English – Malay) for unknown words. That’s the way I learned English and, at least I did it myself. I wasn’t an idiot who understood nothing from daily English lessons despite the fact that it’s not in Bahasa. Diligently seeking for unknown words did help gain my English vocabulary.

WHAT’S SO SPECIAL ABOUT YEAR 2003?

Nothing happened until 2003 got started. It was just like a miracle! It’s still stuck in my mind of what I underwent. Obstacles and challenges entail a person with high patience. I guess it's me! Patience was my real strength at that time. I took the feeling of embarrassment away. I met my English teacher almost every day. I almost gave up at the beginning and felt desperate.

One day, my kid sister brought a small book home taken away from my grandpa’s home. The book title is 'Asas Tatabahasa Inggeris' (English Grammar) without the author’s name. It was worth at only RM1.80 and was the 3^rd edition published in 1985. I wasn’t yet born! It once belonged to my uncle. He did study very hard over his adolescence, based on my observation randomly. The contents of the book are easily comprehended and by reading the small book, I’ve understood many things such as tenses, nouns, adjectives, adverbs etc. I didn’t even feel like learning such things in Bahasa before. BTW, I’ve kept the book with me for the last 9 years. My understanding then increased.

Undeniably, it seems somewhat difficult to find an English grammar book written fully in Bahasa (I’m talking about explanations of the contents). I more frequently stopped by at any bookstores around Kuala Terengganu and Kuala Lumpur City. Most English grammar books are written entirely in English. To my way of thinking, it can weaken a second language learner’s passion to approach the global language, you know. Many people dislike looking up dictionary umpteen times while studying because it might ‘ruin’ their main purpose.

'The main focus is to learn not to gain vocabulary'

Insufficient with the knowledge imparted by my English teacher and the small book, I looked for other initiatives. I tried to benefit the facilities available in school. I went to the school library and borrowed English grammar books more often. Not only did I read them but also took some notes. After that, I memorized. Frankly, it’s too easy to remember ‘grammatical rules’ due to my deep interest together with curiosity. Thus, there’re 5 significant elements here to be emphasized:

1. Interest
2. Curiosity
3. Enthusiasm
4. Diligence
5. Consistency

Talking about my experience in the past, interest came when ‘I’ve known what I didn’t know’. It must be truly inspiring when we’ve known something new, right? This is what I simply label the learning process as ‘the acquisition of knowledge’.

THE OUTPUT?

The output could be seen via my monthly tests (or sometimes they call OTI) and exams. I grew delighted as my academic performance in English kept increasing from time to time. It began with grade D prior to my learning, and shortly increased to 50% (Grade C) and in the trial of Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) exam in 2003, I obtained 65% (Grade B) which was actually the first time I got such a good grade. So amazingly, with the grade, my mark was the second highest after the first competitor who got 66%. How overjoyed I was!

If you ask my English teacher, she absolutely convinces you that I didn’t stop asking her grammatical questions until the night before the English exam day. My consistent effort was eventually paid when I obtained grade A in the PMR. It’s the sweetest present for my hard work all this while. I felt like screaming as a symbol of excellence.

WHAT ABOUT THE SPM?

Year 2003 elapsed and subsequently in 2004, I was in Form 4. The format of the SPM exam looked quite complicated to understand. My first mark of the first SPM-format English paper was only 49%, if I’m not mistaken. It’s not even C! I whereupon asked for help from my English teacher who’s teaching me English. She is a little bit furious like a hungry tiger. I didn’t know what made me too fearless to see her in person. I inquired and posed her a lot of grammatical questions. I was scolded by her many times I swear! It didn’t even make me less enthusiastic to meet her again, anyways.

After months, I believed that she noticed my seriousness in English. She assisted me a lot in English as well. I used to submit few English essays to her. I myself wrote them and she would check each of them and leave some comments afterwards. She guided me slightly well. You may ask anyone who is good at English to correct yours too!

My fellow companions too noticed the change of my deep interest in the international language. Furthermore, my monthly English test or exam mark would constantly be everybody’s attention. I smiled contentedly cos my target for English in the Mid-year Exam was successfully achieved. I got A2 with 72% and I can still remember the moment! I managed to score Section A: Directed Writing of Paper 1 with the highest mark I ever got was 20/25. Yet, I needed much guidance for Section B: Continuous Writing since the highest mark I ever got was only 33/50.  For comprehension questions, I used to get full mark whilst in summary, I used to get 13/15. On top of that, for literature question especially novel part, the highest mark I ever got was 8/10. It’s such a great achievement!

'ANYHOW, I KNOW YOUR ENGLISH IS FAR BETTER THAN MINE!'

I’m just a so-so student, there’s no big deal whether that’s what I could attain and be proud of. The most memorable moment was after the announcement of the SPM exam result. It was on March 15, 2006 and unfortunately I was in Malacca joining the hostel trip to Langkawi Island, Kedah and Malacca. I was very overjoyed for getting A1 in English. Guess what? I was the only one SPM candidate from the secondary school who got A1. I felt too proud of myself. My English teacher was really glad and pleased. She impatiently looked forward to congratulating me. She presented me a RM50 note. It’s kinda recognition for my academic excellence.

In conclusion, personally, based on my experience, English grammar is the first thing one should and must learn.

Grammar mastery enables me to speak English more proficiently BUT,

frequent practice in speaking English daily makes me speak more fluently! and,

Better understanding of the exam format as well as literature component helped me score the subject.

Now, it’s up to you to evaluate and decide. What I’ve just done is 


TO SHARE SOMETHING CALLED A REALITY!

Why bother typing in ENGLISH?

WHY DO I BOTHER TYPING IN ENGLISH?

It’ll be a lot easier if I typed in Bahasa, won’t it? Hmm… if that’s what I was thinking, I’d better have killed myself. That’s not even a good reason for doing this. So, if you’re really thinking that way right now, I suggest that you go KICK THE BUCKET!

Typing in English won’t make me behave like the White. As evidence, neither do I drink alcohol nor go to church on Sundays. Have you ever seen me do these all this while? If never, SHUT UP!

WHY DO I BOTHER TYPING IN ENGLISH?

If I said because of my interest in English, I think it’s been an old-fashioned answer. I know it’s not stated so in any English dictionary like Oxford Dic., NOT YET – unfortunately I’ve marked it that way. How come? Over my job interview the other week, the interviewer told me that everyone applied any job always responds:

“I applied this job due to my deep interest in this profession.”

What the heck when even a 3-year-old kid can answer this way. Since I’m not a kid anymore, it’s such a brilliant idea whether I answer it differently. 

WHY DO I BOTHER TYPING IN ENGLISH?

Openly, I type in English because I’m not good at it. Yeah, I'm not good at English! If I typed in Bahasa, nothing much I could improve. And, that’s not my aim signing up a blog. Despite I’m able to speak Malay very fluently, I can’t even say that my Malay grammar is completely tremendous! 


A native speaker of a language most typically doesn’t care about his language grammar. Some might think that they’re already good enough and what’s the point of learning the grammar? It makes sense too, doesn’t it? Language proficiency still entails someone to really be proficient in the language, nonetheless.

For my part, I’m pretty sure that typing in English is the best choice. I find difficulty to speak English daily because there’s no reason why I’ve to speak other languages besides the Malay Language using my hometown dialect. The majority of people around me are Malays. 


Owing to this kinda predicament, I have chosen to write in English. At least, English will always be at my heart. Additionally, I’ll keep learning English and shan’t leave it just like what I’ve done toward Arabic.

I realise that learning a language without practicing to speak the language won’t help that much. It’s ever so useless and ineffective! I’d obtain a good grade in essay writing but impossibly in speaking or communication. It’s a reality that many students regardless primary and secondary school levels or even university students who fail to speak English fluently. 


The lack of speaking practice isn’t really the major problem. The negative attitude toward the English Language and the lack of motivation are amongst the main contributing factors that have led to this state of affairs. Steps must be taken or these people will regret later.

I can still remember from my reading via a book, what many Malaysian English teachers only know is to teach students. In reality, the awareness of the significance of learning the language is none! Maybe, some English teachers think that their teaching skills are sufficiently marvellous as long as they get good student feedbacks on how much they enjoyed the lesson in class. The question is what type of enjoyment they’ve got? Either entertainment or learning? 


Teachers mustn’t take this for granted! Students feel entertained in a lesson occasionally but they’ve no idea what they’re learning. Thus, there’s no point of teaching without awareness. If students are aware of the necessity of learning a second language, in this case, the English Language, I bet that they will learn the foreign language much better.

WHY DO I BOTHER TYPING IN ENGLISH?

Briefly, I write (actually type) in English for the betterment of my writing skill. I write and meantime, I learn. I’ll keep writing on and on. Writing is a skill that can be acquired through ‘drills’. That’s why it’s too curical to keep writing.

Typing or writing? Never mind. I choose typing because my handwriting isn’t that neat and legible... LOL