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