Some of the SMSes Sent by My Students

Love is like a house, it doesn't have to be beautiful, it doesn't have to be luxurious, the most important thing is that we're happy in it.

An Encounter is a Coincidence, Separation is Destined, Life is a Reality & Death is a Certainty.

Friendship is like a promise made in our hearts, it can't be written, it can't be read but it will never be separated by distance and will never be changed by time. Once a friend, forever a friend.

Last Day At KIAS...

Thursday was my last day at KIAS. I got many hugs, a lot of presents, a few tears... I'll miss my colleagues... Kak Su, Kak Ina, Kak Yah, Kak Ti, Kak Ha... I'll always be thankful to Sir Rahman for giving me the opportunity to teach at KIAS. I guess I'll still visit them from time to time but it just won't be the same. I never knew I would love teaching so much... I'll treasure these past two months forever. That night I treated five of my students to dinner at The Village. We had such a great time. I couldn't remember when I had laughed so much. I'll miss them.

A Waste of Effort and Energy

Today is the closing ceremony for the intensive Arabic and English course I was teaching and my students were going to present English Oh English... they've been practicing so hard for. The girls were so excited and some of them couldn't wait to get on stage and perform as this was the first time they were doing choral speaking and they were anxious to see the crowd's reaction (many of the people in the audience have never seen a choral speaking performance before). The boys looked handsome in their crisp, pressed white shirt and black trousers. I was so proud of them and were quite nervous myself. To my disbelief, our performance was cancelled at the last minute, 10 minutes away from the time we were scheduled to get on stage (it was actually cancelled the day before but nobody had the courtesy to be frank and inform us about this). My girls were so disappointed, some of them were actually speechless. A few of them left the hall when the mc announced, "the last performance of the day is..." (we were supposed to perform second last). I couldn't blame them as I was disappointed myself. I felt so discouraged and sad for the girls. The boys apologized to me profusely for not being able to perform when it wasn't even their fault that it saddened me even more. I still put on my smiling face even though I was fuming inside. If this is the attitude and the stand the people who were responsible for cancelling are taking, how could they expect to improve the level of English in this college? As a teacher who's almost the same age as my students, I could understand how they feel. It is never a wise move to disappoint, dishearten and disillusion students. They could retaliate in many unexpected ways (I hope they wouldn't). Worst of all I'm afraid if they'd no longer have the same level of interest and enthusiasm for learning English after this incident.

My Makeover Picture

I had this makeover because I was feeling lost and lonely and I wanted people to fuss over me. It worked! I went back to the university feeling less lonely and much happier :)

My Version of BBGS's English - International Form of Verbal Communication

English Oh English…

Chorus (Group 1)
Arabic is the language of the Holy Quran Malay is our national language but what of English? What is English for? In a typical English classroom, English would sound like….

Chorus (Unison)
Everybody speak in Malay.

Solo
Teacher: Please speak only English in my class.

Chorus (Unison)
Silent

Solo
So… quiet… we could hear a pin drop in here…

Chorus (Group 2)
Why are we so reluctant to speak in English?

Chorus (Group 1) Do we not know of its importance?

Solo
But I’m afraid.

Solo
I’m embarrassed… what if my friends make fun of me?

Solo
Bau budu wehhh…

Chorus (Unison)
Those are not valid reasons!

Chorus (Group 1)
Here is a great advantage for this language:

Chorus (Group 2)
You’re walking alone in KB Mall when suddenly, suddenly… there’s a beautiful tourist…

Solo
Hi there, can you tell me where the washroom is?

Chorus (Group 1)
She flashes a gorgeous smile but instead of giving her directions, you stuttered:

Solo
Uh uh… you… you go there at the backside of the supermarket…

Chorus (Group 2)
Hahhh… what a waste.

Chorus (Unison)
We must remember, English words cannot mimic the intonation of Bahasa Melayu and most of the time direct translation is wrong too… Doesn’t it sound funny if someone say:

Solo
Teacher, may I go out? (Kelantanese dialect)

Chorus (Unison)
Instead of

Solo
Teacher, may I go out? (Proper English)

Chorus (Unison)
Wouldn’t you cringe if someone say:

Solo
Teacher, I’m sorry I come late.

Chorus (Unison)
Instead of

Solo
Teacher, I’m sorry I’m late.

Solo
Okay, jokes aside…

Chorus (Unison)
English is an international language. It is spoken and written in many parts of the globe.

Solo
But I can speak Arabic.

Solo
I can speak Spanish, I watch telenovelas all the time.

Chorus (Group 1)
Really? But none of you can master all languages. English is what we have in common with people in many parts of the world.

Chorus (Group 2)
So… bear in mind our advice…

Chorus (Unison)
Even though we love our national language, mastering English is also important. The next time you are tempted to shove your English homework aside or just be content with a few phrases you know… Think again.

Solo
The End

MashiMaro

With my namja chinggu, Thomas Kim Jun Hyun when I was in Korea... We lost contact when he went for military service... tangshineul nomo pogoshippo...

Choral Speaking

I couldn't believe I actually managed to finish a choral speaking script for my English class. Thank God, I thought I would never finish in time. At first I wanted to do something about ghosts and I spent half of last night surfing for ghost poems and ghost stories but then I couldn't think of a suitable ending with moral values for my script. When I was about to give up, I stumbled onto the BBGS website. Thanks to their choral speaking wma files, I managed to scrape together enough ideas to come up with my version of a choral speaking script on English. English was my first choice for a topic but I had no idea how to begin until I listened to BBGS's English - International Form of Verbal Communication. Komapsumnida. Thank you, you guys saved me.

p/s: If any BBGS student read this, I'm really sorry for taking bits and pieces from your script here and there. I was really pressed for time and the script will not be used for competition.

Meet and greet session at the Seri Pentas

My sister and I got to see Mariana Ochoa and Carlos Torres. From left, me, my friend and my sister.

A Freelance Proofreader and Translator...

In my freetime I proofread theses, dissertations and I also do English-Malay, Malay-English translations. Those who are interested can contact me at my e-mail address for further information (on how to submit their theses, time allocation, payment particulars etc). I'll post a sample of my work later when I have figured out how to navigate around the blog.

My First Post

Here I am, sitting curled on a chair in the library starting a blog in my last week in KIAS (Sultan Ismail Petra International Islamic College) after unsuccessfully trying to find a choral speaking script for my classes' graduation performance this Thursday. I spent the weekend marking my students' finals and the highest mark is 84% while the lowest is 11%. My sister laughed at me and told me if I felt like a failure knowing that two thirds of my students failed their paper. I could honestly say that I do not feel like a failure. I know that I've done my best and I feel that those students who never misses class have really improved and I really feel like they've learned something during their seven weeks with me. This is my first time teaching and I'm really fond of some of my students. I'll really miss them when I leave KIAS. As my first students, they will always occupy a special place in my heart...