Let's Improve Your English!

Assalamualaikum..

Recently a daughter of a friend of mine asked me on how to improve her English. Many of my students and close friends ask me the same question too. Most of the time, what amazes me is the fact that they have more or less the same reasons for not being able to speak in public (not unable to speak English.. but then to speak in public). Let me share with you what their reasons are. I'm sure you have more or less the same thing!

1) They can't just blurt it out!

They unconsciously have a long list of grammar rules in their mind, adjusting and readjusting their sentence before being able to come out!

Solution: Let it be.. I remember telling my students not to correct others! It does not really matter whether you speak perfect English or not. I remember one of my instructress in OBS, Lumut who really speak English like nobody's business. I can write a whole book on "English Errors" and gain money out of it just based on her grammatical errors. However, she spoke so confidently that I noticed nobody realized her errors! If you can do that, you are one step ahead!

Tips: Try speaking to yourself first, or pretend like you are talking to someone.. or just imitate the dialogues on tv. Sounds crazy? It does sound crazy.. but it helped a lot.. Nobody will say you are crazy when you are suddenly confident and fluent in English.

2) They just don't have the right vocabulary!

Most of them get stuck in the middle, not having the right vocab. The truth is, based on a research, we only use about 300 - 350 words repeteadly.. I have a list of 500 common words in English.. When I read together with my students, we realized that most of the words are understood by my students..

Solution: It's okay for you to mix up the language (Pecinta Bahasa will hate me for this). Just fill up the words that you don't know with Malay words. Who cares? Later, you'll get it. At the same time, try to read more english material.. and they need not to be boring.. Just read the subtitle when you watch "Cerekarama" or any Malay movies. Trust me, it'll help. In fact, it really help as it's mainly words used in our daily life.

3) They are scared if the pronunciation is not right!

Some of my friends really asked me just how I get it right. Honestly.. I started speaking in English in public at the age of 18. Being a TESL students was really hard as my friends came from English-speaking background, some of them come from Elite School like Tengku Kurshiah, MRSM etc.

When I first started speaking English, my heart would pound, I would start sweating and my face would blush like my first wedding night. We were required to have speeches every week. I remember waiting until everyone sleeps and practice my speech in front of the mirror at 3 o'clock in the morning. I felt stupid by it was worth it!

Solution: Get a good dictionary and learn how to use phonetic symbols at the back or the front page. Many think that it is difficult, but the truth is they are really simple. Close the words and practice pronouncing the words by looking at the phonetic symbols only!

Tip: Get Oxford Pocket Dictionary.. It's so small and handy that it fits your handbag.. The best part is, it only costs RM19.90! Honestly, I've bought many already but ended up giving it to my hardworking students. I remember one student who accepted my challenge to copy 2000 english words with definition to get the dictionary! She got it!

I think that's it for the time being! The most important thing is to keep on telling yourself! I'm good at English.. and insyaallah you will be!

GOOD LUCK!

Let's Improve Your English!

Tak payahlah salam, kalau dah haram..

Satu hari kami sekeluarga ke satu majlis. Biasalah, kita akan saling berkenal-kenalan dengan tetamu yang lain. Tiba-tiba bila diperkenalkan, seorang tetamu lelaki menghulurkan tangannya untuk bersalaman. Alhamdulillah, sempat saya hulurkan tangan anak lelaki saya, "Salam uncle.. salam uncle..". Saya terus menyuruh anak-anak lelaki saya yang lain bersalam. Tangan saya terus disorokkan ke belakang dan saya senyum dan bersembang seperti biasa.

Saya perasan, muka lelaki tersebut berubah. Saya pura-pura tak perasan dan beredar. Harapnya dia tak tersinggung. Tapi sepatutnya dia tidak tersinggung sebab dia pun seperti saya, seorang muslim.

Memang saya sebenarnya pernah bersalaman dengan lelaki. Tetapi itu apabila tidak dapat dielakkan. Pernah saya diperkenalkan dengan seorang lelaki serani yang betul-betul kacak oleh kawan rapat saya. Dia menghulurkan tangan, saya tak teragak-agak untuk menyambut.

Tergelak saya tengok mata kawan rapat saya yang macam nak terjojol keluar.. "Ustazah, salam lelaki! Eee tak sangkanya! ustazah salam lelaki". Sebenarnya saya memang bukan ustazah, tetapi kawan rapat saya sengaja mengejek saya kerana saya selalu menegurnya bila tangan dia gatal mencuit lelaki.. Bukan cuit gatal tapi cuit menyakat.. Dicucuknya pinggang orang, sengaja suka tengok orang melatah. Tapi masaalahnya yang dicuitnya lelaki.. Jadi sebagai seorang muslim, saya menegur.

Berbalik kepada cerita tadi. Saya bertanya lelaki serani tersebut "since we are into the topic, how would you feel if I didn't shake your hand?". Dia menjawab, "like you slap me right on the face!". Oho.. malulah ya..

Dia menerangkan, sebagai seorang pegawai bank, dia banyak bertemu dengan klien dan memberikan tips pada saya. Jika tidak mahu salam, letakkan tangan kanan melintang atas dada ke arah bahu kiri. Eh.. jelas ke? Cuma letakkan tangan ke atas dada kiri sambil "bow" sikit. Jangan lupa senyum. Menurutnya, bila di hotel-hotel, selalunya penyambut tetamu akan buat begitu kerana tidak tahu sama ada tetamu ingin bersalam atau tidak. Lama-kelamaan, budaya ini menjadi trend tapi saya tidak pernah nampak pula. Sebelum dia balik, saya perasan, kali ini dia tidak menghulurkan tangannya.. Wow, impressive!

Walaupun tips itu telah diberi, sebenarnya saya tidak berani untuk mencubanya. Di majlis tadi, sambil makan, saya nampak tetamu lelaki tadi asyik menjeling ke arah saya. Saya rasa mungkin dia tertanya-tanya kenapa saya tidak bersalaman dengan dia. Dalam hati saya "Nasiblah.. you are a muslim.. you should know better". Saya ternampak seorang rakan. Dia asyik memperkenalkan teman lelakinya kepada kawan-kawan yang lain. Saya terus menuju ke arahnya. Alamak.. kantoi.. teman lelakinya menghulurkan tangan, saya terkedu.. Anak tiada di sisi...

Saya terus menghulurkan lengan saya yang berlapik, jadi tak tersentuh. Tapi agak janggal kerana mana ada orang salam lengan.. he he.. Takpelah.. janji tak kena.. tapi rasa macam terkena sikit kot.. Astaghfirullah...

Saya malas buat dosa kering sebenarnya.. Kata ustaz, daripada bersentuhan dengan lelaki bukan muhrim, baiklah pegang anjing. Itu yang saya terbayang tu, tak sanggup rasanya nak pegang anjing walaupun kering sebab haram di sisi agama kita. Walaupun begitu saya tidak pernahlah hina anjing. Anjing makhluk Allah juga. Ustaz siap pesan lagi, kalau ada lelaki yang nak pegang terus cakap, "Eh! Jangan! Engkau anjing!". Tentunya dia bergurau tapi bayangkanlah kalau kita cakap gitu.. Mau pengsan dibuatnya.

Sebenarnya, dengan suami makcik-makcik saya pun, saya tidak bersalam.. Pada mulanya memang janggal, saya letakkan tangan di belakang sambil bertanyakan khabar. Pakcik-pakcik pun ada yang nampak kecil hati. Tapi bila mereka hulur, saya sambut. Sampai suatu hari, seorang pakcik tidak menghulurkan salam, dia menerangkan "Ada air sembahyang". Maknanya taulah hukum ya! Jadi sekarang, mereka sudah biasa, kerana walaupun saya tidak salam, saya pergi jumpa mereka seorang demi seorang bertanyakan khabar.. Bukan main gamit dari jauh saja. Abang-abang ipar dan adik ipar lelaki pun sama. Memang saya tak salam juga.

Saya ingat, sebagai muslim, tak payahlah kita bersalaman dengan lelaki yang bukan muhrim. Kerana dosa-dosa kering macam ini ada kesannya pada hati. Timbul titik-titik hitam di hati yang lama kelamaan menjadi kekotoran seperti karat yang memang susah dibersihkan. Dosa tak kering pun memang dah banyak.. tak payahlah tambah lagi.. Kita pun jarang beristighfar.. Bila teringat sahaja. Bukan macam rasulullah yang begitu konsisten beristighfar 100 kali setiap hari..

Tak payahlah salam, kalau dah haram..

The Class is Cancelled... Again.. [sigh]

Menyampah betul.. I hate it when I sent my kids to the nursery for afternoon classes and take the hassle of going off early from home to fetch my kids at 4.00, nothing is more frustrating than having a cancelled class.

It's really annoying when you take the trouble reading up notes, doing a little research in preparation for the class and yet, when you reach there, a bunch of kids will ask "eh, ada kelas ke hari ni? Hari ni kami ada mesyuarat agong". That means the students already know that the class is cancelled.. Nobody had the courtesy of calling the teacher..

That's the thing with charity work. When you are cheap, they'll find you cheap. I bet if the time is charged, whenever the class is cancelled or not.. or if I charged a fixed pay for the month, they'll think twice to cancel it off..

The most frustrating thing was when the person in charged said "Taknya.. buat kelas pukul 4 la!". Do they really think that due to their mistake, I should be okay with waiting 1 1/2 hour and spend another 1 1/2 hour instead? I wonder if they really consider the fact that kids sent to nursery requires money? Do they ever bother to consider that we have other commitments as well?

The last time, the same thing happened to me. The school did not inform me there is a change in the timetable. The minute I entered the class, the students asked me "Eh! cikgu ajar bahasa Malaysia ke sekarang ni?". Seems that my class ended just before my scheduled time.

I'll take this as a challenge.. Maybe next year, I won't volunteer.. I'll get myself a part time job somewhere and make myself unavailable for charity work.. Maybe it is going to be more rewarding spiritually and financially!

The Class is Cancelled... Again.. [sigh]

Organizing BBQ

3 weeks ago, we had a BBQ with the neighbours.. It was a first time experience for most of us.. It was a small crowd with 6 families attending and we did it all by ourselves..

The first step was to call for a meeting.. Only 4 families attended the meeting (of course we dared not invite all because it was the first time..). It went well.. and alhamdulillah.. we had a jolly good time.. the kids were running and eating at the same time, the parents were busy catching up, and finally.. we cleaned up everything together.. hoping and promising there'll be another one before ramadhan..

So, I'm jotting everything down so that you can organize one with your friends! It may not sound perfect but it was our first attempt and to us, it was a success... Maybe I should write down tips in another entry...

Menu

BEEHOON / MEE SUP with SUP TULANG

DAGING / AYAM PANGGANG
SEAFOOD (KERANG, SOTONG, UDANG)

AIR ASAM
GRAVY
COLESLAW

NUGGET AND FRIES WITH CHILLI SAUCE N MAYO (it was a hit with the kids!)
AIR

Step-by-step on How to Organize

1. Decide on the date of the event. Get someone to ask everyone who can come.

2. Once you have all the attendee, decide how much money to collect and set the latest date to make the payment and to whom.
There were 6 families attending, we collected RM50.00 from each family and we had food leftover as well as almost RM150.00 extra...

3. Come out with a menu as well as the list of work to delegate (read up more to see the list :) )Just remember, no one is hosting so everything should be done together.

A good tip is to delegate according to expertise.. We chose Kak Yana to do the marketing because the market is like a playground for her as she goes there every week.. and we asked Ita to make drinks as she has access to the surau's big water cointainer.. he he..

4. List out the things that needs to be used
This includes mat, fork and spoon, plastic cups, plates, and tables (amazingly, we managed to get 2 plastic table, 1 big 'pasar malam' table, mats as well as dining chairs scattering around the place plus 1 big drum for the BBQ!)

5. Call up for a brief meeting.. make sure to make enough copies of the menu, list of work, list of things as well as the agenda of the BBQ.

6. Get everyone to volunteer on the task
Let them decide what they do best!

7. Get a treasurer who will collect and handle the money..

8. Pray hard everything will be a succes and HAVE FUN!

LIST OF WORK TO DO

1. marketing at the market
2. marketing at the supermarket
3. marinating chicken
4. marinating beef as well as making the gravy
5. making the soup
6. drinks and ice
7. frying fries and nugget
8. setting up fire
9. BBQing
10. setting up the table
11. making the coleslaw
12. air asam






Have fun!

Maybe i'll compile all the recipe in one entry! We had to look for all the recipe!

Organizing BBQ

Finally, Sports Day is Over

Alhamdulillah.. after the whole week struggling with the pom-pom and the script as well as the donut making at the very last minute.. D-day is finally over..

Haziq's 'rumah kuning' was the champion.. the grand event was definitely the 'tug of war'... It was hilarious to see the parents cheering for the kids.. it was even more hilarious to see the 4-year-old kids agonizing face to pull... Memang ada yang tergolek.. and I couldn't help laughing..

Being part of the teachers' team gave a whole new experience.. I couldn't cheer for Haziq that much, being busy throughout the whole event but then, it was great to be the part of the organizing team compared to the audience!

So today, I'm declaring the day off.. which means i'm ignoring everything else but myself.. A sink full of dirty dishes, a dining table with more dishes.. a heap of school uniforms that demand ironing and plenty of house chores... I deserve it! I'll think about the chores later.. but now.. I'm rewarding myself for the whole week work!

Finally, Sports Day is Over

Pregnancy Check Up

Yesterday was my 29th week pregnancy check up.. There were a lot of questions in my mind. I did made a mental note of the things that I need to ask the doctor. Though this is going to be my fifth one, giving birth is always a new experience..

Even until now, I still haven't done my pelvic floor exercise, my breathing exercise consistently.. I haven't even done my usual revision of my Dorling Kindersly book on giving birth..

From my check up yesterday..

1)I'm suppose to tell the doctor (during labour) that I want to fully breasfeed my baby if possible within the first hour after labour. If not, they will think that you need rest and feed the baby in the nursery.

I remember waiting for the nurse to send me my second baby. To my dismay, they have already fed her. What mommies do not know is that it is really important to feed your baby within the first hour to stimulate your breast into producing milk. Giving them formula milk will only delay the milk production. As soon as you feed the baby.. you can actually feel contraction to show our body's natural process of healing. Thank you Allah..

2)I must have the courage to ask for bonding with my baby.

The only time I had 'bonding' right after birth was with my first child. The minute after birth, the nurse put the baby right on my bare chest. The baby was alert and the minute the nurse took him back.. he cried his heart out as if he was really sad to be apart!

I can never explained the feelings back then. Every birth, I really want to do this but I never had the courage to tell the doctor.. Maybe it is time that I speak up..

3) The minute I have signs of labour, I should go immediately to the hospital.. It can be a a plug of mucus or the breaking of the water bag. saspennya!

4) Since I have a history of early labour, I really should pack my stuff at least 1 month before due. This time I'll pack stuff for my kids as well as they will be sent straight to the nursery if I have to go to the hospital.

and finally..

5) I'd better come out with a list of things to pack.. and things to do..

start praying doa nabi yunus! i forgot totally bout that!

Pregnancy Check Up

Mesti 'Grand' ke Wedding?

Assalamualaikum..

Baru lepas cuti sekolah, banyak wedding yang sempat saya pergi. Bermacam-macam konsep dan style yang kita jumpa.. dari pelaminnya.. sampailah ke bumbung dan khemah yang ber"scallop-scallop" mengikut tema warna..

Ada yang grand.. tak kurang yang simple. Saya tertanya-tanya.. apa sebenarnya fungsi majlis perkahwinan? Pada asalnya memanglah untuk memberitahu tentang pernikahan. Barulah orang tahu yang bunga sudah dipetik orang.

Terdengar-dengar masa kenduri kahwin, orang bercerita, rumah orang ni macam ni, rumah orang tu macam tu.. Bunga telur tu dah fesyen lama.. sok sek sana sok sek sini.. Rimas telinga mendengar..

Teringat satu kenduri yang saya pergi.. memang meriah. Nasi putih berlaukkan masak lemak daging. Memang hebat kenduri tu. Pelaminnya memang simple, sekadar langsir sebagai backdrop.. platform yang kecil cukup untuk mengambil gambar dengan background yang cantik. Tak pulak nampak pengantin sedih sebab pelaminnya tidak grand.

Hidangan pengantinnya memang sama macam tetamu lain. Ayamnya dah siap potong, bukan ayam golek seketul yang memang tak mungkin pengantin akan makan.. Karang orang kata gelojoh pulak. Siap dengan cocktail sebagai pemanis mulut.

Saya 'salute' mereka yang berani menghidangkan nasi putih, lauk kampung! Kerana sudah tentunya, mereka tidak berhabis, berhutang untuk menjamu orang. Mereka tidak takut dikata dicemuh orang kerana tiada nasi minyak. Yang saya paling suka.. disebabkan musim nasi minyak, ramai yang suka masakan kampung kerana sudah jemu dengan nasi minyak dan nasi tomato.

Sebagai orang Islam.. eloklah kita perbetulkan niat buat kenduri. Kita kan meraikan anak kita yang kahwin. Saya teringat bunga telur yang saya dapat, cantik bakul emas bermanik. Terkejut bila saya tengok harganya RM5 satu (ternampak di kedai). Bila balik rumah, bakul kecil tu sekadar hiasan.. cukup setahun, mungkin orang akan buang sebab dah berhabuk dan malas nak cuci.

Berbaloi ke berhabis untuk bunga paha dan bunga telur sedangkan orang akan buang.. cuba bayangkan 500 bunga telur x RM5, dah RM2,500 untuk bekas sahaja. RM2,500, kalau didermakan untuk surau atau masjid.. bukankah mendapat pulangan yang berlipat ganda di akhirat nanti.. Jangan duit habis.. timbul pula riak di hati.

Yang paling takut sekali kalau lepas kenduri kahwin, duit pulak tak cukup nak bayar baki duit carpet, pelamin atau catering. Mana nak cari? belum lagi 'personal loan' yang terpaksa dibayar selepas kahwin.

Saya teringat majlis perkahwinan saya sendiri.. Memang simple.. Masa saya kahwin, saya masih belajar di U. Saya sedar sendiri, duit tiada, malas nak minta itu ini dari ibu bapa saya. Majlis saya tiada pelamin, saya perasan, melilau orang cari pelamin saya kalau mereka masuk ke rumah. Bilik pengantin pun ikhsan opah saya yang meminjamkan backdrop dan cadar yang dipinjam Maklang.. Dia terkejut katil biasa, terus dia balik dan bawa cadar broketnya yang masih belum dipakai. Saya letakkan cadar lace ibu saya. Memang simple.

Baju pula saya pakai kebaya yang saya tempah dengan kain yang dipilih ayah saya di Labuan. Cuma saya pakai 'veil'. Mengamuk makcik saya.. nanti orang tak kenal pengantin yang mana.. Pergi cari kain songket.. Saya pekakkan telinga.

Meriah majlis saya bukan sebab lagu, kami tak ada PA system pun.. tapi meriah mendengar orang bersembang, bergelak ketawa dengan rakan-rakan. Alhamdulillah.. ramai ustaz-ustaz (kawan bapa saya) yang datang. Mereka datang bukan datang kosong.. saya mengharapkan doa-doa mereka agar kami bahagia ke anak cucu.

Mungkin sudah tiba masanya kita kembali ke fungsi sebenar kenduri kahwin itu sendiri. Insyaallah, jika kita berniat untuk menjamu, Allah akan bantu.. Jangan ikutkan sangat apa orang kata.. kerana orang memang akan mengata.. Yang penting ... NIAT..

Mesti 'Grand' ke Wedding?