1st Year BEN UniSZA 2008/2009

Assalamualaikum WBT,

How do you my dear readers?

Now, while I was driving later this afternoon, I was thinking about my first year in UniSZA. It was in 2008. 7 years ago. Time really flew. Huhuhu... I can not catch it. Ever.

But, I still remember the people who I first met during my first day. I was alone. In a land where things were so different. They were. Very different. I still remember how awkward the situation was when I was given the wrong key to the temporary room. They gave me the female dorm's key. Stupid they were indeed, but I cannot blame them for being confused with me. Hahaha... No, I was not even confusing to others, no.

Then, we were moved from the temporary rooms to the real ones. NOW, I was thinking, what it they were just trying to make us bring out baggage just to see us suffer from carrying all those bags. Hahaha... 

Then, I entered the class and in the class, we came from every sort of lives, trust me but the majority of the students were the ex-TESL students from the same faculty. Well, now you know. To be honest, the class was divided to several groups, the Ex-Tesl students, the STPM students, the 2nd intake, the 3rd intake and the pulled-in students. No bad people or terms and I will explain later.

1. Ex-TESL students

These students were the ex-TESL from the same faculty, Faculty of Languages and Communication but before UniSZA became UniSZA, it was Pusat Bahasa during KUSZA time. Diploma in TESL was offered for the students and that was where ex-TESL students came from. They were nice, yes. Some of them were good.

2. The STPM students

This was my group. Haha, I was too a STPM student who came just because I managed to get Band 2 (Upper) and my SPM was A2. Haha, my STPM result was not that good but I managed to get to university, talking about rezeki. I am grateful. Grateful indeed. We were the STPM students who happened to have potential but most of us not really know what English was. Haha, awkward. To be honest, I was not a good student before and I did not know how to speak using English language, but I learned. Now, alhamdulillah, we at least after 4 years, I am able to know some rules and grammar in English language, well, at least the simple ones. 

3.  The 2nd, 3rd and so one intakes

Even though they were 2nd or 3rd intakes, now, they ware scattered around Malaysia doing amazingly. For example, Dean, he is now a full time lecturer in UNIMAS and he has finished studying for his Master's Degree. Another is Fauzan, he is now in Terengganu and he was doing amazingly. I could not be proud with them. Amazing.

4.  The pulled-in students

As far as I am concerned, there were three pulled-ins, they were the late Shirazi, Nadhirah and also Fauzan. Why the heck, I called them the pulled-in, right? Now, the Dean at time was Madam Azizah Endut, I really heard rumours that she pulled some guns to get my friends in and to be honest, she really made a great choice because now, Nadhirah was not only the best student in the Batch, she is now a Master's Degree holder and a businesswoman. Beat that peaches. Haha, and Fauzan. I cannot be proud of him anymore. He is one of my bestfriends, he is amazingly great. Great human being, great person. Enuff said.

During my first year, I did quite okay, I managed to get 3.00 and 2.99 respectively for the two terms. At first, to be honest, my English structure was like, "What the heck" level, then I managed to get it fixed by learning more from friends and my own initiative. Love it. Haha.... 

My first was great and I managed to get along with great friends. Love it.

My innocence year.

1st year BEN UniSZA 2008/2009.

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: I will write on my years more later on.

Writing in English Language.

Assalamualaikum WBT,

I actually have one question to asked to all my readers,

"When you started writing, what did you do first?"

Well, now, when I started writing, I will think about the ending of my writing. Why? It is because, the ending is the best part. That is why you need to think about the ending first. But, the first thing ever, you need to jot down all of the possibilities of your passage.

You need to think about the points that you want to put in your passage. Let say, you passage is about Your Dream. Therefore, you need to write about your dream and also you need to think what inspires your dream. Let say, you want to be a soldier, then, you have to identify the person/situation/spirit that inspires you in becoming a soldier. You need think about all the points and in the end, the ending must be amazing.

But if it is quite different when you write something formal. You need to at least draft the format. Let say, you were given a task on writing a formal letter to your classroom teacher because you need to take a day off. Now, what you need to think about the appropriate reasons that would support your writing. Then you need to think about the date, days and explanation on the reason that you wrote. 

So, it is the same with Bahasa, you need to think about the format that suitable for your writing. 

Now, is that all clear? I think yes for now, I do not want to put your mind into something that too far for your thoughts. Later on in my next entries, I will write more on this okay?

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: hope you get something from my writings.

SPM English Literature : Poem : The Charge of the Light Brigade.

Assalamualaikum WBT,

As promised, for this entry, I want to write about Themes, Moral Values and also, Language and Style for the poem, The Charge of the Light Brigade. 

Themes :

1. Heroism and courage

According to the poem by Tennyson, the soldiers knew that they were up against a better armed enemy (Russians), yet they charged into battle with great courage. Now, this is where everything come across very doubtful in the modern days where we have lots of opinions and ideas. Logically, we were NOT going to charge at any battle, IF we know enemy has better guns and bombs, right? But, that was not modern days, they were not asked to think about them but the country. That was the vow that they took. But, what can do, right? Some were just bluntly followed the ruler WITHOUT analysing anything. Too bad.

2. Patriotism

This poem was written in the heyday of extreme nationalism and patriotism. As mentioned above, people during the war were thinking 'the other way'. Meaning, they were always agreed with their ruler without having 'the other thoughts'. In modern days, people are more questioning and critical in their concept of patriotism. 

3. Duty

From the poem, even though the soldiers knew that 'someone has blundered', still they had a strong sense of duty. It almost like, its their duty to protect the country of their own. They had this thought of they need to protect their families, their friends, their parents and they had to. Why? because they obeyed the order given to them. 

4. The tragedy of war

As we all know, war is not the best thing ever created by Man. We tend to think that by having war, we could solve many problems, but do really think that Iran has Nuclear powerplant? What has happened to those Middle East countries? And yet, those people believe in war? The same concept can be applied in this poem. How many loved ones had been sacrificed just for the sake of war? Yes, Tennyson wrote about the six hundred soldiers who involved in the charge, but with a little bit of common sense, we could just easily think about the counterpart, the Russians. They too must have been suffered from loss, didn't they? Tragedy indeed.

5. Leadership failure

Now, my friend once said, if we want to kill the snake, we need to smack the head first. So, in the failure of the charge by the 600 British soldiers, from what we understood from the poem, that 'someone' needed to be blamed. Why? because he was the caused of the unfortunate ambush. Now, the poem tells us that leadership is a serious responsibility which should be exercised with care and sensitivity. 

Moral Values

1. Patriotism

We nowadays lack of patriotism. Why? I do no know what made the cause of lack of patriotism, but we really need to change the attitude on that. We need to love our country like we love ourselves. The poem tells us that the spirit of self-sacrifice shown by the soldier even though they knew they might not survive the battle. 

2. Duty

We need to be responsible person at all time. Why? because we are our own responsibility. We need to have a sense of duty and obligation in our work. By doing the best at any time, we have a step closer to a better person. As the soldiers in the poem, they had to go the battle because its their duty. That came from the sense of obedience that those soldiers had. 

3. Anti-war Sentiment

This is actually one of the moral values. Anti-war sentiment, have you ever heard of the war in Vietnam? Thailand? Iraq? Syria? Iran? What would be benefits for BOTH parties? Answer? Nothing. It only brought benefits to one party. We as human, who happened to have great minds need to think about our environment. Wars did not just effect the Man but also the nature and wars killed humans. The poem can also be seen as subtle attack on the wastage of lives in war.

Language and Style

When we talk about language and style, we need to refer to the literary items that I believed you have learned from your teachers at school. If you have trouble understanding it, please, refer to your teachers, ask them about the literary items.

Repetition

The poet makes intensive use of repetition (refrains) to create a hypnotic effect. Examples of such refrains are half a league (repeated thrice) and Rode the six hundred (repeated four times). The refrains also give us the impression of an army marching forward.

Anaphora and Rhyme

Anaphora means 'backward reference'. There was one stand out example is the repeated use of 'Theirs' in the opening lines.

" Theirs not to make reply,

  Theirs not to reason why,

  Theirs but to do and die. "

Imagery

Now, imagery means giving adjective to the situation. For examples, 

'the mouth of Hell', 'jaws of Death' and also 'the valley of Death'.

With these images, we sense the poet's underlying unease about war even though he glorifies the heroism of the soldiers. The equation of war with the 'jaws of Death' suggests that war is a predator that feeds on human lives.

So, that is all on the explanation on the selected sub topics.

I really hope that you could understand a few points I have written. If you were to have any question, do not hesitate to email me at akmall_kiut@yahoo.com

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: Know the concept then apply it with your own sense but do not astray from the original topic. *that's my advise.

SPM English Literature : Play

Assalamualaikum WBT,

I am still having quite a hard time with analysing the previous poem, which I want to study more on Language and Style. For this entry, I want to write about Play. Yes, play as in drama. In SPM, the students were given quite a lot of book for the literature components, one of them is Five Short Plays by Martyn Ford. This Five Short Plays by Martyn Ford is for Form 4 students, but still the students who are taking SPM need to study these plays.

According to the teachers whom I have been referring to, they said that, there are certain poems for certain places in Malaysia. *whut? One of the plays entitled, The Right Thing to Do is for the East Coast area. Okkkk? hahaha... well, I just follow what she said. Now, I will explain more on the creative aspect of the play, but for now, I will tell you quite in depth of what is Play.

What is a Play?

A play is essentially a story that is meant to be acted out [staged] in front of an audience. It can be prose form or poetry but it is meant to be heard and seen, and will have to be staged in a theatre to be enjoyed. A play will have the following main characteristics:

1. Character

The character means the role that the actors and actresses have to play in the play. Got that, right? In every play, the most important rose is protagonis. What is protagonist? Protagonist is the main character mostly, everything happens in a play, revolves around him/her. The we have minor characters, which serve specific function and once that is done, he/she exists. They may convey some messages, provide laughter or carry out a specific duty. For example, have you watched Spy by Melissa McCarthy? She was the main character and Rose Bryne, Jason Statham and Jude Law are somewhat not so main but almost main characters, got that? ok?

2. Plot

Now, plot tells you the story line and it is structured according to the particulars in story. It revolves around a conflict in which hero struggles against all odds to win heroine or to achieve something or to prove a point. It usually starts with Exposition, then Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action and lastly Denouement. 

3. Theme

Theme tells audience what the play or drama is all about. As for the plot refers to the body of a play, the theme has been called its soul. Its like the life of a drama. Its like without great cake, colourful icing would not do any good. Right? 

4. Dialogue

Dialogue is what the characters speak, which carries message of the play. Usually, the script writer would add a lot language style in it. Without properly written, the dialogue would lost its sparks. Plus, the language and style of the dialogue will reflect the period and the social background of the characters. It is actually according to the  story line itself. If the story line is comedy, then usually the dialogue will have lots of comedic input in it.

5. Audience

As for the audience, if its a play at the school hall, then we would have no problem trying to understand the input given, or listening to the dialogues by the actors and the actresses. But, what if, the play is in the television? Would it be called a play? From my view, yes, it is. It is still a play, but the audience is not in front of them, in fact, it is recorded and be played in the television. Would they have the direct reaction from the audience? well, no but now with amazing role of social media, using  hashtag (#) we would have immediate reaction right away. 

6. Stagecraft.

Now, stagecraft is more on the technical issue. Traditionally, if a play is about Cinderella in the Red Queen's garden, we would have cardbord that painted in green colour, and have this painted red rose on it. But, have you ever heard of CGI? Yes, CGI makes things better. Hahaha,,, have you ever watched Harry Potter? *I am fan!! Avid Fan indeed. The effect in Harry Potter done by amazing CGI specialist made it one of the most expensive film ever in the world, therefore, do not underestimate the power of computer people. Hehe..

That is all for Play, later on I will write about this one play that I taught my students. The Right Thing to Do. It was a great play and I believe we all can relate to it but first you have to read it, so that you will have a clear understanding on that play. Ok?

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s; Luv yals.

SPM English Literature : Poem : The Charge of the Light Brigade.

Assalamualaikum WBT,

I am in the mood of sharing another poem for the SPM Literature Components, which is, The Charge of the Light Brigade. Firstly, you read this extract.

The Charge of the Light Brigade

Half a league, half a league,

Half a league onward,

All in the valley of Death

Rode the six hundred.

'Forward, the Light Brigade!

Charge for the guns!' he said :

Into the valley of Death

Rode the six hundred. 

'Forward, the Light Brigade!'

Was there a man dismayed?

Not though the soldier knew

Some one had blundered :

Theirs not to make reply,

Theirs not to reason why,

Theirs but to do and die :

Into the valley of Death

Rode the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,

Cannon to left of them,

Cannon in front of them

Volleyed at with shot and shell,

Boldly they rode and well,

Into the jaws of Death,

Into the mouth of Hell,

Rode the six hundred.

Alfred Lord Tennyson.

Hi dear students who actually searched for this for their SPM answer. Well, to me, you have come to a simple blog with simple explanation that might bring to your simple sense in learning this poem. Actually, this poem is not that difficult to understand and as you can see, after you read the poem, you might come across a few things, which maybe a recall from what you have learned in your classes. Remember? During those early month of the years, before lemangs took over your body? Remember? haha...

Now, let me tell you a bit about the poet. Alfred Lord Tennyson was born on 6 August 1809 in Somersby, Lincolnshire, England. He was Poet Laureate of Great Britain and Ireland from 1850 till his death at the age of 83. In his poems, Tennyson used a wide range of subject matter, ranging from medieval legends to classical myths and from domestic situations to observations of nature, as source material for his poetry. His poem are noted for the richness of his imagery and descriptive writing. He also handled rhythm masterfully.

In 1855, Tennyson produced  one of his best-known poems "The Charge of the Light Brigade", a tribute to the heroic British cavalrymen involved in an ill-advised charge on 25 October 1854, during the Crimean War. Alfred, Lord Tennyson is acclaimed as one of the greatest poets in English literature. He died on 3rd October 1892 at Aldworth. He was buried at Westminster Abbey.

About the Poem

This poem is about the 600 British soldiers as mentioned in the poet's background. It also about the heroism and courage of a brigade. Well, many died in that battle which is called by Crimean War (1854-1856). The soldier belonged to a light brigade which means they were on horseback and armed only with sabres and baton (light arms). By some mistake by one *in the poem said so, and they were ordered into a valley which had heavily armed Russian enemy battalions on three sides - front, left and right. The Russians were fully armed and they were very powerful and they had powerful cannons. Now, when the light brigade charged into this "valley of death", they were massacred by the cannons fire.Yes, most of them died but they showed great heroism and patriotism in battle. On one side, well, we can see how heroism and patriotism took part in the way we think, but hey! the coin has two sides right? another side would be the challenging ideas of the concept of obedience, patriotism and nationalism. Don't you think so? 

Now, the themes for this poet are,

1. Heroism and courage

2. Patriotism

3. Duty

4. The tragedy of was

5. Leadership failure

Moral values:

1. Patriotism

2. Duty

3. Anti-war sentiment

The persona :

The poem is narrated by an omniscient (all-seeing) narrator who reports not only the action but the thoughts and spirit of the 600 men as a collective unit. There is also a reference that "someone has blundered".

Tone/Mood

Since the poem is about war so, it is clear that the tone and mood is quite intense and as the overall mood, it would be collective action, rather than individual impulse. The poem has the sound of military march and also the feeling of exhaustion, something like that. But to me, as long as you could imagine how war is about then, marks are waiting for you students! but make sure you relate your answer with the poem. Easy right?

As for the Language and Style, well, as you can see, there were Repetition. Why? As you all know, we repeat things because we want to make a bold statement by saying a few times. In this poem, the repetition (refrains) was used  to create hypnotic effect and the refrains give us the impression of an army marching forward. *I will explain more on Language and Style of this poem, once I read it VERY thoroughly, ok?

Point of view :

The poem is narrated by an omniscient (third person) narrator. 

Now, later, on maybe next two entries I will write on the Language and Style and also I will explain more on Themes and Moral Values of "The Charge of the Light Brigade". To me, this poem is very, very good. It was a very good poem indeed, but I could not run from thinking of if you know someone has blundered, why do you have to follow the instructions given? But it was not mine to ask why? hehe... *I used the same sentence structure as in the poem. You can detect that right? yesss... hehe...

That is all for now, I am pretty sure you will get more from me.

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: Its an easy poem actually. Please, read. Make sure you read the poem and understand it first, ok?

"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire" - Aristotle.

Learning English Grammar : Conditionals - 'if"

Assalamualaikum WBT,

How do you my dear readers? How do you do? I am so very sorry for not updating many as much entries as I could for these past few months. Too busy, I just cannot cope with two blogs, I could only update just one blog, plus, I am using my hand phone as my medium to update my blog. I am so very sorry.

Therefore, on that note, I want to update a little bit on English grammar.

Have you ever heard of Conditionals - 'if'?

Well, you haven't, I will explain it to you what Conditionals - 'if' is. The 'if' clause is used to talk about events that have not happened and what will be the results if they happen. The 'if'' clauses are used in the following ways:

Type 1 Conditional

1. To talk about a real or possible situation

'if' clause (The Simple Present Tense) + Main clause (The Simple Future Tense)
                                                             - will + main verb
                                                             - will be + adjective

Examples :

If you read more books, you will improve you English.
If it rains, I will not go out.
If you do not eat now, you will be hungry.

Note : Instead of  will, we can use auxiliary verbs like may/might (probability), may (permission), can (permission or ability) or must/should/ought to (obligation or duty).

Type 2 Conditional

2. To talk about an unreal or impossible situation

'if' clause (The Simple Past Tense) + Main clause
                                                       - would + main verb
                                                       - would be + adjective

Examples :

If Liza went out with them, she would regret it.
If she received the present, she would send it back.
If they were singers, they would be famous.

Type 3 Conditional

3. To talk about a situation which is impossible because it refers to the past.

'if' clause (The Past Perfect Tense) + Main clause
                                                      - would have + past participle
                                                      - would have been + objective

Examples :

If Kanye had taken the test, he would have passed.
If I had known that she was coming, I would not have joined this trip.
If he had planned this carefully, the outcome would not have been disappointing.

That is all for now.

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: I can't promise. Haha...

SPM : English Literature Components.

Assalamualaikum WBT,

How do you my avid/loyal readers. *is there's any? hahaha

Now, firstly, I would love to apologise for not being such a good blogger cause, I have been neglecting this blog with no English Grammar Entries. I am so sorry, please, forgive me for being such a jerk, okay?

Therefore, for today, because of I have been teaching my students, form 4 students a few things on Literature Components. I want to share with you one of two poems that I taught them.

But before that, I want to let you know what poetry is.

Poetry is a creative literary piece made up of specially-arranged words in metre or free verse. It is often written with rhyme and rhythm in a group of lines called stanza or verse.

What are the key elements of poetry?

Theme, Moral Value, Persona or Speaker, Setting, Tone and Mood, Point of View, Language and Style

Now, I will explain briefly on each of these.

Theme : The theme is the idea, point of view or perception expanded upon in the poem. It expresses a message, issue or feeling that the poet wishes to highlight. In simple words, theme is about how the author wants to convey. The idea that the author or poet want us to know.

Moral Value : These are lessons that can be learnt from the poem. Meaning, the goods and the bads that you can identify from the literature piece that you studied and you relate that with the moral value that you know. This is more like you understanding towards the piece itself.

Persona or Speaker :  The persona is the speaker or 'voice' in the poem. This is a person created by the poet to convey his message. Well, sometimes, the poet used "I, or We" as the pronoun, but there are poets chose to use names other than theirs just to tell the story.

Setting : The place where the poem takes place and the time when it is written.  It is also denotes the social environment of the poem.

Tone and mood : The tone is the poet's/speaker's attitude towards the subject, audience, or towards himself/herself. Mood refers to the general feeling created in the poem. It is connected with inner feelings and state of mind.

Points of view : This relates to theme a bit, but it more to the person who speaking in the poem. It may mean the persona or someone else. It can be conveyed in the first person point of view where the words 'I' or 'We' are used. This means that the persona and poet are the same person. It can also be written in the third person point of view where the words 'she', 'he', 'it' or 'they' are used. This persona is someone else other than the poet.

Language and Styles : Styles refers to the way a poet uses language to express his ideas. These are the commonly used styles in literature.

Imagery
Metaphor
Simile
Personafication
Sound Device
Alliteration
Assonance
Onomatopoeia
Symbolism
Repetition

These are the literature devices that usually used by the poets.

So, that is all for now, in the next entry, I will tell a bit on a poem entitled The Living Photograph.

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: It is actually fun learning literature. Yes.


source : Modul Menguasai SPM Form 4 ( Kamala Ganehsan and Louis Rozario Doss ) from SASBADI. ISBN 978-983-59-7349-9

Teaching English Communication subject.

Assalamualaikum WBT,

How do you my dear readers? I am so sorry for not updating any entry for these past few weeks. I really had big trouble with internet connection. I am so very sorry for the problem occurred. 

Now, for 23 Mac - 1 April 2015, I went to this one seminar conducted by GiatMara Negeri Pahang, the seminar was called Program Pembentukan Usahawan Teknikal (PUTEK) which the aim is to produce technical entrepreneurs that could sustain in the business world. 

We were chosen by the GiatMARA and me with 29 more 'pelatih' were given the opportunity to actually learn on how to make Business plan including constructing the financial report, financial account and what not in starting a business. 

Now, for 10 days we were seminar-ing at De Rhu Beach Resort and it was quite a wonderful experience. I love most of the times there, but towards the end of the seminar, it was quite sad to actually say farewell to all my friends. Knowing them for 10 days actually give me the insight meaning of life and also how we came from different backgrounds and want to be successful in life by doing business.

We were from different backgrounds of skill sets. Tailoring, engine, automotive, pastry and bakery but we were amazing together. We can get along quite well. Alhamdulillah.

Then, after I got back from the seminar, I was told by GiatMARA Raub's Executive Assistant that my application on teaching English Communication subject was approved and she said I will start teaching these students on Monday 13th, 2015. Alhamdulillah, tomorrow is the day and insyaaAllah , I have prepared this fro quite sometimes and word of advice from her, be a little bit stern and firm, do not let them overpower you abilities. Loveliness! Thanks Kak Miza.

Now, I am reading a few things before going to the class tomorrow. InsyaaAllah, everything will be fine.

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s; Thank you for staying with me here. In syaaAllah, I will update about the class tomorrow.

Learning English Grammar : Simple Present Tense

Assalamualaikum WBT,

Hi, how do you do everyone? I really hope you are in the most pink-est health. *Is pink-est even a word?

For this entry, we are going to learn about Simple Present Tense. Before we go any further, let see this example,

Siti : Do ducks swim?
Noor : Yes, ducks swim.

They are talking of a fact about ducks. What tense is used for such sentences?
Yes, Simple Present Tense is used in the sentences. We use the Simple Present Tense to show truths or facts.

This tense actually refers back to the schedule that I have made in the past entry.

Simple Present Tense also shows regularly and habitually.

For examples:

He drinks coffee every morning.
They often play football.

He-drinks is the form of Simple Present tense but then when added -every, its still in the form of Simple Present Tense but it show regularity or event that they do every time given.

Words like 'every day', 'always', 'often', 'sometimes', 'usually', etc. are often used in such sentences.

You can search on the internet more about Simple Present Tense, if you think that my explanation here is not sufficient.

That is all for now.

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: Refreshing.

Learning English Grammar : Form of Pronouns.

Assalamualaikum WBT,

I have posted something on Pronouns but I did not write about its Forms. Therefore, now, I am going to write on Pronouns Forms.

As we all know, Pronouns is under Nouns and it is used to replace Nouns. There are FOUR (4) types of pronouns which are :

Personal pronouns,
Reflexive pronouns,
Possessive pronouns,
Interrogative pronouns.

I will explain each one along with examples.

1. Personal pronouns.

Personal pronouns can be the subject or the object of a sentence.
The following is a list of personal pronouns.

The objective form of the pronouns is used after the verb to be and after the words 'let' and 'between'.

For example,

It was her and not me who did it.
Let me go!
I'll have to make peace between them.

There are common mistakes that people made in using this personal pronouns, where they misplaced the words. When a sentence has more that one subject or object, the personal pronouns I and ME must come last.

Example:

I and my family are going to Kuala Terengganu.    [ Wrong ]
My family and I are going to Kuala Terengganu.   [ Right ]

Father told me and Sew Ling to be quiet.             [ Wrong ]
Mother told Sew Ling and me to be quiet.           [ Right ]

2. Reflexive Pronouns.

Reflexive pronouns always end with the word 'self'. They are the object of a sentence. Reflexive pronouns are used when the action goes back to the doer.

The following is the commonly used reflexive pronouns.

There is one common mistake form that usually commit by people, it would be unable to differentiate between SINGULAR and PLURAL form of the addition (-self, -selves).

Now, look at this example,

We want to be by ourself.
We want to be by ourselves.

Because of the word 'we', we need to put plural form of (-self) to -selves. 

3. Possessive Pronouns.

Possessive pronouns are words which show possession or belonging.
When we are using possessive pronouns, we do not add an apostrophe before the word -s.

 

Now, there is a common mistake on this possessive pronoun. Many students do not understand the difference between it's and its. It's is the short form for it is while its is a possessive pronoun that shows belonging.

Look and these examples,

The dog ate up all it's food. ( wrong )
The dog ate up all its food. ( right )

Its raining heavily outside. ( wrong )
It's raining heavily outside. ( right )

4. Interrogative pronouns.

Interrogative pronouns are used in questions to ask about someone or something. Words such as who, which, what and whose are examples of interrogative pronouns.

Who and whose are used for people.
Which and what are used for animals and things.

Look at these sentences,

Who is that girl? (person - girl )
Which movie do you want to watch? ( thing - movie )
What is that on the table? ( thing - that (thing) )
Whose book is this? (whose (possession)(person))

Now, that is all for now. If you read a lot of books, you might find these forms. And now, you know how to use these forms in you writings and it would fun to actually use what you know of, right?

That is all.

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: Happy March!

If I were to teach...

Assalamualaikum WBT,

How do you do my dear readers?

I am so darn excited to tell you that I am now able to practice my knowledge. I was offered a job position of a English language tuition teacher with, well, good payment of course. Alhamdulillah.

But my intention would be, I really want to help these students and I was told by the admin that those students are unfortunate where they are not good with the academics but they have to learn it too. So!, I was rang by my friend and she said, she want to take me as the English teacher. To be honest, I said 'yes' right that moment too. 

Why? Because, I know that would the best opportunity to actually teach students with what I know all this while. I am really excited with the opportunity. I have been waiting ans searching for this amazing opportunity and when she asked, I said yes. Yes!! Yes, all the way. 

And now, I am looking up all my books on English language and what they need to know at their stage. I mean, learning is not hard but it would be difficult if they have lack of passion and interest. I know they have it but they need to embrace it more.

I want to make them feel important because I know, these students felt left out and there is noway I am going to let that happened to them. I want them feel important and I want them to learn about English language. I want to know the importance of English language.

I am aware of them to be more like, inactive in the session but that would be my challenge for me, I do not mind that. I love it. It makes me want to work more. When we are doing what we love, well, obviously we will work towards it as much as we can, right?

Now, I am going to read as much as books as I can and also, I will try my best to ask my lecturers on what would be best teaching methods to be applied on these students.

That is all for now and I will update more, once I got my guide. Yes! hehe..

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: Excited!!!

Learning English Language : Modals.

Assalamualaikum WBT,

How do you do everyone? I would for you to keep on reading and look for something that excites you the most and relate that excitement in learning English language. It might be hard for you, but it worth trying, right?

Now, we have been discussing on several topics on English grammar. We too did discuss on Part of Speech which is really important for all of us to know about. As for this entry, I would love for you to know about Modals.

What are Modals?

Modals are verbs and it is used to add certain stress or emphasis to a message.

How is that for your understanding? Do not worry, I will try my very best to explain Modals with examples to you, okay?

There are 9 Modals that you need to remember. They are, can, could, may, might, will, would, shall, should and must.

CAN and COULD

The modal CAN has THREE main functions.

1. To mean 'able to do something'.

Examples:

I can sing very well.
Mei Ling can eat all day long.

2. To ask for permission. COULD is also used for this function and is a more polite form of request.

Examples :

Can/Could I watch television?
Can/Could we go out and play, please?

3. To show or to enquire about the possibility of an action. COULD+HAVE is used to refer the possibility of a past action. *COULD is PAST TENSE form of CAN

Examples :

Drinking can cause liver disease. *Drinking = alcohol related drinks
Could Razif have done with it?
Siti can finishes all these cakes.

The negative forms of CAN and COULD are CAN'T and COULDN'T. These are used to express negative ideas.

Both Can and Could can be used in any forms but it is better to use COULD instead of CAN to make requests since it is a more polite form.

MAY and MIGHT

May is used to :

1. ask for and give permission. It is more polite than CAN.

Examples :

May I go now? ( Ask permission )
May I go the toilet, teacher? ( Ask permission )
Yes, you may go to the toilet. ( Give permission )

2. show the possibility of an action or event happening. Might is used as the past tense of may. Might, however, can also be used to express the possibility of a future action. It shows a greater doubt than may.

Examples :

We may go to Penang this week. ( Possibility )
She might join us for dinner tonight. ( Doubtful possibility )
Kiki might have passed if he had been more careful. ( Past possibility )

WILL and WOULD

Will is used to :

1. talk about the future (ie. form of future tense). It can also be used with if to form the conditional tense. Would is the past tense of will.

Examples :

Lela and Lily will choose the actors for the play. (Future sentence)
If Malik is sick, Az will replace him. (Conditional sentence)
Mei said, she would call me, but she didn't. (Past form)

2. to make invitations or requests. Would is also used for this function. It is a more polite form.

Will you hand me the remote control? (Request)
Would you love to be my partner for life? (Invitation)
Would you like some scones? (Invitation)

SHALL and SHOULD

Shall is used only with the pronouns I and We. Shall is used to form the future and conditional tense. It is often used to make a promise or to show one's intention to do something.

Examples :

I shall begin a secretarial course soon. ( Intention )
If we don't hurry, we shall miss the place. ( Future possibility )
I shall return your money, tomorrow. (Promise)

Should carries the meaning ought to. It is used :

1. to express a duty or obligation.

Examples :

You should give more money to your parents.
We should advise and help him.

2. to show that an action was not done. Regret is often expressed in these sentences. Since the time referred to is past time, the phrase used is should have.

We should have bought the furniture when it was on sale.
They should have informed us that they were leaving.

MUST

The modal MUST has three main functions :

1. to show a necessity to do something.

Examples :

You must buy thee train ticket earlier since it's Hari Raya.
Mother must be extra careful when their children fall sick.

2. to give orders or commands.

You must finish your homework, now!
You must not talk in the library.

3. to refer to something which is logically true.

Old Mr. Kwan does a lot of charity work. He must be a generous and kind man.
Menon is not talking to me. He must be angry about something.

*it has the relations that only the first sentence has.


Note :

Both SHOULD and MUST can be used to give commands or orders. MUST, however, is more likely to have authorities while SHOULD makes sentence sound more like an advice.

Common mistakes :

The verb following a modal CANNOT have s,-ed or -ing added to it. It must be used in its original form.

So, that is all for now. Very Late Lunch, now! hahaha...

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: Congratulations Nadh for your Master's Degree in Mass Communication. 

Learning has no destination.

Assalamualaikum WBT,

How do you do everyone? Hi readers, I really hope that you could forgive my grammatical errors in the entries, sometimes, I just kinda skipped and did not know the mistake. Then, after my second and third reading, I realised that I made a few mistakes and as for that, I am so very sorry.

Now, I have a few things that I really want to tell you,*not in serious mood. More like, story telling. Haha. As you all know, I happened to write my entries in leisure, I mean, not so formal writings. I believe that when I wrote something, I want the readers to feel that, they are welcome and as if I am preparing them a nice tea/coffee and we have a little chat. Unfortunately, it is not how blogs work. Blogs or websites are more like one way communication, where as, its only to be read by others, not as a medium to converse. Unless, you readers, comment or email me on anything regarding the content I have written, that would a different scenario. *not that I want you to write me something, no, just saying the different scenario. Hehe..

I too read other blogs and when I found something that really amused me, I will try my very best to put in my writings. I too take a few points and markers from the popular blogs, any blogs and try to incorporate such ideas into my writings but not everything worked, right?

Nonetheless, we write things that we really want to write, right? As for me, I am writing on English grammar, not to show that I am good in English grammar, no! I want to remind myself on English grammar, that is all. I love English grammar, I fell in love with it when I was 2nd semester in uni, my best friend taught me the simplest way to actually master the English grammar, the simple one such POS. He said,

" If you master POS, you are able to do anything".

Alhamdulillah, I know now what POS and with that, I am able to analyse the misplaced of words, spelling, grammar. Well, not all of the mistakes but a few. I mean, better than before. I am too still learning. That is not destination in learning, except the road. You pick up the experience along the road and you could only choose the turn, not the destination, because, there is no destination in learning. Hehe...

That is all,

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: Off to cut a some fabrics.

Learning English Language : Part of Speech.

Assalamualaikum WBT,

How do you do everyone?

When someone ask you,

"what is Part of Speech?"

What would you answer? What would be your answer to that question?

Well, if its for me, my answer would be part of speech is a category of words. Well, to be honest, POS is the formal term of English grammar. It is actually what we have been learning all this while, imagine that. I have been posting and writing the same exact materials, but it does not mean that we were wrong, no! It is just that we happened to have the alternative terms on the same things. Lovely isn't?

Okay, fine, we have 8 types of Part of Speech. So? what are they? What are the part of speech ?

- Noun
- Pronoun
- Verb
- Adverb
- Adjective
- Preposition
- Conjunction
- Interjection

These are the part of speeches, but you already know most of these part of speeches right?

Noun : name of thing or person
Pronoun : replace for noun
Verb : action or state
Adverb : describe a verb, adjective or adverb
Preposition : links a noun to another word
Conjunction : joins clauses or sentences or words
Interjection : short exclamation, sometimes inserted into a sentence

Now, I will be giving a few examples on conjunction and interjection because all the others are very easy already, right?

Examples of  :

Conjunction : I love my cats AND dogs.

Interjection : Ouch! That hurts.

Now, that is easy right? now you know what Part of Speech is. Lovely.

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: Piece of cake indeed.

Learning English Language : Punctuation

Assalamualaikum WBT,

How do you do my absolute readers? I know, I hadn't update any entry here for these past days, I am so sorry. Too busy with life and making money, overness indeed.

What is punctuation?

Punctuation is the simple but yet the most important rule in constructing sentences. *Is that the real meaning. Well, honestly, I do not know, haha... I created that definition just now just to make sure that I understand the meaning of punctuation.

Capital letter ( Abu)
Full stop ( . )
Question mark ( ? )
Exclamation mark ( ! )
Comma ( , )
Quotation marks ('   ')
Apostrophe ('s)

To be honest, we are very much familiar with these punctuation right? We already know the punctuation. We even used it in our daily writing.

Now, I will write more on examples that you need to know, just to make it clearer for you.

1. Capital Letters

a. The first letter in a sentence.

He laughed out loud.
She is not here. Maybe she'll come later.

b. The first letter of proper nouns (e.g. names of people, countries, towns, etc.)

Ali lives in Kuala Lumpur.
Laila love to eat Black Forest cake.

c. The first letter used after quotation marks.

Amy said, 'Don't be scared'.
Siew Ling said, 'Please wait for me'.

2. Full Stops

Full stops are used :

a. At the end of a statement.

I need drinks.
I want to eat.

b. At the end of a abbreviations (short forms).

etc. = et cetera
eg. = example
i.e. = that is

c. A few works in Modern English do not have a full stop.

PWTC
KLCC
KL
PUNB

3. Question Marks

Question marks are used at the end of a question.

Where is my food?
What are you doing here?

4. Exclamation Marks

The exclamation mark is used in exclamations which express surprise, shock, anger, fear, disappointment, joy,excitement, disbelief, etc.

I don't believe it!
What?!
Congratulations!
Oh, no!

5. Commas

The comma is used for three main reasons.

a. To separate a series of words in a list.

We need sugar, salt, tea and flour.

b. To show a pause in reading.

After closing his shop, Ah Seng went home.

c. To separate direct speech from the rest of the sentence.

'I want to go home,' Rohina said.

6. Quotation Marks

Quotation marks are put before the first word and after the last word in direct speech.

'Seng Fatt, bring in the clothes,' mother shouted.

7. Apostrophes

Apostrophes are used :

a. In contractions (short forms) to replace the missing words.

I am = I'm
We will = we will
should not = shouldn't

b. With possessive nouns to show ownership. The apostrophes is placed before the 's' ('s) for singular nouns and after the 's' (s') for plural nouns.

This is Mila's hat.
The girls' parents gave them their permission to go to Taman Negara.

So, that is all for now, hope the information will help you in writing because sometimes, we missed out the put such small things. As I said before, small but most important. We cannot end our sentence without a full stop, right?

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: Hope you read my writings and learn something.

A little bit on MUET.

Assalamualaikum WBT, 

Hi everyone... hi dear reader and hi dear English language practitioners.. *do they have that? hahaha.... never mind.

Now, in a few entries back, I did write something on Malaysian University English Test or also known as MUET. Before we go any further, it is better for us to know more on this test. MUET was started in year 1999 by Malaysian Examinations Council which in Malay language is Majlis Peperiksaan Malaysia (MPM). 

Alright then, what are the components that MUET has?

In MUET, we have FOUR components that the candidates need to fulfill in order to pass with great marks. There are,

Listening (800/1)

Speaking (800/2)

Reading (800/3)

Writing (800/4)

Each of these components has it own marks, both Listening and Speaking is 45 marks, Reading comprehension is 120 marks and Writing is 90 marks. The scores are graded in 6 Bands, with Band 6 the highest and Band 1 the lowest. 

The fee for MUET is RM101 and candidates register via MPM website. From year 2012 onwards, there will be three sessions, March, July and November, per year.

For your information, MUET is required when you want to enroll to university. Usually, when you want to take your Degree. It is actually depend on the courses that you want to take, for example, if you want to take English courses, you need to obtain the Band at least, Band 4. Different university has different  MUET Band requirement. So, the best Band that would secure your position for enrolling would Band 3, but then again, it depends on the university. 

Okay, some of us might have trouble in learning English, but you need to actually learn it. Start small, then improve then. It is the same with MUET, know when you want to take the test and work from there. Focus on what you bad at and improve that. Just focus on that. 

Let say, you have the best marks in Reading Comprehension, and Listening. Not that you need to forget about those two components, no, but you have to give more attention to Writings and Speaking and  so forth. You are the one who know yourself better than any other human in the world. 

All you need is to focus and practise as much as you can. Exercises really help in this kind of situation. And be calm, do not nervous. I took MUET 2 times in 2007 and once in my university years. I did okay, not as fluent-ish like now, but I did okay. Alhamdulillah.

Now, that would be in the different entry when I will tell you on who I learned English language and what did I do to improve myself, okay?

I think that is all for now.

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s; Keep learning and good luck!

 

 

Learning English Grammar : Active and Passive Voice.

Assalamualaikum WBT,

Do you know what bothers me a lot when I learn English language?

Active and Passive Voice, even in Malay language, I really had trouble constructing these kind of sentences. I just do not know why. Really, yes. 

Now, as for to actually understand the Active and Passive Voice, I will try my best and also learn together about this monster. hahaha...

Look at these two sentences,

Somebody stole the jewels.

The jewels were stolen.

Which is active voice? Yes, the first is active voice that describes a sentence where the subject performs the action stated by the verb.  In passive voice sentences, the subject is acted upon by the verb.

In Active and Passive Voice, there rules that we need to obey, otherwise it will not in the active and passive voice. Before we go any further, bear in mind that, Active and Passive Voice is not as hard at it looks, in fact, it is easy to learn, okay? Now, we can actually separate the sentences.

 As for Active Voice, we usually had no problem recognising them because it is a straight forward sentence with not many things to be remembered. 

As for the Passive Voice, there are certain formulas that you really need to remember, I will list them here along with some examples.

1. Verb 'to be' + the Past Participle

Examples :
The book was written by Noam Chomsky.
The kid was made by my brother.

2. Simple Present Tense : is or are + the Past Participle

Examples :
Those pots are made out of clay.
Pearls are found in oysters.
The hall is swept every morning

3. Simple Past Tense : was or were + the Past Participle

Examples :
That house was built ten years ago.
Two children were killed in the accident.

4. Perfect Present Tense : has been or have been + the Past Participle

Examples :
Do not touch the door. It has just been painted.
You can have your books back. They have been marked already.

Now, all you need is to remember how the word form of Past Participle. There are different forms what you need to remember. You can find them through reading. Once you know the form then you can apply it in any sentence but remember, once you choose to write in Passive voice, everything in your writing must be passive voice. Usually, people would go with either one. It is all through reading you just can find these. Yes.

Now, you can search Active and Passive voice and do some exercises there. Pick good websites okay? It is okay for you open more then one website, it is for you own good. Do not afraid to make mistakes, hello, no on is perfect, okay?

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: keep reading. Read what ever you want, but make sure you read all the way, okay?
 

Learning English Grammar : Relative Pronouns.

Assalamualaikum WBT,

Do you believe in this sentence?

"The more we read, the more we don't know".

I believe in that actually. The reason why, it is almost like, when we know something that we did not know, we actually will tend to read more and of course, the more we read, the more we don't know, right? Yes. It is right.

The reason why I wrote this is because, I read a English grammar book last night and I came across many interesting fact that I did not know. I used all those sentence structures correctly but I did not know what tenses or form they belong. I was like,

"ah... I know now.. it is this and this is that and that is that". And whatnot.

Seriously, when you read something that really catches your attention just because you think you know it, but actually you are learning a new thing, its okay then. You actually learned something, that is very good for yourself.

Now, I am going to write a bit on English grammar on this entry, just to refresh our memories, okay?

Relative Pronouns. 

What is relative pronouns? 

Relative Pronouns is used to begin an adjective clause. It refers to the noun directly in front of it.

One amazing famous example of relative pronouns is used in the first book of Harry Potter by amazing author, J. K. Rowling. In the first chapter of Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone, The Boy Who Lived.  

As you can see that, she used relative pronouns to make another clause. Even though it is not as long as in the example given in certain book, do you think that it is a perfect sentence? meaning a full sentence? Well, I do not know, you may guess it by now right? Let us divide and name all the word.

The - Determiner

Boy - Subject

Who - Relative pronouns

Lived - Adjective

And why is Lived is an adjective? It is because, Who Lived explains about the state of the boy. The Boy Who Lived. Of course you understood the meaning of this right?

Now, I want to give you another example that might simplify things up. 

The man who killed the snake is Mary's uncle.

You can also write this down and put is tree diagram. It is better that way actually. You can see it clearly. Later on, I will try to come out with the tree diagram and it is actually very fun to learn using tree diagram.

Well, that is all for today, thank you, hope you'll learn something.

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s; learning through website is not that hard, right?

Keep On Learning English Language.

Assalamualaikum WBT,

Hi there, for this entry, I decided to write one something that really taboo. Well, at least some people might think its taboo, some not. 

Do you know that in the year 2016, English subject is a compulsory subject to pass with minimum E result to pass. This implementation was taken because of every year the percentage of SPM students failed in English paper is ridiculous. The Deputy Prime Minister, who is also the Education Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin bin Yassin said that 20% of the overall candidates of SPM failed the English paper. Imagine that, 20%? It is like out of 10 candidates, 2 candidates failed the English paper.

It seemed not many, but they surely need helps to improve their English. They need to improve, otherwise, if we see at the bigger scope, these students who failed in English might have some troubles with their job hunting and also, to further their studies.

Imagine that if they managed to get to Form Six or take Diploma? What would they do? Yes, people might say,

"well, they can learn it there (Form Six or Diploma), they will".

Well, as far I am concerned, these need supports! The reason why? We do not have the same background and the same educational background. For example, I myself, I come from a very rural village which none English speaking environment and I hardly see someone talk in English in my village, but I manage to survive that and gladly took Bachelor of English with Communication (Hons) from local university? I have my own story, I will write it later, in details.

What I am trying to say is, supports is needed to improve. To actually use Second Language (English language) as the medium in daily conversation is quite impossible in none English speaking environment, but with great support, nothing is impossible, right? All we need is supports.

I too had my very own problems during those days, just because I was very new to the surroundings, I tend to isolate myself just because I had my problem with English language. As time goes by, I came to realise that running is not the way to improve, I have to get myself together and face the cruel truth. So, I faced it, I learned from my bestfriends about English grammar and alhamdulillah, everything went well. I now be able to write in English, ever talk, converse using English language. Hows that? I learned from the best. Surely. 

To be honest, I learned proper English grammar when I was in 2nd semester and alhamdulillah, it builds from there and now, still, I am learning English grammar. I have with me always, English grammar book, not the fancy ones but the basic ones. I love learning it. Haha...

Learning process is not a one period process. It is actually a continuous process which is very long and needs the maximum focus. Learning is not easy, but you need to be smart to learn.

There you go, I will try my best to focus back with English grammar back in this blog and together we will learn English grammar, okay?

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: Keep on learning. Nothing going to stop you from learning but yourself.

Song : Only Love Can Hurt Like This by Paloma Faith.

Assalamualaikum wbt,

I have this one song that I accidentally downloaded from the downloading site. Yes. hehe..

The song called Only Love Can Hurt Like This by Paloma Faith. Girl!!! This song is sickening! I really love the melody and also the lyrics. Too deep. Love it so much. This is the lyric of that song.

"Only Love Can Hurt Like This"

I'd tell myself you don't mean a thing,
But what we got, got no hold on me
But when you're not there I just crumble
I tell myself I don't care that much,
But I feel like I die 'til I feel your touch,

Only love, only love can hurt like this,
Only love can hurt like this
Must have been a deadly kiss
Only love can hurt like this

Say I wouldn't care if you walked away,
But every time you're there I'm begging you to stay,
When you come close I just tremble
And every time, every time you go,
It's like a knife that cuts right through my soul

Only love, only love can hurt like this
Only love can hurt like this,
Must have been a deadly kiss,
Only love can hurt like this,
Only love can hurt like this

Your kisses burn into my skin,
Only love can hurt like this
But it's the sweetest pain,
Burning hot through my veins,
Love is torture makes me more sure

Only love can hurt like this,
Only love can hurt like this,
Must have been the deadly kiss,
Only love can hurt like this,

Only love can hurt like this,
Your kisses burn into my skin,
Only love can hurt like this,
Only love can hurt like this,
Save me, save me,
Only love, only love,
'Cause only love can hurt like this
And it must have been the deadly kiss

I have not seen the music video yet and to be honest, I love her voice. I have another sickening song from her, Picking Up The Pieces. Yes! The song is sickening. Lovely. Paloma Faith is British and yes, I do love listening to their song. It more experimentally accepted by my two ears. I love iittt.. It becomes my favourite song now. Definitely! Lovely.

For you readers reading my blog now, open a new tab and search Paloma Faith Only Love Can Hurt Like This, and please! download it! Then you will know how sickening this song is. Trust me!

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: only love can hurt like this. Deepness!