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. 

EEP 2011 : My Personal Experience.

Assalamualaikum WBT,

As promised, I will at least write ONE entry per day in English as a medium to improve my English language. Now, I have a story that I would love for you to know about.

In the year 2011, when I was in the university, we had a programme called English Enhancement Programme and it was conducted by the Faculty of Languages and Communication. As far as I am concerned, the faculty team *the first team, lecturers were very committed with the programme because they were sacrificing their times to ensure that the participants have the best time learning English language.

Then, they conducted this one Training of Trainers where they selected the Bachelor of English students as facilitators for this programme. It was great fun, the activity itself was amazing. You know, when you have the passion and you are willing to learn, you will not have enough time to think about what is not good for you, instead, you will just go with it. Well, I felt that, I enjoyed the activity and everything was great.

Then, we were back to the university where we have to share our knowledge and experiences with the participants. We were very eager to share what we have done. Yes. We also sacrificed our times to actually conduct this activity. I was chosen to become the head of facilitator for an activity called English Lounge, where, basically its all about speaking and interacting with each other.

At the first week, we received great feedback from the participants who came to our activity. They enjoyed the activity as a whole and somehow, they have a little faith in themselves in learning English language. Then, week two, week three, week four, the numbers of students were decreasing. Then, in the end of the programme, we only have ONE participant who came to the activity and we had to emerge to get the class going. We had too. 

I was not sure whether there was postmortem or what, I was not sure and I do not remember the postmortem programme. To be honest, this EEP programme was amazing! It is like the extra classes for English language. It was not burdening the students, no, it is just the mentality of the participants that made things worse. Now, let me tell you, most of the students who were selected to be in this programme were the ones who were weak in English proficiency and they had trouble with English language. We too are not as great as the native speakers at the beginning but we learned! and alhamdulillah, some of us are as near as the native speakers.

I myself had troubles with English language. Stroumble. Hehe, but as the time goes by, I improved myself just for the sake of learning. I learned. Passionately. So, for those who were doubting yourself, I advice would be, its good to doubt yourself but make sure that is not that long because doubting yourself for too long, its wrong. Okay? 

It is not that difficult in learning English language. All you need is love because when you love your learning, then nothing is impossible, okay?

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: sometimes, things are not going your way, but dont lose faith.

English Language : Language and Brain Development.

Assalamualaikum WBT,

Happy Friday people and do not forget the perform Solat Jumaat, okay?

Okay now, I am going to write on Language and Brain Development.

Language and brain are actually intimately connected. This is because without the pure understanding of language we cannot communicate. Some people said Signs is not a language, but what is actually the purpose of language? To communicate, right? That is the main purpose of us having languages. Therefore, to think that brain does not have any connection with language is quite impossible. 

Now, The Critical Period.

A child is introduced to language virtually at the moment of birth. BUT, as we all know, baby was in mummy's tummy for how long? 9 month 10 days *normally, so, in that period of time, the baby was already exposed to language uttered by the mother or people around the mother, so? it  is not specifically from the moment of birth but hey, my claim is not proper because I do not have any research to actually back up my opinion. I should do research? Haha,

Now, according to linguists, there is a Critical-Age Hypothesis that determined the language that will be picked up by the baby. It is also assume that language is biologically based and states that the ability to learn a native language develops within fixed period, from birth to middle childhood.

Then, somehow, there were cases that babies were abandoned by their parents or I do not know, abandoned, left out or kidnapped or whatever, but these cases somehow created stir because it against the HUMAN nature. Why? The critical-age period. The language learning period is somehow interrupted. Amala and Kamala were found in India, reportedly reared by wolves (1920). In 1970, Genie who reportedly been confined in small room and unable to interact with society from age eighteen months to almost fourteen years. None of these children were able to speak, communicate with human. So? Do language innate? That is the question. 

To me, language ability is in our mind but we need to nurture the language. Yes, its nature but nurturing is important. Otherwise, we cannot acquire language. Therefore, for those who happened to have children, siblings who are still babies, please, keep teaching them language that you would prefer them to use. If its English language, then keep talking to them in English, then they will pick up that language along with other language that you used in your daily conversation with your spouse. Let say, your mother tongue is Bahasa Melayu then your second language is English language, but you want your children to share the same ability in communicate in both language, so, keep both language with same balance in communicating with them. Do be shy, just speak. 

By the way, different people surely have different abilities to learn language. Like us Malaysians, not many have the ability to learn English language and be able to talk like those Britishs or Americans, but it is not possible. We can learn. Regardless what those English linguists have to say about the learning, it is actually up to you to learn. If you want it, no one could say NO, right?

So, keep learning. Everyone is learning one thing a day. So, why not?

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: Yes, I am going to keep writing too. Lovelies.

Learning Styles : Children Edition.

Assalamualaikum WBT,

Well, it has been awhile since I wrote about Learning Strategies, but now, I am going to write about its sister, Learning Styles. Hehe.. Both learning Strategies and learning Styles have their similarities and differences, but they actually quite different.

Today, I read about learning styles written by Priscilla Dunstan who is a behavioural researcher and creator of the Dunstan Baby Language and author of Child Sense and Calm The Crying. Dunstan pointed out four (4) types of children in learning styles. 

1. Visual children

2. Auditory children

3. Tactile children

4. Taste/smell children

1. Visual Children

Visual children will love the order of the alphabet. They love learning using visuals such as pictures, words, writing on chalkboards and whatnot. Visual children actually need help from the auditory aspect, why? because no matter how good their styles in learning using visual, but without great auditory support, I mean, those who assist them to pronounce the words correctly, well, it is the defect of learning style.

2. Auditory Children

Auditory children love sounds. They will love musics, why? Music is sound. In terms of creativity, they would recognised the words easily because they listened to it. But, it too has its own defect, one for sure is, these auditory children would have tough time recognising the words, for example, if they were showed with flashcards, they would not straight away know the words, why? Because, flashcards does not have sounds, Unless, they created one now. One good way to escape from this problem, the parents MUST incorporate visual with the sound. That would added up the value to the learning style.

3. Tactile Children

Tactile children is quite special. In learning language, we have a lot of unique identities with children. Some learned very fast, some would have a hard time just to remember the letters. Hard right? But, tactile children sometimes are very clever but they have this feeling of hypersensitive, whereas, they happened to hate or dislikes a lot of things. Sometimes, they need to be treated as much care as possible. Having said that, they need something that really could keep them occupied. Usually, tactile children love games,  arcade, physical games, moulding words using Play-Doh and whatnot. As long as it keep them occupied, they its good. So, tactile children involved almost all of the learning styles. What ever that you could think of. Yes. 

4. Taste/Smell Children

Taste/smell children really need something else. They need to feel safe and nurtured in order to learn. Interest is the key point here. Everything must have the interest, they are special. Let say, books that have example of any skin of animals, let say, a crocodile, and it has the rough skin. By reading together with taste/smell children, it will create this bond and this bond is the key point too. It shows that the parents are also interested in learning and it makes the children feel that they on the right track with learning. Lovely. By making the experience of learning to read sensory, your child will not only gain valuable skill but also build on the pleasure of learning. Hows that for a start? 

These styles were researched by Dunstan, and lovely, she really captured the essence of learning styles in children. In learning language, the best ever to learning language is from birth to two years old. Linguists also came out with this hypotheses, Critical Period. So, that is why, you will determine your children's mother tongue. Why? Everything you speak will be the first language for you child, if you determined to speak English language and wished that English language would be your child's first language, then, you have to expose your child with English language by speaking English language all the time with correct Grammar, otherwise, without proper grammar, your child with 'inherit' the grammatical errors made by the parents. It would hard to correct the mistake then, when the child acquire the language already. 

So, if you reader have children, then it is better to actually look thoroughly what are the preferences of your children. Visual? Auditory? Taste/smell? or Tactile? It is important that you walk with your children through the learning period. Vital. Crucial.

That is all for now.

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: reading is too crucial. Mark that Parents!

Special Test!

Assalamualaikum WBT,

Yesterday, I went to this Special Test or Ujian Khas for Pegawai Tadbir Universiti Malaysia Pahang and there were 3 tests that I like the most.

1. Reading comprehension in English
2. Writing in English
3. Conversation in English.

Alhamdulillah, to me, I did quite well in those test and among these three, I love the third one the most. Conversation in English. The evaluator, Miss Farah has an amazing English. The way she pronounced those words as she is a native speaker and to me she is an English native speaker. I incredibly amazed by her amazing English.

to be honest, the minute I heard her UK English accent, I was immediately excited and just trying to be as calm as I can, why? Because to me she has knowledge in English beyond that I could imagine. Compared to my English, she is like 100 KM in front of me, I'm like, whuuttt..

Please, if you had a chance to talk to her, please dont, hahaha... just hear her talks, let her do the talking. Just by listening to her talking is everything. I too have friends who happened to have good English command but I have never in my life talked to a person like Miss Farah.

And I personally want to talk to her more about how she picked up such amazing UK accent. Lots to asked from her, but so little time. Yes, it was during the test, so can't ask her a lot, all I can do it listen to her and answered her questions as good as I can. hehe.. alhamdulillah, I think I answered her questions quite well. After all, those people said, they want to see our ability to talk in English. In shaa Allah, everything is well.

That is all.

Assalamualaikum wbt

p/s. I wonder she would read my writings in both blogs. hurrmmm...

Learning English : Language Learning Strategies.

Assalamualaikum WBT,

As promised, I would love to write about Language Learning Strategies which, this would actually help us in learning language (s) and in this case, it is English language. And since this blog is focusing on learning English language, lets just bear in mind it is about English language, yes?

Now, what is Learning Strategies? 

Learning Strategies defined as specifications, behaviours, steps, or techniques -- such as seeking out conversation partners, or giving oneself encouragement to tackle a difficult language task -- used by students to enhance their own learning (Scarcella & Oxford, 1992 p.66).

So that is language strategies. Back those days, my supervisor, Dr. Normah asked me to look for recent articles as the references, but, I am so sorry Dr. I found just those articles published on the internet but alhamdulillah, I managed to get good grade on that thesis. A few lecturers said that my topic is quite 'long-time-ago', I mean, I little bit 'not new' but, hey, I almost half way on that topic, please. Hahaha, there is no way I'm going to change it! please. 

Now, lets comeback to the main topic.

What are the elements or the items under language learning strategies?

1. Memory Strategies

2. Cognitive Strategies

3. Compensation Strategies

4. Metacognitive Strategies

5. Affective Strategies

6. Social Strategies

These are the items under language learning strategies that we need to know. 

Above is the chart by Oxford (1990) and she divided into two main groups which are, Direct Strategies and Indirect Strategies. Later on, I will explain more one the items on each group. But, in order for us to know which strategy that used the most in learning English language, we need to talk a simple test, its called SILL ( Strategy Inventory of Language Learning). 

Sometimes, some of us might asked ourselves, why the hell I need to study this? It is not like I have give lecture to students. Well, you have those questions, give me five darling, I too had those questions before. But, when I think back, there reason why we learned all sorts of things, it is to prepare us for the world out there. Don't worry, keep learning, no one could stop you from learning, plus, its a good thing to learn, well at least you learn something, right? hehe...

For this entry, I will try to make it short and I just want you to know what are the strategies for language learning, that is all. Later on, I mean, in the next entries, I will explain more on the strategies. Yes, one by one with examples, okay? Don't worry, we try to figure this our together, okay?

Well, its just language, nothing more. hahaha...

Assalamualaikum wbt

p/s: some said, "learning English language is not good, you'd better learn Mandarin". B? are kidding me right? hahahha

Learning English Grammar : 'If' Conditional Sentence and its types.

Assalamualaikum WBT,

I feel like I have abandoned this blog for quite sometimes. Haish. I am so sorry blog, not posting any entry made me sick too, why? I lost the momentum already. There were times I was so darn excited in writing blog, like almost 2 entries per day, but now. Don't ask. Yes.

Okay, now, last week, we were on Whatsapp but then I did not able to reply because I did not have internet connection to active the Whatsapp and my friends were discussing about Conditional Tenses (English). Darlings, after a few websites and light reading, conditional tenses is actually quite tricky. Why? Well, there are five (5) conditions that we need to know in Conditional Tenses. What the the conditions?

 See the example above and also the explanation. As for the 'zero' conditional, it has this element that it will happen it this happened. So, the result is always right. See the example give. "If you heat ice, it melts". What does it mean? It means, when ice is heated, it will melt. why? Its science. Got it right?

 Then the Type 1 Conditional, okay, for this one, its a little bit tricky. Well, at least, to me, I do not know about you, I am not perfect darlings. hahaha.. well, no matter what, I will try to explain about it. As mentioned in the picture, its about the tense (time) both present and future and the situation is REAL but its too about the possibilities might be given by the other subject. Let say, 'If you make a mistake, someone will let you know". This is the example, as you can see there, the clause is 'if you make a mistake' and the main clause is 'someone will let you know'. What does it mean? It means, if you make mistake *in any possible ways people could think of, someone will let you know your mistake. That the possibility. And bear in mind that the situation is real.

 Well, for the Type 2 Conditional is more like the type 1 but honestly, its different. Trust me. It is also based on time but the situation is UNREAL. Why? Why Unreal? Let see the example above. 'If it rained, you would get wet'. Well, that the clause and the main clause, but since we are discussing about conditional tense, the use 'if' is important. In this Type 2 conditional, it is not based on fact. It more to the hypothetical condition with the probable result. Let say if it rained and I would get wet. Would I? there two things that we could ask back, 1, its not going to be rained, 2, i have my umbrella. So, would I get well. This is where the 'what is' questions would easily slipped from our own mouth when we want to have argument. Yes. But in terms of grammar, that is the clause and the main clause. It is just based on the hypothetical conditions where we do not even know what might happen. will it rain today? Right? now you know.

 Now, the Type 3 Conditional, it is used in past perfect and the main clause is the perfect conditional. This one is very darn tricky. Hahaha.. i had to read a few times to understand it. Well, the nature of this Type 3 Conditional is UNREAL. The time is obviously, past. Let see this other example, 

"If you had warned me, I would not have told your father about that party."(But you didn't, and I have). This is usually comes with hatred. Hahaha... you want to tell the thing but then you choose to tell someone about it but then you denied it. Eff you! hahahaha.. Ask yourself, you might have done this before. Well, somehow it connected. Let see another example, refer the picture above, 'If you have worked harder, you would have passed the exam'. Would you? Even if you worked harder, would you passed the exam? Somehow, this Type 3 conditional sentences are more likely to get away from the situation. Awkward situation. Yes. And try to pamper people. This Type 3 conditional sentences. Bear in mind, contrary to reality, unreal, opposite. Obviously, two faces would love this type. hahaha...

Well, this one is mixed between two types. Type 2 and Type 3. But the result is in the present and in the past is unreal and the reality is what you already passed. Well, complicated?  A bit, yes. Let see the example given. "If I had worked harder at school, I would have a better job now". Can you see that? Its quite easy, now we look the words one by one. The if' clause is past perfect and the main clause is present conditional, we look at the past perfect first, 'If I had worked harder at school...' Well, since it is past perfect, we know he was not a good grader at school, right? And the second one, "...I would have a better job now'. Another negative meaning implied, well, obviously, we know that he have good job but he might me tired of his job. Who knows right? So, there you go. Understood already eyh? hehe...

No doubt its quite complicated. But we need to read it. I have this a little bit easy-to-understand sheet. 

'If' is often used in a Conditional Clause. We use the Simple Present tense in Conditional Clauses to show that things are likely to happen. The other clauses are the Simple Future Tense.

There is another Conditional Clause. The use of Simple Past tense in Conditional Clauses to show that things unlikely to happen. The other clauses are used in the Present Conditional tense (would or should + an infinitive).

Sooo? how? okay? hahaha... *broken English a bit. No matter what, we need to read more, since English language is not our mother tongue. Well, some of us, not me. My mother tongue is Malay. So, speak Malay lah? Gitu? hehehe..

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: its not that hard but reading brings joy to myself actually.

Source one
source two
source three
source four

English Language Learning Methods.

Assalamualaikum WBT,

Okay, today, I am going to talk about 'Learning English Language'.

Some said,

'You need a proper teacher to really understand English language'.

I'd say,

Yes, you really need a proper teacher to teach you English language. Why? English language is actually a quite complicate but an easy language. Why complicated? but easy? why? Well, its complicated if you ignored the rules BUT, it would as easy as cake if you follow the rules. Funny eh?

English language is not like Malay language, which does not have tenses, English language does have tenses. It will a little bit more difficult to memorise and language is not something that you could easily memorise just like that without knowing the grammar.

Yes, every single language in this world has its own grammar. Some are ridiculously funny but some are okay. Hehe, but whatever it is, it is arbitrary. Its always like that. Back to the teacher thingy, yes, you need at least one teacher to learn English language. Why?

Well, someone who knows English language better would be the best teacher to teach you. Some might know about how English language work in everyday lives but some might know it from the syllabus taught. Some might have different sides of learning method. Yes, there lots of ways in learning English, some might be very effective to other, but some not.

On that matter, we need to identify the real potential on mental lexicon and their confidence. Some might be very good in writing because they know the rules and they have lots of vocabulary, but they might be in trouble in speaking, delivering in verbal communication. Word vomit can't be always good, right? Some might be very darn good in speaking but have trouble writing. That also can not be good. So, we need to balance between those two. Speaking and writing aka verbal and written forms. 

So, why do we need to know the effective methods in learning English language and how can we identify those effective methods?

Well, I too have my very own ways in learning English. To be honest, I learned English from my primary and secondary teachers, well, it wasn't so great, in fact, I usually just wrote and answered the sentences that I felt right, yes. It is always like that. But when I enrolled to UNISZA and took English course, then I realised, 

"ohh, my English is bad".

I told my friend and I said,

"Jaja, I need to learn English, again, my English is bad".

He answered,

"okay, I could see that too, nevermind, I have something for you".

Then he made me this table and it was really amazing, I could easily learned English grammar *the basic ones in just like a week. I do no know how its happened but it happened. Amazingly good. And alhamdulillah, I still learning English language. I remembered the rules even until now. 

The rules, the grammar, we need someone to teach us but vocab, we need to find it ourselves. How? Through reading and so many more. 

 Back the question imposed just now, why do we need to know the effective methods in learning English language and how can we identify those effective methods?

"Why do we need to know the effective methods in learning English language?"

We need to know the effective methods because we could learn with ease the English language. 

"How can we identify those effective methods?"

Well, this question is quite tricky. This one we need to figure it out by ourselves. As I said before, there are lots of language learning methods. Some good with just reading, but some good when there are teachers presence. So, Different people have different methods. Yes, so, its all about trial and errors and also efforts. You tried but you failed so, do not give up, try again. In the end, it is just a language.

The real challenge would be out there, where you skills with be put to the test when you have to converse with other, Where you have to communicate with others. That what really matter, it does not mean that grammar is not important, but balancing all the elements is most important.

So, now you know right?

That is all I guessed, thank you!

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: Rusty English vs Amazing English. hihu :)

 

A little Thought for the Day.

Assalamualaikum WBT,

How do you do?

When in doubt, we asked Him to show us the way right? Always but then the fault is only to Humans because when we asked we asked only when in pain or despairs. When happy, we lose the faith and gratitude does not linger on our mouth. Why?

Do you asked yourself why? I mean, I sometimes ashamed of Allah SWT, just like I said, when in despair I asked, when I have got what I been asking, I forgot to say gratitude.

I read about Istiqomah, and in translation to English language, istiqomah means continuous. Yes, Islam IS continuous. Why? Well, when we pray to Allah, we CONTINUOUSLY praying to Him, perform our Solah, give good deeds to other on His name. Why? To show the gratitude that we owed Him in every way.

Why show gratitude?

Why show gratitude? You just do not asked me that question. When someone gave us something, for instance, a piece of bread. What do you say to that person ? At least, "Thank you" right? So, the concept is just like that to Allah SWT. Human to human we tend to have this courtesy, because we are humans. The community sees us right? But what about Allah SWT? Can we see Him?

I'd say, Yes we can. We can see HIM even clearer than we see human. Why? It started with FAITH. When we have Faith in Allah SWT, immediately, all the good deeds will come automatically. We see lights, we see skies, we see water. For those who have FAITH they would immediately think,

"Well, how this works.."

It made us think. But please, do not overthink it, because we are only humans, we think that we CAN think, to go beyond the human capabilities it not the favours of us, human. In other words, we cannot do that. To think beyond mind. Not.

Why? We human usually think the LOGIC. That's the problem. We want to see what in front of us. Let say someone asked us to show where is Allah. Obviously, they do not have the FAITH that some of us have. Right? So, it is folly to fight with humans who happened to not having the same FAITH as ours. Its hard. Difficult.

So, find the FAITH then you'll know what you have been searching all this while.

FAITH, ISTIQOMAH, COURTEOUS, GOOD DEEDS.

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: Rebooting myself.

Lovehate? No, Just Love.

Assalamualaikum WBT,

I left last entry on this blog like a month ago? Well, I do not know.

But, I write today. Yes. On what topic, I do not know but I am going to write today. In English. Yes. I hope. Hehe.. Okaayyy.. I have this one blog that really actually catches my eyes whenever he posted an entry. 

By Clive

His newest entry. HERE.

Do know what, whenever I read his blog, I feel like motivated, pushed to do something on my own. I mean, what I do best. Passion. 

And trust me, the way he layered all the information and the way he wrote those amazing writings.. uh! amazing. I could easily understand what he is trying to say. Love it.

I have been a follower since like last year  *think so, and he is an amazing writer. *well, not judging but my instinct and reading made me say that. Love it. 

I wish I could be like him but I know he reads lots of books and that makes the difference. Hahaha.. I read online articles and he reads *I think, actual book. Well, no matter what, he is always be reference. And special thanks to Kak Yuni for introducing this blog on her blog. If not, I would not know this amazing blog by Clive. 

He writes almost about all of thing. Even Gollum, hows that? I personally think that he does his own research-es. hehe.. trying to be a Gollum here. No way!

Well, that is all. Practice does make things perfect. So, perfecting requires sacrifices, do not despair for the life you walked, fear for the those to do not believe in you but most of all, fear for a part of you that do not believe in yourself. 

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: lovehate.

Learning English Grammar : Present Continuous Tense.

Assalamualaikum WBT,

I am so sorry for not writing these few days, I have things to do, plus the internet connection is not that good. I just have to bear with it, well, because its free.

Now, for this entry, I will be writing on Present Continuous Tense.

Wow, wow, wait a minute. We did not yet learn on the tenses right? Its okay because tenses are quite easy and it is not that difficult. Okay, lets focus first on this topic. Present Continuous Tense.

See these two sentences :

I am drawing now.
They are talking.

Since we are discussing on Present Tense, you have to bear in mind that, Present Tense is what is happening now. This present time. Okay?

'Am' is a special finite that only given to 'I' and it cannot be used by any other noun.

The Present Continuous Tense is used to show actions that are going on at the time speaking.

These are the indicators to differentiate between Present Continuous Tense with others. In Present Continuous Tense there are several indicators that you need to know, which are, Verb-to-be in present tense which are 'am', 'is' and 'are', the verb used and also after verb-to-be it has in form of continuous which it has -ing.

Is that clear? A little twisted right? hahaha..

Exercise:

1. What ......... you looking at? (is, are)
2. The sun ........ shining brightly. ( are, is)
3. I ....... writing to my pen-pal now. ( is, am)
4. My little brother .........(not sleep) now.
5. Let's chase him. He ..... (run) away.
6. The phone ........ (ring) now. Go and answer it.
7. We .......... (wait) for Mei Ling.
8. Listen! The dogs ......... (bark) now.
9. It .......... (rain) very heavily now. Let's run for shelter.

Do this exercise and you will familiar with the sentence structure and in the end you will able to create your own sentences. Trust me.

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s. Keep reading.

Learning English Grammar : Singular and Plural Nouns.

Assalamualaikum WBT,

I am so really sorry for not updating any information on grammar, well, the internet connection was not that good for these past two days, so, I was struggling a bit to actually write something just because the internet connection was not good. 

But now, its okay! So, lets move on to our English grammar lesson, Singular and Plural Nouns.

Well, Singular Nouns form is quite easy because its just one. One thing, one person, one animal. And for more that one it is called Plural Nouns which is a little tricky actually.

There are thirteen forms of Plural Nouns, buckle up and lets run! 

1. By adding -s.

For examples :

son-sons    goat-goats    house-houses    table-tables    picture-pictures

2. By adding -es to nouns ending in -s,-sh,-ch and -x.

For examples :

glass-glasses    bus-buses    inch-inches    match-matches    brush-brushes    dish-dishes    box-boxes

fox-foxes         tax-taxes

3. By adding -es to SOME nouns ending in -o

For examples :

buffalo-buffaloes    hero-heroes    potato-potatoes    volcano-volcanoes

4. By adding -s to SOME nouns ending in -o

For examples :

bamboo-bamboos    piano-pianos    radio-radios    photo-photos

5. By changing -y into -ies

For examples :

baby-babies    lady-ladies    fly-flies    army-armies   cry-cries

6. By adding -s to some nouns ending in -y

For example :

monkey-monkeys    way-ways    day-days    key-keys

7. By adding -f to -fe into -ves

For examples :

loaf-loaves    leaf-leaves    calf-calves   thief-thieves    knife-knives   wife-wives   life-lives

8. By adding -s to SOME nouns ending in -f or -fe

For examples :

chief-chiefs    hoof-hoofs    roof-roofs    root-roots    gulf-gulfs

9. By changing the inside vowels

For examples :

man-men    goose-geese    tooth-teeth    mouse-mice    louse-lice    woman-women    foot-feet

10. By adding -en

For examples :

ox-oxen    child-children

11. SOME nouns have their singular and plural alike

For examples :

sheep-sheep    deer-deer   cod-cod   fish-fish(es)

12. SOME unusual nouns form their plural in a different way. NOTE where the -s is placed.

For examples :

brother-in-law    brothers-in-law

son-in-law          sons-in-law

step-mother        step-mothers

step-son             step-sons

13. SOME nouns are used only in the plural.

scissors     shears     pliers   clothes    pincers

Okay that is all, but you need to bare in mind that learning is not just by read the technical grammar book, you need to do you own exercise and also you have to read a lot. This is because only through reading you will find these amazing, fancy words that will add up to your lexicon. Plus, when you read lots of books, you will be able to familiarise with the sentence structures. So, if you want to know more, read more okay?

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: learning is fun!

Learning English Grammar : Countable and Uncountable Nouns.

Assalamualaikum WBT,

Well, for this entry, I am still going to write about Noun. In the previous entry, I too talked about noun, but more to Number in Nouns. Click on the links given, it will direct you to the explanations made by me. Thank you.

For this entry, I will be briefly explaining on Countable and Uncountable Nouns. Hard to differentiate? Well, You will see that it is actually not that hard, trust me. With simple words given, you will understand it very well.

Well, what are Countable and Uncountable Nouns? As you can see there, the key word is Count, meaning numbers. This is different from Number in Nouns. Just do not mixed up between those two okay? 

Now, Countable Nouns is nouns that can be counted and Uncountable Nouns is nouns that cannot be counted. So, got the picture there right? Now, we move on to further explanation.

The expressions plenty of, a lot of, some and any are used with both countable and uncountable nouns. 

A, an, several, many, a few and  a large number of are only used with countable nouns.

A little, much, a large amount of and a great deal of are used with uncountable nouns.

A and an are never been used in uncountable nouns because A and An are both lead to Singular (one).

So, for examples,

She drank a glass of milk.

Our hen lays an egg every day.

Butter is made from milk.

There are some men in the boat.

Is there any work for me to do?

I need some more butter to make the cake.

There are too few chairs for so much guests.

There are a lot of biscuits left but not many coffee. 

She only ate a little food today.

He has collected a large number of stamps.

So, understood? Hehe.. easy right?

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: That is Countable and Uncountable Nouns.

Economy Nowadays Is Hard!

Assalamualaikum WBT,

How do you do people? Readers? Followers? I really hope you are doing amazingly fine.

I went to a Xerox shop just now and the Chinese lady was talking to me,

"Where to send this documents?"

"To a company, my resume and job application"

"oh..good. Haiya, these days ar, so hard to find job maa".

"you tell me".

"Ya lorr... when you have job, you want better job but then the economy is higher, the cost of living, hard loorr".

"You tell me aunty".

"Ya looorr... when have job, have to work hard also do loads of work for money. Like me, my daughter stay in England, study, piano, music, her interest. So many money to use... I have to work hard for her".

"well, what to do aunty, so how much these tupperwear?'

Hello... this chinese lady is a chinese, to me they have reason to work and her reason is her children. Amazing huh? How love could give to people.? The benefits of loving others.

And btw, the expression, "you tell me" is not you have to elaborate more on the case, but it was an expression on, "right, I feel you"-ish. So, next time, if you heard some use this expression, please, respond with care. Hahaha..

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: economy nowadays, hard ma..

Missing Someone..

Assalamualaikum WBT,

Have you had thing feeling of missing someone really badly? 

Have you? Well, I am now. I really miss this one person. We were quite close those days. I am not a bright student those days, had a few good/okay result but this person had good grades. We met once last year, the first quarter of the year and it was at a wedding. 

That time, I was not talk much, maybe I was shy and quite surprised and I just do not know what to do. It should be a good reunion, but it did not go well. I just do not know why. 

Well, we usually missed someone and sometimes, we just have this feeling or uncertainty about things right? We keep thinking, "should I just message that person to tell my feeling?" but most of the time, we think back, "well, better not, it just make me like a pervert". But the thing is that, we just want to tell how much we missed them right? 

Well, I might think about using social media to reach people.

Luv.

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: ...

All On The Line.

Assalamualaikum WBT,

How do you do guys and girls? I really hope everything is okay. Floods are everywhere now, so please, be careful because we do not what might happen. Please, okay?

Okay, last night, I got the chance to watch All On The Line by Joe Zee and for the last night's episode, Joe Zeef featured a quirky, talented designer, Andrea from Electic Love Light. To be honest, her designs are for specific interest group, if you watched it last night, *it was aired on Life Inspired LI Ch 728, if I am not mistaken. 

I am not going to talk about the things happened in the episode, but I rather have a thought on the implicit meaning behind all of that. 

Well, to open a business, we really need to think about EVERYTHING! yes, everything. I said it there. Everything is crucial. From talents, heart, guts to business plans, money, capital, and in fashion industry, it need, talents, fashions, creative eyes, creative hands, good thinking, emotions, drama, sewing machine, look book, business talents, PR, publicist, programme, sincere, and whatnot. You name it and you WILL HAVE to have it. Like, you must have it, otherwise everything that you have worked for is going to the drain, for sure.

Fashion itself is way too abstract to be explained about. Some love pink but some don't. I love green colour but it does not mean that you love green too right? It is that simple, that is why, some critiques are really doubtful because of the taste matter. But, when it comes to technicality, everyone can critic, but when it comes to matter of taste, its too abstract, its too subjective. Yes.

So, if you want to start a business, have a real deep thought of what you want to do and actually study yourself, market and economy. How far you can go and how far you are willing to go. Sometimes, questions are not constructed to be answered but you just need to think about and answer to yourself.

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: proper planning is needed now.

Entertainment is one of the best way to learn English.

Assalamualaikum wbt,

I really want to thank Friso Gold commercial for featuring Bai Ann's song, The Incredible Journey because, today, I heard my nephew sings it to my ears today, and whenever the song comes out, they actually remember the melody and also the lyrics. 

So, congratulations to Friso Gold for doing great in the commercial.

I too have downloaded the amazing song from the internet and seriously, the song was soothing and yet very harmonious, I really love it.

It actually shows that, learning is at it best when it comes to music. I too learn *and still learning English language through music. Well, there are people learning English through games so, I could easily conclude that, learning languages (English) is at it best when it comes to entertainment. Obviously, people especially children love entertainment.

Since they were toddlers, most of the parents were singing them songs, then they bigger, the parents give them handphones, Ipads and what not to their children so that they could learn something from it. And when they managed to be able to tap on these touch screens gadgets, they are able to actually play something and most of the apps on the internet are in English, so, there you goes, my explanation is valid for present times. Haha...

But, those for children these days, but for me, I was not like that. I learned from books, tv, musics, lyrics *i even have lyric books, both Malay and English language. I just want to learn. That is all, I think, my passion is just English language. Why? I've tried to learn other languages, like Mandarin, French, German, but I just could not, but hey, nothing wrong with that right? hahaha..

So, that is all for now.

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: I definitely getting my groove back.

Temple Grandin is AMAZING!!!

Assalamualaikum WBT,

Who have watched Temple Grandin?

If you did not yet, please, do so. Why? Why is it important to watch it? Some might questioned that too right? I too questioned that questions to myself , why?

Why? Do you want to know why? 

Because, this movie is actually based on true story. There is someone who named Temple Grandin and she has this autism and she had hard learning anything. You should watch it. I have watched it on Al-Hijrah and it was an inspiring movie. I love it so much and in shaa Allah, I will look for this movie somewhere. I really want to watch it again. Love it so much.

If you want to read her story, you might want to buy her books, but if you rely more on Wikipedia and the internet, you should click on this name. Temple Grandin. If you do not want to care about it, well, I guessed you have missed on amazing inspiring moment of your life. Why? You just need to read about her and somehow, to you it might, 

"Why the hell she was obsessed with cow?"

Trust me! you will find it amusing, Why? Because she invented one amazing great device to actually calm the cows before going into the lorry to the slaughter house. 

Yes, I am talking about both, movie and herself (Temple Grandin). Anyhow, you should just watch this very inspiring movie. I actually love watching this kind of movie, drama, based-on-true story movie, biopic, documentary, same goes to, this one movie, Blind Side, it is amazing!!! I love it.

I have nothing to talk about, I just want to watch it again. Just. Again. Temple Grandin.

Wait.. in 2012, I downloaded a short video of her, at Emmy or Gloden Globes *I don't remember which one, but when she got on the stage, she was, proud and really-really grateful to her mother. I just, ahhhh... overwhelmed with the spirit.

And btw, she has a Doctorate in Animal Science and she is a Professor at Colorado State University. Hows that?

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: please Al-Hijrah TV, play it again.

Creative Talents.

Assalamualaikum WBT,

Yes, sometimes I questioned myself, 

"Why the hell you have these creative thinking but you did not even try to use it?"

I asked. 

I did not have the answer for that, quite frankly speaking. I just do not know what to answer.

Yes, there are a few creative thinkings and actions that I have such as, sewing, cooking, drawing, colouring, gardening, arranging my stuff in my room *considered that too. But then, why the hell I am still here. I mean, not going anywhere with my talents?

I, again, do not have a concrete answer for that. I just do not know.

But, I am not looking for answers, but I do have several things that I want to tell you.

Being able to actually sew and be creative has taught me a few things. Yes, in everything that we do, we need to be very focus with the assigned work given to us or we wanted to do, but in sewing, dealing with sewing machine that really needed we to be more focus because we need to cut, sew, iron, its like, one step at a time. 

But then, one more thing, sewing is meticulous, very meticulous. We need to be very tough on judgment given by the people who see our dress or creation. On the construction sides of certain outfits, yes, we need to be very meticulous. The more difficult the outfits created or sewn, the more hours that we need to spend in order to get a very great outfit. Otherwise, it will not be great.

I do not know about the sewists who managed to sew great, amazing clothes at like 3 hours. To me, sewing is time consuming. Yes, why? As I explained before, to get great outfits, time is needed. Spend more time and make sure that the outcomes or the end products are amazing. That is all. 

Creative is actually very wide and cooking is one of the branches that give this wide creativity. There are steps we need to follow but then, when it comes to decorating the plate to show the final products, we are able to show our creativity in garnishing that plate. 

Well, to be honest, what ever it is in this world, creativity is needed. Yes, you know it right? 

Talking about sewing, fabric choices are crucial. We need to choose great fabrics in order to create great clothes, * put there in the great clothes elements. But here in Malaysia, based on my own experience, I have trouble in finding good men's clothes, I mean, manly fabric for men. Do you know what I meant there right?

Most of fabric shops in Malaysia sell fabrics for women and they have just a few limited selection for men. Yup, if I were live in big cities, I think there is no problem finding the men-fabrics but unfortunately, I am living in a village where fabric choices is actually not a choice because I can't choose fabrics for myself. 

I still remember, when I want to construct a vest, I have to use fabric for curtains. Yup, I personally do not care but it just shows how difficult I am in finding the fabrics, for myself. So, therefore, I choose to do women wear. Its just it.

Sometimes, I envy those people who are in Australia, USA where they have great, big, amazing *according to the pictures and my own readings, fabric shops or warehouses. Imagine that? How beautiful it is right? I could not imagine if I go there and have a fabric shopping day or something like that, I would be just amazing and I think I just could easily faint because I just do not know what to choose. Hahaha..

So, that is all for my creative bragging. See next time *which I myself do not know when. Haha..

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s: Well, I have another talent, writing. hehehe...

POEM : It is us who feel the pain.

Assalamualaikum WBT,

Poem title : It is us who feel the pain.

Black clouds,

Slowly moving to the east,

Bringing mist for the gist,

And,

We just wait to it.

Lightning strikes,

With big sounds,

Very big sounds,

Its not things that calming down,

It lightning with pure powers.

Before rain,

there are pains,

before happy,

there are bad things happen  

to us, humans.

It is us to see the rainbow,

It is us to feel the rainbow,

It is us to touch the rainbow,

It is us to be happy,

It is us who gone through the pain.

Assalamualaikum WBT

p/s; love it.