Why you should start speaking in English.

"Allah honors every child of Adam, who are we to look down on others?" - Nouman Ali Khan.

Assalamualaikum wbt and hello :)

So today I’m going to talk about my English.

I was a student of SK Zainab 1. As for English and science subjects, well sometimes maths, my teachers always used English as their primary teaching language. And some of my friends already could speak in English very fluently at that time.

According to my English subject grades, my English was not bad at all. Well, my writing English. But, I had a problem when it came down to my speaking English.

Honestly, I didn’t do much talking in English – and I admit, I regretted it. Another way of putting this is I didn’t practice to speak in English.

I had joined a few English-related activities such as storytelling & choral speaking. My pronunciation was great at that time – well, I mean you won’t be hearing my kelatenese accent getting mixed up with my English accent.

But why this girl who has good grade in English and good pronunciation did not practice to speak in English?

Aha!

Because I was scared. I was embarrassed. I was shy. I did not have confidence. Funny *roll eyes*.

When I was in MRSM Pengkalan Chepa (always PC lols), I found out that the learning environment there was very English.

We had morning calls every weekday mornings. The emcee spoke in English. The teachers who spoke during the morning calls also used English. I was at awe (this was when I was in form 4).

Then, I got to know a few of my batchmates & seniors who can speak in English like how most of us can speak in Malay. They were awesome.

But, but, nahh I still won’t speak in English at that time. Every time my teachers told my classmate and I to do presentation in English, I always managed to escape somehow. I know right? I’m good at escaping. Lols.

So, basically, my speaking English was terrible.

Coming to Kolej MARA Banting (KMB) did make me nervous. Why? Because these people are no joke. If in PC, there were only several people who can speak English very, very, very well (note how many ‘very’ I put there), KMB has lots of them. It would be a humiliation if you do not know how to speak in English – like this person here: ME!

Ye laa… dah interview pun in English. And kitorang mmg akan fly ke Anglophone countries. So, yeah, most of them can speak in English very well.

Here, we are needed to make a lot of presentations. Also, we have a lot of activities that require everyone to speak in English, such as Interactive Oral Presentation, also known as IOP.

Aha!

When I was in my 1^st semester, we did a debate. Well, the format was like a debate but we called it 'discussion'.

I’m used to debat, as I was a pendebat myself, but to debat in English was pretty much scary.

Rinduuuuuuuuuuuuu. Hai Hadi XD

But then, I needed to do it anyway. So I pushed myself to speak in English. It went okay (no it’s not).

Now, I can actually speak in English. Even though there’ll be a few errors at times, but I’m feeling comfortable of using it. And I guess, that's the most important thing for me.

So here are a few lessons I've learnt:

1. PRACTICE!

You need to be braaaaaaaaaaave and practice using English. It’s okay if you have grammatical errors here and there, you’ll get better after a while. Alah kamon la, even bahasa melayu pun, siapa yang boleh jamin yang dia bercakap tanpa kesalahan tatabahasa? ;)

2. Be confident.

3. Don’t mind people who judge you.

Actually, I haven’t met someone who is cynical about me speaking in English. People around me always don’t mind me trying. Some of them even gave me support. And some even waited for me to finish my sentence regardless how hard it was for me to do it.

4. Don’t give up trying.

Because the outcome is satisfying.

Oh oh I just got to tell you this. Have you ever heard of Adele's new song entitled Hello? I like this one cover made by Leroy Sanchez. His voice is pretty amazing. You should listen to it. Lol.

Well that’s it folks. Thanks for reading.

Much love,

Mierah Aziz.

P/s: Will be having 3rd semester exams starting next week. Pray for me! Also, I'm officially a mak cik. Lol. Got 2 nephews yesterday... they are twins!

Footnote: other than at schools, I did not grow up in english speaking environment. So this means a lot for me. And I just want to give support to those people who would like to try speaking in english. Huhu.

thoughts

hey
I'm writing this one
as I pause from doing my work
because I have no idea how to explain on positioning map
yes
it's a business management thing
cause i'm doing my extended essay in business
extended essay is some sort of mini thesis
you need to do research
on whatever subject you choose
i have works
lots of them
yet i choose to write this
because i want to share with you
how miserable my mind is
i think a lot
but i express little
only if you can read my mind
i'm sure you're going to be mad
because i think not only about my studies
also about the world
about humans
about you
about life
about how everything works
and why it doesn't
about the reason of your smile
and the reason of your lie
maybe you can say i like to judge people
but i can assure you
i'm not bad in judging
because i'm quite sensitive
especially to little, little things
things that people overlook
yes
i can see your sadness behind your smile
i can see the truth behind your lie
maybe because i can empathize you
or maybe because i'm just full of myself
being too ignorant and too proud of myself
to even to look at the truth
but still
what is truth anyway
man, look at what TOK has done to me
well, truth can be relative
truth can be anything
truth can be you
but nah
let's talk about sky
i haven't seen a clear sky ever since the haze started
it's a sad thing, you know
haze, haze,
the damage is done
wear mask
stay indoors
well,
that's what my sisters told me
wear mask
stay indoors
can I go to Hogwarts now?
i'd like to learn how to make a patronus charm
had to google the word 'patronus'
because I mispelled it as 'patronas'
haha funny
can I go to Hogwarts now?
i'd like to learn how to make a feather fly
or riding a broomstick
that would be fun
i can ride broomstick to kelantan
don't have to buy flight tickets anymore
expensive
very expensive
feel dizzy yet?
reading my thoughts?
yeah
told you
i can go from one topic to another really fast
i forgot to time myself
how long it takes to write this
okay
back to reality
gotta do my homework now
because it doesn't know how to do it by itself
oh well
goodnight.

-written straight from my mind, not edited except to correct some grammar errors-

Yayayaya

Assalamualaikum and hyep

Honestly, rindu sangat2 dengan kawan2 UM. Even since day 1 masuk orientasi, selalu dah compare UM dengan USM. Kira macam tak rela sangat lah masuk USM. Dah lah duduk tingkat atas sekali. Habis naik muscle kaki I (lol). Berat hati sangat macam lagu "separuh jiwaku pergi" tuuu but then apa yang kita tak suka tu mungkin baik untuk kita. Kan kan kan.

Sekarang dah masuk blok ketiga belajar which means that dah 7 minggu di USM sejak hari mendaftar. So far, life in USM okay lah. Okay2 jer. Tapi hari demi hari makin gembira sebab makin dapat ramai kawan. Makin expose dengan hidup kelate ni. Yes kena admit lah yang ore kelate ni ada jah baik dengan buruknya.

But let me highlight things that make me unhomesick here in USM Kube Kerie

1) Roomates gilas
Alhamdulillah sangat dapat roomate yang gila, bukan gila macam kat rumah bahagia tu tapi gila as in bising2. Jap, ada lah jugak sikit2 ciri2 orang gila di rumah bahagia. Bahaha. Tpi diorang ni bukan bising2 saje. Bila study jer fokus sangat. Sya yang dalam bilik tu pon dah menggeletaq sebab rasa paling malaih study. Setakat ni happy jer hidup dengan diorang. Tak ada lagi episod drama tv3: hidupku seperti bunga layu di tasik madu (sape yang pergi mbb rekreasi faham)

from left: imamah, rini and fariha

2)Senior baik2
Ni serius betol. Waktu first masuk dulu senior Pasum med even belanja kitaorg makan kfc. hewhew.  Seronok lah kan orang belanja. Lepas tu dapat tips2 berguna lagi. Berkurang lah homesicknya walaupun home tak beberapa nak jauh sangat. Most of senior Pasum Med pon orang hebat2. Pegang jawatan besar2 macam mpp, vice , pres itu ini. Macam wow jugaklah sebab diorg boleh manage masa dengan mantop. (Thumbs up)

candid

3)Kos sara hidup murah
Ni paling bersyukur. Seperti yang semua tahu, kat sini tak de lah wayang, mall2 yang grand meletop kebabom tu. Kat sini ada mydin jer haaaa. Haha. Okaylah kan daripada tak de pape. Kiranya lokasi USM ni membangun lah jugak. Banyak deretan kedai. Pizza Hut, Domino, KFC, Secret Recipe, Coolblog etc. Kira banyak jugak duit tu habis kat makanan and benda yang paling menyinari hidup student USM untuk satu minggu tu adalah pasar malam hari jumaat (lol. ye ke?) Pasar malam kot. Bau2 menusuk oesophagus. Makanan kat sini pon murah. Satu hari tu memang boleh sangat nak budget rm5 jer. Huihui.

InsyaAllah lah boleh survive di Kelate dengan selamat (Weyyh, macam nak pergi perang). Kat sini pon banyak program dan mostly program2 yang ada memang menjaga batas antara lelaki pompuan. That's a very good thing lah. Haa, ada  sorang kakak senior cakap macam ni, "Awak mungkin tak suka awal2 kat Kelantan ni sebab tak biasa tapi lama2 nanti awak akan rasa duduk sini rasa tenang sangat" Kita tunggu dan lihat kayy.

All in all, Kelantan and USM is not as bad as I thought before. (Cehh, mcm x pernah duduk Kelantan) Im looking forward for more great memories.

saje pinjam gambar Lingesh sat

p/s: Doakan Sya dapat mengharungi hidup sebagai seorang  pelajar perubatan dan Mierah untuk cekal menyelesaikan assignmentnya yang bertimbun timbun :)

Just sharing my 2 cents
Raja Syazwani