Thursday 31 December 2009

PAST TENSE VS PRESENT PERFECT TENSE

English users always confused between these two tenses and also very frequent making mistakes in using these two. Here are simple tips to remember and differentiate between the two...

Past Tense - For action already completed in the past (yesterday,last week, last month,etc)
Pres. Perfect Tense - For action started in the past but still has effect in present (since....for)

Rozie broke her leg.(Rozie is ok now, no longer in hospital)
Rozie has broken her leg. (Rozie is still not ok, still get treatment in hospital)


Maria lived in London last five years.(Maria is not in London anymore,She was there 5
years ago)

Maria has lived in London for five years.(Maria was in London 5 years ago and now
still in London.)


Well, with these simple tips may help those who are in confused to differentiate between these two tenses.

Friday 25 December 2009



Attending seminars and courses is part of educator's duty to enhance skill and knowledge.
The picture was taken during a teaching course for programme coordinators at Masterskill Kuala Lumpur.
In the picture
(left-right): Zaida,Rosa,Jamilah,Emey

Wednesday 16 December 2009

Knowledge is imminently useful that we have to face the fact that we are useless and meaningless without having knowledge.In conjunction with the advancement of technology and communication system in today's life, obtaining knowledge has become much easier and faster.Now everything could be obtained as fast as a bullet train or even faster where it's just at our finger tips.By just flicking and dragging ones can get information throughout without boundaries.



English language is one portion of knowledge for it has its own benefit for the learner.Undeniably knowledge of english can bring people to the top of the world!!! I hope I am not overboard with this statement .I am indeed positive that in order to gain varieties of knowledge in the world ones must possess knowledge of english first. This is due to the sources of particular knowledge are written in english.Besides, those who have better ability to speak in english are very common potray as more successful and more accepted and respected by the community.



Throughout years of teaching english particularly in Kelantan state, a state which is renowned as less developed and poor mastery of english language, the teaching task is not always amusing and exciting but on the other hand has become extremely challenging and very prone to cause the teacher demotivated and demoralised.!!!English is not highly regarded as useful knowledge to be either appreciated or valued.

We may become the enemy of our own students if we do not know how to tackle and win their hearts. High skills and brilliant teaching techniques must be blended with the use of good psychology are immensely needed to attract their attention. Ultimately our students wouldn't even bother to lend their ears to us if we use fully english in class or force them to communicate in english.For them they dare to be scolded or punished rather than uttering out in english language.They are very pessimistic towards english that cause them to scare to death.The students have been very much overwhelmed with their kelantanese language and dialect which lead them to feel uneasy to accept english language.


These are just a few instances of how teachers confront with the challenge of teaching english in Kelantan. I used to have students who did not interested in learning english at all because for them it's a waste of time.They'd rather learn other languages as they're more beneficial and also more exciting.These phenomenon getting worse when there were also my colleagues obtain the same thinking and mentality which have caused those students to think they were right.

I used to feel so down,depressed,demotivated and confused !!! I was wrong for labeling english as knowledge that could bring people to the top of the world... yet the fact is without english knowledge people still could survive and smile to the whole world. I regretted myself for being an english teacher for giving the least benefits to students compared to teach other subjects like mathematics and sciences. In fact as an english teacher, it's very hard for me to accomplish satisfaction because majority of my students only gain a bit from the teaching...they still comfortable to communicate in their mother tongue language and as for grammar lesson they just know the name of tenses like present tense, past tense and future tense and claim that they never understand how to use these tenses in sentences or phrases.

Ahh....whatever it is we have to count the blessings...Every silver has its lining. God has fated me to be an english teacher and I'm very grateful for that. As a teacher I have to throw away all the negative thoughts towards my career and walk forward for a brighter future...May GOD bless me for what I've been doing to my students .

Tuesday 15 December 2009

TEACHING ... A PROFESSION OR PASSION?

Teaching is a profession and definitely it needs passion and interest.I used to ask myself whether i've these in me. I'm still seeking for exact answer to this question even i've already devoted myself in teaching career for almost 17 years. Wow! what a long years... Sometimes I think time runs very fast leaving those moments behind me, before i'm able to hold and grip tightly every single experience as a language educator .



Throughout the days as a lecturer, my routine is do research and deep study on the topics to teach,plan lesson accordingly , updating myself with current issues from internet,newspaper or magazines and also prepare either inspirational quotes or light jokes to share with students.Very frequent also I have to listen to students' problems and be the problem solver of different kind of problems they possess from teen's problem to family problem. There are also times I devote to listen to them and share different types of stories just to let them feel belonging.

Till now...after years of teaching and educating, I am still loyal to my daily routine which I believe it is endless as long as I am called a language educator. I never know when I'm going to give a stop to all these....or may be these are called passion and interest.

A PIECE OF EXPERIENCE OF A SECTION C GIRL

It was May 1992 when I have just graduated after four long years of struggle to be pronounced as a graduate of English Language Studies. The title that I myself never ever dream to hold as I was really worried and unhappy with my English proficiency ever since I was at secondary school.
It’s still clear on my mind how I was humiliated and mocked by my friends for being placed in Section C for English class. I was so down for being discriminated and started to lose friends after became a Section C student. Students who were in section A and B were much luckier for being popular and liked by everyone.
I took the highest effort to be promoted to better group so that I could easily mingle with popular students and accepted as their friends. However it seemed that I was fated to be a section C student till the end of my secondary school day. On the other hand, many of my friends from section C were able to be promoted to section A and B and they simply regarded me as the dumbest student in section C.
Those were just piece of unforgettable experience of a section C student during school days. Despite all the bitter moments during these period of time, it has taught me to be tougher and stronger with full of spirit to improve my English ability and able to stand in the crowd as tall as the others.


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