ENGLISH

Lately, some people have remarked on my English and actually asked how I got to be good at it. Almost always I would actually stop, think and didn't have a ready answer, because I actually learnt English the hard way. People seem to assume that I studied abroad or came from a renowned school when in fact, I just studied in an ordinary quite rural SMK school. No boarding school for me, thank you. I'm not being big headed but I don't exactly have a turning point in my life where I was suddenly good in English. I worked really hard to be good in it. I think this is largely due to the early exposure to English (I did stay in Sheffield the first two years of my life) so I guess for me English was not as foreign as most of my peers would perceive. However, those were truly the early years of my life, hardly enough time for me to gain anything in the mere two year stay. Plus, some would say that instead of a British accent, my English leaned more towards America.

I became encouraged to learn English from Mama. She would constantly talk to us in English, though I later learnt that there were protests and jeering from some family members. She would buy us english story books and watched english programmes with us. Growing up, we saw a lot of Sesame Street, Sound of Music and also Disney movies. I remember going to the cinema to watch Pocahontas, Lion King and Little Mermaid. In fact, Mama bought me my first Sweet Valley Book which turned out to be a huge obsession as I would scour the bookshops for new Sweet Valley books and then sit and read with a blank book and dictionary near. Why a blank book? It was actually my vocabulary book. I would first highlight the words that I don't know. Copy it in the book and look the definition up. And that is how I built up my vocabulary.

I also started to listen to English music in my early teens. Through the lyrics I kind of get the rhythm of a sentence and be more familiar with the color and usage of the language. I would watch English shows like Family Ties, Saved By The Bell, The Nanny and Full House (the American sitcom, not the Korean drama). I remember me and my family would all cuddle up and watch X-Files and the Murphy show together.

Then, I entered IIUM. The primary language here is English as it is an INTERNATIONAL university. When I was in school, I was only good in written English but now, I'm forced to speak in English. I had lots of practice both in and out of the classroom since we had to interact not only with foreign lecturers but also foreign students. It was a good thing that Ama and Zin were not afraid to use English in their daily conversation, so in a way they kinda encouraged me to talk in English though they would turn to me when a particularly strange word cropped up in our textbooks and I would try so hard to explain to them. I've been a walking dictionary since my schooldays. But sometimes I do find it hard to express certain words as I usually associate with atype of feel rather than the correct interpretation.

I actually made this into a public speech during my induction course. Thankfully, the instructor was a bit jolly that day, so I think I got reasonably good marks. Being good in English is definitely a Big PLUS Point for me. There were some opportunities that wouldn't even came by if not for my English. Because of English, I got to meet Ama, Zin and consequently, Illi. Because of English, I had no trouble understanding my lessons in IIUM, although memorizing is another different thing. Which in hindsight gave me an edge compared to my peers. It definitely made things a lot easier for me.

I've always admired people who made the effort to speak in English but couldn't help but cringe when they make a simple glaring mistake. For a milisecond I would actually feel a bit disappointed when they mispronounce or messed up the grammar. If it's someone I know who wouldn't mind, I would correct their mistake.

In the end my fluency (??) in English comes from my family, friends and also from hard work. It helped in giving me a HUGE boost in confidence level as I feel that I'm able to communicate with most of the world population. And because of English, I don't have any problems in learning other languages as I can kinda see the benefits of speaking in another tongue than your native.

Think I've said enough. Till next post..
Thank you. Kamsahamnida. Terima kasih. Arigatou gozaimasu. Shukriya. Shie Shie. Shukran jazilan. Merci. Danke. Grazie. Gracias.