Teach Me, Sir

Speech and Drama Project

2013-01-09T18:39:00.001+08:00

Just came back from a private institution. Took up new challenge, teaching speech and drama to primary school learners. In the past, for three years, I did go to primary school to deliver my health awareness programme. Nevertheless, such experience would not guarantee that it will be the same. My first lesson with the primary one learners, in analogy,it's like entering the wild jungle, saw various kinds of animals leaping all over places. Using banana alone did not win the heart of all animals; thus, do prepare different kinds of fruits; surely, all of them will be tamed. Out of curiosity, I wonder how speech and drama lesson could actually elevate their communicative skill and other related skills.

p/s: really salute those primary school teachers, it is not easy to handle hyperactive kids. It requires great patience. Above all, their adorable nature melts teacher's heart. My great adventure starts in the year 2013. Wish me luck.

Directed Writing Paper 1 SPM: Forecast question?

2012-10-25T09:15:00.000+08:00

Dearest students,

Apology for zero updates. Life has been so pretty hectic, wish you were in my shoes. Giggling to myself.

Anyway, one of my dearest students asked about upcoming SPM English paper for this year?

For Paper 1,

Section A: not really based on instinct or psychic power, but based on the analysis of past year papers, the chances for Article question to come out in the exam is pretty high. Usually, still referring to the past year papers, the article question requires the students to write and publish for school magazine or as a newsletter. Just remember to have proper title and the name of the author. In the market, there are so many samples of article, but do make sure that you must analyse the content in meticulous manner because some of them are rather incoherent, if you get what I mean.

Now if Article does not come out, definitely it will be Report question. Now the tricky part for Report paper, I have seen numerous types of samples, one may write a report to the Principal, which is the most common question in the exam, but rarely on news report. From the several years of analysis, most of the report question goes to the Principal. Pay attention on the language of the report.

Nevertheless, I have yet to see Formal Letter come out in the exam for so long. No harm to take a quick glimpse on the sample. You will never know that it will come out in the exam.

Despite of the analysis given, it is your responsibility to make sure that you have done your homework on all types of format for Directed Writing question.

Directed Writing: Article (SPM 2008)

2011-10-14T22:48:00.000+08:00

Reference: http://edu.joshuatly.com

Question: Speech

2011-09-18T13:31:00.002+08:00

Reference: Perak SPM Trial 2011

Question: Report

2011-09-18T13:12:00.002+08:00

Do check my quick note on report tips here

Reference: Kedah SPM Trial 2011

Question: Article

2011-09-18T13:04:00.001+08:00

Reference: Johor SPM Trial 2011

English Pronuciation: 'Th' sounds

2011-09-18T12:13:00.000+08:00

It is difficult for most of the Malaysian to pronounce the 'th' sounds because we don't have the aforementioned sound in Malay alphabet; thus, if you listened carefully, most of them would pronounce it as 't' sound, instead of 'th' sound. Just for quick sharing, check out this video as to help you guys to differentiate two types of 'th' sounds. Have fun. By the way, if you don't have upper teeth, trust me, it's gonna be pretty difficult :p

Report Writing: Tips and Sample of Report

2011-09-17T10:19:00.000+08:00

Basically, you are required to know several types of reports, which are:

Society/School Report
Report to the Principal
Police Report
News Report
Book Report

Now, it is ridiculous to study all types of report, when you might find out that only certain type of report usually come out in the examination. Nonetheless, it is not harmful to learn all of it. Let's do quick review what kind of reports usually come out in the SPM examination?

SPM 2004 - A report to the principal & SPM 2009 - A report to the principal

What it means, you only have to learn the report to the principal seeing that it is more relevant to the students, and don't waste your time to put so much emphasis on other types of reports, well, keep your fingers crossed that it stays like this.

Let's zoom in, what is exactly and how it looks like, the Report to the Principal. Beforehand, this kind of report is a formal account of an incident which happened in school. The purpose is for the principal as to carry out an investigation and take action. Thus, the report is addressed to the school principal.

Format (This is just suggestion, by the way, the maximum marks for report is usually around 3)

Step 1: The first part is as follows (Just suggestion, no harm to follow):

To: __________________

From: ________________

Subject: ______________

Date: ________________

Step 2: Address the receiver, write down the name of principal and the school as well.

Step 3: Next line, write down the name of the sender (May be omitted cuz we know the sender from the signature, that's common sense. )

Step 4: Next two lines, the subject and date of the report.

Step 5: Write your report in sections or paragraphs.

Step 6: It is MOSTLY written in PAST TENSE. Do remember that, you are reporting.

Step 7: End your report with a clear ending, by making an inference/ suggestion.

Step 8: Lastly, don't forget to sign your report on the left-hand side. You may include your post if you have one.

As I mentioned, there are various formats; nevertheless, as long as you stick to the 3 vital formats: To whom, Title and Name of the Sender. That's my 2 cents. :)

This is how the marks being awarded:

Nature By H.D Carberry: Analysis

2011-08-25T09:46:00.000+08:00

SYNOPSIS

The poem tells of the weather conditions in Jamaica although it does not have the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter. The weather conditions of golden sunny days and wet rainy days are just as good and are almost equivalent to the four seasons.

UNDERSTANDING THE POEM

Lines 1 to 10

The poet tells about his homeland , Jamaica and rejoices the beauty of this island. Jamaica has no seasonal changes. It has a tropical climate which is hot and wet throughout the year. The days of golden sunshine are glorious and magnificent. The are many canefields in Jamaica as sugar is one of the main exports in this country.

Lines 11 to 15

In the ending of the poem, the poet tells us his favourite time – days when the flowers of mango trees and logwood blossom. He uses imagery of sound and smell to illustrate abundant life and activity in the bushes when the ‘sound of bees and the scent of honey’ add to the charm and beauty if Jamaica. He describes the fields filled with lovely yellow buttercups. All this happens when the rains have stopped and the beauty if nature emerges once again.

THEMES

Beauty of nature

Appreciation of one's own country

Appreciate nature

MORAL VALUES

We should appreciate what we have in our own country

We should not long for what we do not have.

We should appreciate our homeland.

We should appreciate the beauty of nature.

TONE,MOOD, ATMOSPHERE

Appreciative and happy

Carefree and light-hearted

Sense of beauty

POINT OF VIEW

Third person point of view

LANGUAGE AND STYLE

Simple and easy to understand the language

Clear and descriptive

Simple style with no rhyming scheme

POETIC DEVICES

Imagery – e.g. ‘gold sun’, ‘lush green fields’, ‘trees struggling’

Alliteration – e.g. ‘sways and shivers to the slightest breath of air’

Symbols – e.g. ‘gold sun’ – symbol of summer, ‘rains’ – symbol of winter

Contrast – e.g. ‘beauty’ or summer is compared with ‘rains’ or winter

Figurative Language – Simile – ‘rain beats like bullets’

Metaphor – e.g. ‘the buttercups paved the earth with yellow stars’

Personafication – ‘buttercups have paved the earth’ … buttercups have been personified as having laid tiles

Onomatopoeia: e.g. 'swish'

Simile: e.g. "rain beats like bullets'

Nature By H.D Carberry

2011-08-25T00:18:00.006+08:00

H.D. CARBERRY

He doesn't have the best look

but his poem has been the

greatest inspiration to all :)

===================================================
When comes to poem, it is difficult for the students to
envisage the scenario in their mind. And it could be the primary reason
on why they dislike poem so much, oopsie. :p
Anyway, with little help from Mr. Google,
And with creativity juice, I have sorted out pictures
based on my own understanding ..hopefully,
the Nature poem will hold your hand
and leads you to its own world,
ready to embark? :)

===================================================

We have neither Summer nor Winter

Neither Autumn nor Spring

We have instead the days

When the gold sun shines on the lush green canefields-

Magnificently

The days when the rain beats like bullets on the roofs

And there is no sound but the swish of water in the gullies

And trees struggling in the high Jamaica winds,

Also there there are the days when leaves fade from off guango trees

And the reaped canefields lie bare and fallow to the sun.

But best of all there are the days when the mango and the logwood blossom

When the bushes are full of the sound of bees and the scent of honey,

When the tall grass sways and shivers to the slightest breath of air

When the buttercups have paved the earth with yellow stars

And beauty comes suddenly and the rains have gone.

===================================================

CONTENTS:

1. Analysis

Going to update few more aspects, Mocha break first, :)

Directed Writing - Speech

2011-05-17T08:19:00.000+08:00

Paper 1: Section A (35 marks)

How to ensure that you score full marks?

1. Greetings

In your introduction, it is important for you to write your greetings beforehand, eg. Good morning to the Principal of SMK ... Always remember, when you do your salutation, you should start from the highest position to the lowest, that's the protocol system.

2. Purpose of your speech/talk: topic of the day

In your introduction, you must mention the purpose of your speech or your topic of the day. Do give brief reason of your choice.

3. Points

You are given several points as your guideline. Before you start scrambling your thoughts on that piece of paper, why not brainstorm or do mind map first. I have always reminded the students to follow this easy steps: the 3E's, which stands for explain, example and elaborate. Moreover, you are highly recommended to add another two points as to increase your marks.

3E's: Explain, Example and Elaborate

4. Language

Grammar has always been the greatest concern. Most of the marks come from here, 20 marks. That's quite a lot isn't it.

3C's: Coherence, Connectors, and Clarity

GVO: Grammar, Vocabulary, Organisation

5. How many pages?

You don't have to write up to 2 pages because this is not continuous writing section; thus, just write about one page, and that's the reason why it is called as Directed Writing. One page should be okay, unless you have giant writing font, which require at least 2 pages.

6. Ending

Don't forget to end your speech with 'Thank you'. That's common sense, okay.

In the Midst of Hardship: by Latiff Mohidin - Analysis

2011-05-04T10:24:00.004+08:00

Reference: Tan, C. & Tan, R. (2011). Selected Poems, Short Stories and Drama: Form 4. Selangor: Pearson Longman

PARAPHRASE OF THE POEM

Stanza 1
The villagers returned home at daybreak and their clothes were torn and wet. They walked over to the stove. They had scratches on their hands and their legs were full of cuts. However, they did not knit their brows to show despair.

Stanza 2
The villagers had spent a whole day and night walking through the horrible floodwater. The water was full of broken twigs, pieces of tree barks and bloated animal carcasses. They had been desperately looking for their son's albino buffalo. However, they did not find it.

Stanza 3
The villagers had been born into a hard life and yet, they grew up without a sigh or complaint. Now, after that difficult day and night, they are laughing and exchanging jokes and preparing to relax with a smoke in the kitchen.

ELEMENTS OF THE POEM: LITERAL AND FIGURATIVE MEANING

Stanza 1

Literal Meaning:
The family returns home at daybreak, soaked to the skin. They have scratches and wounds on their hands and legs. They do not look depressed or disturbed after what they have just gone through.

Figurative Meaning:
As we journey through life, we may experience circumstances that are painful and challenging. Despite these challenges, we should not despair. We should face hardship with courage.

Stanza 2

Literal Meaning:
They have been out the whole day and night. They have trudged through the floodwater which is full of twigs, branches and dead animals. They are looking for their son's albino buffalo. However, they do not find it.

Figurative Meaning:
Our journey through life may be troubled, and we may face obstacles and tragic losses along the way.

Stanza 3

Literal Meaning:
Although they have been poor from birth and have experienced a lot of hardships, they have grown up without regrets. They are now relaxing in the kitchen, cracking jokes and preparing to have a smoke.

Figurative Meaning:
We may be born into a life of hardship, but that does not mean we should live in despair. We should learn how to cope with the difficulties we face, instead of dwelling too much on them. We should take them in our stride, with humour and a strong camaraderie with our family and friends.

THEMES
1. Life's hardships and stoicism in life
2. Accepting, with a positive outlook, circumstances that cannot be changed.

TONE
Sympathetic and emphatic tone, last stanza ends on humorous tone.

MOOD AND ATMOSPHERE
Mood: thoughtful and sombre, and changes to delightful moment at the end of the stanza.
Atmosphere: acceptance of one's fate.

POINT OF VIEW
Third person point of view: 'They'

IMAGERY
1.Soaky clothes torn
2.Limbs marked by scratches and their legs full of wounds
3. Horrendous floods
4. Bloated carcasses
5. Albino

SYMBOLS
1. Horrendous flood: obstacles of life
2. Bloated carcasses: death and decay
3. Albino buffalo: treasured and valued objects.

How to write better narrative essay?

2011-03-26T14:58:00.001+08:00

Writing a narrative essay is an essential talent for field research. Rather than summing things up for your reader, it presents your experience and allows them to draw their own conclusions. The narrative essay makes it point by subtly guiding the reader, rather than battering them the way a rhetorical essay would.

By observing these basic ideas, you can improve your narrative essay.

1. Clarity. Complex words and syntax are the hindrance to clarity and should be avoided. Ideas should be clearly distributed between sentences and paragraphs.

Example: Although I have never been to the races before, I was very excited to behold them, yet also somewhat nervous, because of the type of people who go there.

Improved: I'd never been to a horse race. I was excited to go, but also a little nervous, since I wasn't sure about the people at the track.

2. Don't describe each and every one of your own movements.

Example: As I went in the door, I turned and saw a TV. I looked around and saw posters on the wall. As I went further in I noticed everyone was watching M*A*S*H.

Improved: I immediately noticed the posters on the wall, though everyone else's eyes were focused on a TV playing M*A*S*H.

3. Avoid the second-person narrative. An important part of the narrative essay is the fact that the writer experienced the events described.

Example: As you go in the door, you will turn and see a TV. You look around and see posters on the wall. As you go further in you notice everyone is watching M*A*S*H.

Writing in the present tense is okay, however.

4. To interest the reader, dynamic word choice is key. Avoid sounding too clinical. Use the same slang, idiom, and turns of phrase you would use in speech. Avoid passive constructions.

Example: I am presented an array of unpleasant photos in which many casualties are shown after automobile accidents.

Improved: They showed me a book stuffed with gruesome pictures of people who'd been in car wrecks.

5. Limit reference. MLA format recommends including citations in the text, but in a narrative essay this is disruptive. If a work was helpful, cite it in a 'Works Consulted' list after the essay. Explain yourself as you go along, rather than trying to refer your reader back to a previous statement.

Example: When I first saw the comic book fans jumping up and down, I thought as they would, "Lord, what fools these mortals be" (Gaiman 1989.) I later learned why they do this.

Improved: The fans jump up and down. When I first saw this, I wondered what they were doing and my mind conjured a quote from Shakespeare that Neil Gaiman used in his "Sandman": "Lord, what fools these mortals be." However, I watched a bit longer and realized the company spokesmodels were throwing free merchandise. The fans wanted to get the most from their day at the convention.

The narrative essay is a keen rhetorical tool because it allows the readers to draw their own conclusions, but falling into the traps above deprive it of its effectiveness. By avoiding these errors, you can subtly guide your reader in your desired direction.

Written by: Sean

The Curse: Deja vu of the Past?

2011-01-23T00:34:00.008+08:00

The author, Lee Su Ann might have her own reason of choosing such title. Anyway, the recent publication of The Curse does have certain resemblance of the past event, which I purposely wrote as the curse of Deja vu. Beforehand, let's do quick check of the definition of 'Curse':

1. Curse - profane or obscene expression usually of surprise or anger; "expletives were deleted"

2. Curse - an appeal to some supernatural power to inflict evil on someone or some group

3. Curse - an evil spell

4. Curse - something causing misery or death

5. Curse - a severe affliction

Alright, let's take a free ride with me as we enter the realm of deja vu.

It is vital for us to know a little bit history of the legendary famous Mahsuri (Presently, the author uses the name of Madhuri instead of Mahsuri in her book 'The Curse'; nonetheless, both past and present have similar setting, which is Langkawi itself)

Mahsuri was a young woman who lived ins Langkawi, Malaysia either during the 14th or 19th century. According to folklore, she was accused of adultery and executed by stabbing. Her tomb, Makam Mahsuri, has become a tourist attraction on the island.

Mahsuri was the daughter of a Thai couple who moved from their native Phuket to the island of Langkawi in search of a better life. She was the most beautiful in all of Langkawi and married the warrior Wan Darus. As was required of him, her husband had to go to war, leaving Mahsuri behind to fend for herself. It was during this time that Mahsuri befriended a young man named Deraman. The village chief's wife was jealous of Mahsuri's beauty. She spread a rumour that Mahsuri was unfaithful and was having an affair with Deraman in the absence of Wan Darus. Eventually the rumours grew strong enough that the villagers openly accused her of adultery. Mahsuri pleaded her innocence, but no one believed her.

Mahsuri was to be tied to a tree (or pole) and stabbed to death but it didn't work. After every execution attempt failed, Mahsuri told them to kill her with her family's kris. When she was stabbed, white blood flowed from the wound, signifying her innocence. Some birds flew above her to cover her body. With her dying breath, Mahsuri cursed Langkawi to have seven generations of bad luck. The kingdom was soon taken over by Siam. The villagers at Padang Mat Sirat burned their own paddy fields rather than let them fall into the hands of the Siamese.

Many locals of Langkawi believe the legend to be true, citing the decades of failed crops that followed Mahsuri's death. Langkawi was also attacked by Siam numerous times, the last invasion taking place in 1821. The field which was torched by the farmers is still known as Beras Terbakar or "burnt rice". It is only at the end of the 20th century, after the seven generations have supposedly come to pass, that Langkawi began to prosper as a tourist destination. The descendants of Mahsuri continue to live in Phuket, Thailand, and have on occasion returned to Langkawi to visit her tomb.^[1] Among them was Sirintra Yayee (ศิรินทรา ยายี), also known as Wan Aishah Wan Nawawi, who came into the spotlight during her visit to Kedah in 2000.^[2]^[3]

Wan Aishah, one of the descendants

Hereby, it is obvious that both events either the past or present tell us the significant meaning of 'The Curse' where two characters named Mahsuri (the Legendary) and Madhuri (Fictitious Character) are both innocent and being murdered without any fair trial. The 'Curse' in general is to signify that a severe affliction will happen to someone/something as to prove that they are innocent and guiltless. That's how I foresee the situation before doing in-depth reading. I shall do my CSI-investigation as to find out whether both Mahsuri and Madhuri have any similarities in regards to aforementioned themes/issue.

Free Grammar Review Tool

2010-10-23T11:08:00.004+08:00

Free review of grammar check software. From the surface report, it is quite good enough to get at least some input on how it operates.

The scoring shows 34/100. No worry about the marks cuz even newspaper article shows lower marks too. Arggh, journalist can be WRONG too, but that's how writing style works.

Grammar Glossary

2010-10-23T10:29:00.000+08:00

Glossary of grammatical terms used in

English Grammar: Theory and Use

by Hilde Hasselgård, Stig Johansson, Per Lysvåg

active voice (aktiv): used about a verb phrase not marked for the passive voice. Typically (but not necessarily), the subject of an active verb phrase is the 'doer of an action'. Examples of sentences with verbs in the active voice: Sheila wrote a letter. Peter saw a reindeer. They have left. There is no morphological marker of the active voice.

adjectival (adjektivisk): having a function similar to an adjective, i.e. functioning as a modifier of a noun (within a noun phrase) or as subject or object predicative. The term is often used about subordinate clauses which function as postmodifiers (relative clauses and non-finite clauses), and about nouns when they function as premodifiers, as in train station. Examples of adjectival clauses: He dates a girl who is a model. They are showing a film starring Meryl Streep.

adjective (adjektiv): one of the lexical word classes. Adjectives are typically descriptive of a noun; they denote qualities, characteristics and properties of people, things and phenomena. Examples: red, dark, small, round, overwhelmed, certain, fantastic. Most adjectives can be compared for degree, and the forms are called positive, comparative and superlative, respectively. Examples: small – smaller – smallest; good – better– best; difficult– more difficult – most difficult.

adjective phrase (adjektivfrase): a phrase with an adjective as its head. An adjective can be intensified by an adverb (as in very good, extremely popular, more difficult), and complemented in various ways. Often an adjective is complemented by a clause, as in the adjective phrases glad to see you, sorry that you couldn't come, smaller than I expected. An adjective phrase can also have an adverb as apostmodifier, as in big enough. Adjective phrases function as modifiers of nouns or as predicatives.

adjunct ('forholdsadverbial'). A type of adverbial indicating the circumstances of the action. Adjuncts may be obligatory or optional. They express such relations as time, place, manner, reason, condition, i.e. they are answers to the questions where, when, how and why. E.g. He lives in

Brazil

(place adjunct). She was walking slowly (manner adjunct), since she was in no hurry (adjunct of reason).

adverb (adverb): one of the lexical word classes. Adverbs are a very heterogeneous word class. Many are derived from adjectives, and are therefore largely descriptive or evaluative, and typically end in -ly(e.g. greatly, slowly). These can generally be compared for degree, using more/most. Others refer to such things as time, place and reason (e.g. now, yesterday, here, everywhere, therefore), while yet others may express connections between sentences (linking adverbs, e.g. however, so, nevertheless). Adverbs function as intensifiers in adjective phrases or adverb phrases, or as adverbials.

adverbial (adverbial): syntactic function at clause level. Adverbials may be obligatory, though most of them are not. However, they can be added freely to any clause pattern. There are three main types:Adjuncts, conjuncts, and disjuncts. Adverbials can be realized by adverbs, adverb phrases, noun phrases, prepositional phrases, or subordinate clauses.

Open Composition: Fire

2010-10-15T00:24:00.001+08:00

My dearest students,

This is just a sample of open essay/composition. Do ensure that you READ it as to enable you to understand how it is written.
____________________________________________________________

Fire is one of our greatest tools and also one of our most destructive forces. So is it an enemy or a friend?

Fire has been around since creation. In fact, it appears that fire had a hand in creation itself. Therefore, man did not discover fire. It is believed that he discovered its use. Before he discovered its use, man was probably at its mercy. Fires started in nature, by lightning or by the sun, it must have terrified the early man. He did not use it to cook meat as early man ate raw meat. Then one day he discovered that fire, which burnt and hurt, could be useful. From that time, fire ceased to be an enemy and became man's best friend.

Today, we can hardly conceive a life without fire. It cooks our food, provides warmth and burns away rubbish. Fire plays a major part in our lives from birth till we are cremated. Since it has been discovered that food tastes much better and is healthier when cookked, cooking has evolved over the years. Now, there are countless dishes to prepare using fire.

Yet, this great friend can be a very dangerous enemy. In its natural state, fire can break out at any moment - usually through careless handling - causing devastating harm. Destruction of lives and property by fire is one of the, almost, daily disasters in the world. Not even the most developed countries are exempt from this. All anyone can do is take as many precautions as possible to fight it when it occurs. Frequently when fires break out, humans are helpless and great losses occur before the fires are brought under control.

Even in the wild, fire does not have to be a villain. Fire is actually vital to the survival of several species. It remove slow growing underbush, cleanses the forest floor of debris, opens it up to sunlight and nourishes the soil. Established trees have to compete with undergrowth for nutrients and space. Fire clears the weaker trees and returns health to the forest.

Clearing bush from the forest floor with low intensity flames helps prevent large damaging wildfires that spread out of control and completely destroy forests. Wildlands provide habitat to forest animals and birds.

Fire clears wildlands of heavy bush, leaving room for new grasses, herbs and regenerated shrubs that provide food and habitat for many wildlife species.

So fire is both a bosom friend and a deadly enemy. When it is kept under control, it is one of the greatest boons known to humanity. However, when it gets out of control or when used for destruction, it is a devastating force which leaves man completely helpless and even dead.

Fore also kills diseases and insects that prey on trees and provides valuable nutrients that enrich the soil More trees die each year from insect infestation and disease than from fire. Fire kills pests and keeps the forest healthy. Vegetation that is burnt by fire provides a rich source of nutrients that nourish remaining trees.

One another note, man too uses fire for destructive purposes. Most weapons are based on the principle of fire. This applies to simple devices like handguns, artillery pices of fire and nuclear bombs. The main destructive element in weapons or at least the trigger is fire based. In this case, it is not fire, which is a danger in itself but rather because it is used for destructive purposes. Uncontrolled fire which spreads and becomes big is a deadly enemy. It destroys properties, belongings and takes away lives.

Speaking English with 24 accents

2010-10-03T11:35:00.004+08:00

Crazy talented guy. How I wish I could do such variety of accents. Hope you guys could spend some time listening to his great accents. Enjoy the clip.

Fantabulous Cooking Lesson with my Junior Chefs

2010-09-28T18:34:00.001+08:00

I still keep this promise to myself when I was in Australia last June, I had done the cooking demonstration when I was at Winthrop Primary school. Back at home now, I promised to my Form 4 Waja kiddos, to have cooking class with them. The responses and anticipation seemed to be very good. I told them that they were going to prepare fried rice, and the RICE itself will be the foundation of this cooking challenge.

In this cooking challenge, I told them to create their own cuisine with their own unique signature dish and of course to prepare the recipe (ingredients and methods). The rationale of having this cooking lesson was to help them to write better in their descriptive essay. Allowing them to experience will provide more input and schemata when I would assign them to write the essay. Nonetheless, the reflection will come first, as usual.

Best Ingredients Preparation Award

Once again, thanks to Brenda A for her assistance as my photographer.

I told them that cooking is an art. A happy person makes better and yummy food.

Time for deliberation. Who won this cooking challenge?

1st Group: Junior Chef

Cuisine: Asta La Vesta Fried Rice

Best Fragrant and Taste Fried Rice Award

2nd Group: Chef 1

Cuisine: Fantabulous Fried Rice with Blackpepper Potatoes

Best Vege Side Dish Award

3rd Group: Cincai Bha

Cuisine: Nasi Goreng Cincai

Best Food Presentation Award

4th Group: Five-Stars Chefs

Cuisine: Chicken Chop Fried Rice

Best Meat Side Dish Award

5th Group: The Rockers

Cuisine: Nasi Goreng 1Malaysia

Best Spicy Fried Rice Award

This was the moment I was giving my food evaluation

Acting the role as a food judge

I would never forget this group of rockers and of course the others as well.

Hoping the rest was having a blast moment.

Doctor Review: Weak in Narrative Essay

2010-09-22T14:32:00.001+08:00

For today's review, the student asked me, "Sir, I have problems in doing elaboration aspect for my narrative essay. What should I do when I tend to lose out my ideas and focus?"

I know it is not easy to write perfect narrative essay which is capable enough to arouse the readers' experiences, nevertheless, through great effort and lots of reading activities, I'm pretty sure that the students can write better in the future.

Steps for Excellent Narrative Essay:

1. Do lots of grammar exercise, spend at least 2 hours daily.

2. Read all types of reading genres as to widen the schemata

3. Practise how to write better

4. Q and A session with the teacher.

Students: Doctor's full review, almost losing out my voice

2010-09-21T17:38:00.001+08:00

I envisaged myself as a 'doctor' today, giving my full review to my EST and English patients 'students'. I know that it is very rare for a teacher to give review to each student as to identify his or her problems for not scoring well in that subject, bah, time factor, would you waste your time to explain every single thing to the student, I guess I have done that. No turning back as I keep telling myself.

For my EST class, I have seen tremendous improvement, though it wasn't the best as I have expected. Rewarding them with extra mark somehow have lifted up their spirits to work harder. As for my English paper, I have to be a little bit like Napoleon, punishing them with lesser marks, with the hope that they would work harder. Just to give a shock on their sleeping soul. Indeed, English paper should not be viewed as trivial matter. It is VERY IMPORTANT. Whether they are known as bad apples, I guess I have to put my faith that miracles will happen to them. Now working my strategies to facilitate them.

Idioms help you to score better in your ESSAY

2010-08-17T22:25:00.004+08:00

Today, Kezia asked me "Sir, how do you actually use- Spare the rod, Spoil the child". Unfortunately, she didn't really manage to sprinkle such idiom in her continuous writing because she wasn't confident enough to use it. So, here's the definition:

Spare The Rod, Spoil the Child
This was a common phrase in the previous century, and still exists today. It refers to the practice of spanking your children in discipline; the phrase "spare the rod, spoil the child" means that if you don't punish your children when they do wrong, you'll spoil them. This comes from a Biblical proverb (Prov 13:24): "He who withholds his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him diligently."

Writing has never been that easy, I agree with that. Let me share with you ways to score excellent marks for your writing component. Several years ago, I started to advocate my students to integrate idioms into their writing. The trick is to impress the examiner; but of course holistically the whole essay should be generally good and balance, instead of merely placing the idioms without its purpose. Consequently, they scored flying colour results in their SPM examination. Cheers for that. Frankly speaking, getting the habit to write idioms with simple sentence will be the best foundation for novice writer, playing around with idioms certainly will be fun. Just by sharing 4-5 idioms in one lesson to the students, just imagine, how many idioms would they have learned in a month. That will be quite a lot.

For today, you are going to learn list of examples on relationship idioms.

English idioms that describe relationships.

Positive

get on like a house on fire = to get on really well with someone: "They get on like a house on fire."

have a soft spot for someone = to be very fond of someone: "She has a soft spot for her youngest child."

go back a long way = to know someone well for a long time: "Those two go back a long way. They were at primary school together."

be in with = to have favoured status with someone: "She's in with the management."

Negative

get off on the wrong foot with someone = to start off badly with someone: "She really got off on the wrong foot with her new boss."

keep someone at arm's length = to keep someone at a distance: "I'm keeping her at arm's length for the time being."

they're like cat and dog = to often argue with someone: "Those two are like cat and dog."

rub someone up the wrong way = to irritate someone: "She really rubs her sister up the wrong way."

be at loggerheads = to disagree strongly: "Charles and Henry are at loggerheads over the new policy."

sworn enemies = to hate someone: "Those two are sworn enemies."

Equality and inequality

bend over backwards for someone = do everything possible to help someone: "She bent over backwards for them when they first arrived in the town."

be at someone's beck and call = to always be ready to do what someone wants: "As the office junior, she was at his beck and call all day."

pull your weight = to do the right amount of work: "The kids always pull their weight around the house."

do your fair share = to do your share of the work: "He never does his fair share!"

take someone under your wing = to look after someone until they settle in: "He took her under his wing for her first month at work."

keep tabs on someone = to watch someone carefully to check what they are doing: "He's keeping tabs on the sales team at the moment."

wear the trousers = to be in control: "She wears the trousers in their relationship."

be under the thumb = to be controlled by someone else: "He really keeps her under the thumb."

How you communicate

get your wires crossed =to misunderstand someone because you think they are talking about something else: "I think I've got my wires crossed. Were you talking about car or personal insurance?"

get the wrong end of the stick = to misunderstand someone and understand the opposite of what they are saying: "You've got the wrong end of the stick. The fault was with the other driver, not with me."

be left in the dark = to be left without enough information: "We've been left in the dark over this project. We haven't been told how to do it."

talk at cross purposes = when two people don't understand each other because they are talking about two different things (but don't realise it): "We're talking at cross purposes here."

go round in circles = to say the same things over and again, so never resolving a problem: "We always end up going round in circles in these meetings."

leave things up in the air = to leave something undecided: "I hate leaving things up in the air."

Learn English with Steve Ford: Singular vs Plural

2010-08-16T20:04:00.002+08:00

Learn to speak English with Steve. Great video.

Teach Me Sir

2010-08-16T18:18:00.001+08:00

Teach Me, Sir? I can't!

Whether it is a joke or not, I have realised that the students have been told millions of times on the do's and don'ts on English Language learning (4 skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing). Hence, I believe it is right for me to make this blog as my 'sonnet' so that I would be able to know the effectiveness of my teaching, experience and so forth. Apart from that, I would also be delighted to share information what I have discovered throughout my teaching journey.

p/s I'm just a novice English teacher; thus, I expect courtesy and politeness in your beautiful comments.

Initially, I abhor the art of English for I'm the greatest fan of Maths Wizard; gradually, I found the right potion of Harry Potter, and consumed the whole bottle of Transition Potion, and I started to develop affection towards English Tea, lol...No more playing abacus :)