How did you pick up your language

MD: Farhana, when will you start be on leave for raya?

me: oh, i didnt take any early leave. Just the sunday after raya...

MD: don't you have to balik kampung or something?

me: of course.but its just nearby maaaa (blame the chinese working environment for the 'maaaa')

MD: where is it?

me: Pontian

MD: oic.that is so near.about 1 hour drive right?ur parents are there is it?

me: yeap. no, my granny is there. I stayed here with my parents.

MD: ouh. whose side is in pontian.

me: My dad. My mom is from Spore.

MD: Spore? No wonder....

me: Sorry....

MD: did you speak in English/Malay at home?

me: laugh. bits of both actually.

MD: I'm sure you've been thought well in English. I mean, no wonder you speak very well. Especially when you're in the middle of meeting, trying to stand your point.

me: erk...What did you mean by that??

MD: Didn't you realise, when you're tensed, you tend to speak, with accent. I find it amusing. Not many malays can speak with those accent you know.

me: ow really. I didnt realise that. I'm sorry. (apsal tah I nk apologize)

MD: Don't be. U see... I realize that many Malaysians can't converse well in English. Not just malays, chinese too... And now I know your mom is from Spore, that might be the reason why you can converse well

me: *diam jek.sengih2. dlm ati dh terpikir, ape pulak kaitan ngan mama from Spore???*

MD: U know, the education in Spore is in such high standards. and now Hishamuddin wanted to change back the school syllabus back to Malay. Why go backwards, right? and bla bla bla more on education and all

me: *still menyegih jek*

**MD = Managing Director (He's a S'porean PR-Permanent Resident)


well, maybe its true Spore punye education lebih high standard la kan...rasenye memang xdpt nk dinafikan. Tp Malaysia's wasn't that bad after all. It all depends on the individual itself la kn.Macam my dad and his brothers. diorg sume org kampung (pontian)...tp sume can converse well in English. What I know, they learned a lot from watching cartoons...

As for me, how do I pickup? Well, I must say, thanks to perasaan "kipas-susah-nk-mati" pada bands from barat esp, BackStreet Boys, Five, N*Sync, Spice Girls n etc..dulu memang rajin gile hapal lirik lagu2 diorg...mase tu sekolah rendah lagik...radio pon dgr stesen Spore...Perfect 10-98.7 fm....dh dok jb ni kn, influence dr spore tu mmg cpat sgt menular..

so skrg, kalo org tanye I, mcmne nk speak well, I must say "Rerajin la layan lagu English. Dr situ kite leh blaja how to pronounce well. Maybe ade certain lagu yg grammar nye tak btol. tp wat de heck kn. Asal ko leh sebut, kire dh ok la tuh. Words yg x paham, cpat2 cari kamus. Kalo malas, agak2 je la berdasarkan keseluruhan ayat."

Plus, sjak kecik, mama akan force me n kakak speak in English. kitorg mmg kuat gaduh dulu. so bile mama tgk 1 aritu kitorg asik gaduh, she will declare the day as "English day". If any words that came out of our mouth is in Malay, we have to pay her 10 cents per word.Gilo. Ridiculous kan charge your own daughter?? but well, I owe my mom big time.

Skang ni, I'm trying to brush up my Mandarin. dulu I g kindie cina...sjak dr situ, I mmg minat nk ckp cina...Org len dok tgk drama melayu, I bukak cenel spore, cenel 8, tgk drama diorg. I try not to depend on the subtitles. Dari situ lah, I pick up the language here and there. mase darjah 5, cuti ujung thn, my friends' parents dok anta anak diorg g english course, while ayah, anto i mandarin course. time tu i dgn khairiah je yg masih budak..yg len sume makcik2 yg nk cube something new katenye....khairiah lak sbb dia mmg skolah cina.nk UPSR thn dpannye kn, so nk blaja btol2 katenye. I pulak sbb saje2....

Mase tu i skolah convent. I mingled a lot with chinese friends. In my class, ade 6 org je dak melayu. so bile dh diorg dok cong ceng cong ceng, I pon blaja la memahaminye. Tp form 4, I pindah Teknik JB. thats when my interest and skill in mandarin berkurangan ari demi ari..

kt UM lg la...I x rapat pon ngan dak2 cina.ntah la.mungkin sbb dh lame sgt berkepit ngan melayu, i dh x reti nk get friend among chinese...

And now, I purposely chose a chinese working environment, saje nk lain dr yg lain. Ari2 I dok dgr lagu mandarin, thanks to my boss...she's been so supportive all this while. dia ngan my GM mmg nk I try to learn Mandarin as much as I can...So here I am, sgt in love dgn lagu2 SHE..