My English Teachers

Being born in a small and quite an isolated kampong, kesedaran untuk berbahasa Inggeris di kalangan penduduk kampung di situ sangat2 tiada. Hmm.. boleh dikatakan kesedaran utk menyekolahkan anak pun masih tidak begitu jelas. The nearest school was 9,10 kms away. Well, we're talking about a kampong with no electricity supply or tarred road here, and that was back in the early 80s. Orang kampung waktu tu lebih gemar anak lelakinya tolong mengangkut baja di sawah atau anak perempuannya belajar memasak di dapur. So, my father have made a brilliant decision by moving to another place where education and school can be accessed properly.

Kehidupan bertambah baik selepas itu. Bagaimanapun, untuk membeli sebuah buku cerita bukanlah sesuatu yang mudah bagi orang seperti kami. It was considered a luxury to be able to buy a story book back then. Tetapi ayah akan tetap membelikan saya sebuah buku bahasa Inggeris dan setiap kali pulang dari bekerja, he would read the book for me. But then, he didnt feed me with the fish though. He had always asked me to look for the meaning of few words in the dictionary (not all) and would kept the story hanging by reading one page for one day. Only one page! Dahla satu page tu separuhnya adalah gambar semata-mata. Being a curious cat, lama-kelamaan saya sudah cekap membuka kamus sendiri. Kebiasaannya, ayah akan menggariskan beberapa patah perkataan pada setiap muka surat, yang bermaksud, setiap kali sebelum dia mula membacakan saya cerita pada muka surat tersebut, saya harus terlebih dahulu mendapatkan maksud perkataan-perkataan tersebut terlebih dahulu.
So, the next few days, saya dah cari siap2 maksud perkataan dan sebagai bonusnya, ayah akan menambahkan bilangan muka surat yang dibacakan setiap hari.
Later, he bought me more and more books with a better dictionary. He had to put up with my speed but since he was getting busier, saya mula beralih arah dengan menconteng buku2 rujukan bahasa Inggeris sepupu2 dan mak sedara. At 8 yrs old..I was 'helping' my cousins and aunts with their 1322 already! How do I know...hehe..

When I was in Standard 3, our English teacher,Mr AHK, was the well known scout teacher. Dia telah menerapkan unsur2 'tentera' dalam pengajarannya. Kalau ada maksud bahasa Inggeris yg ditanyakan, kami harus menjawab dengan cepat or else, semua orang akan bangun berdiri dan dia akan menyoal one by one, on the meaning of certain words. Tak boleh jawab? Guys- tarik sideburn. Girls- 'pulas' tengah belakang...Most of the time, since I got all the answers correct, saya akan ditauliahkan utk tarik sideburn atau pinch bebudak kat belakang. Waktu tu habisla sapa yang wat musuh dengan saya! hahaha...*evil* As for my friends, esp the boys, kadang tak sempat denda lagi dah pretend sakit..Huhu, tak real langsung. Pastu sekali saya tak dapat jawab soalan Mr AHK...hahaha, i thought he'd show some mercy kat his 'fav student' (*uweek, sila muntah) nih...takdernyerrrr... he pinched me at the back sampai terangkat kaki...menitis tau air mata....rasa cam tanak kawan dah..

Pastu darjah 6, cikgu Suhaily, our English teacher, was the one who encouraged me to actually read the dictionary. And that was one brilliant idea.

Form 1 to 3...disaster disaster. This English teacher, Mr Ong, got me and my friend 'ketuk-ketampi' for 200 times! No kidding! Malu dowh...Maluu satu hal, habis jer ketuk ketampi, we werent able to walk! Sewiously. Since it was the last period of the day, kedua2 kami tak dapat nak pegi makan..camner nak pegi, berdiri pun tak mampu!
And that punishment was for 'not buying' newspaper...Well, we had to buy newspaper everyday! That costed fortune for us as students, dan dahla kami stay asrama, kat mana nak g beli paper? Crazy! Selalunya my friend borrowed from the teacher's room, tapi hari tu the vendor was a bit late...
Personally, I think Mr Ong just loved to punish people. And me myself, I could never find how the ideas of reading newspaper can help yor English! The newspapers are full of unrelated jargons and nonsense slanga...Books are much better! Huhu... if I can turn back the time, I would've cheated the squatting...My English didnt improve much during that period. We're more into exam oriented studies. What a waste!

Then came Mrs Rahanim. Graduated from the Uk, she's got the pronunciation and the personality. She tried to get us to go for the 1119 for the SPM but we were so afraid to be the pioneer. I guessed she was a bit frustated...but then she persuaded us to sit for the exam, not for SPM...bolehla... huhu, credit jer.
We could've done better if she came earlier...gantikan that Mr Ong...oh no, other than the fact that he made me do the 200 ketuk-ketampi, he was good to me. Ungrateful me...

Argghhh...

English kat uni?
Huhu..tak membantu langsung! I was the only one in my class, dapat A, score 96 or 98%! The gap was like...over 20 marks? Biar betul.. Exam English kat uni, paling susah pun, setakat buat ayat "I go to school everyday..." dan translate ayat... Yang bestnya waktu translate ayat tu, it wasnt an English translation for me, but rather a Japanese examination, since I had to answer all in Japanese! Kahaha...Btw,rasanya takder budak Malaysia yang tak dapat A utk subjek English (di Jepun)..

Balik Mesia semula, I lost half of my English vocab and one third of my Malay vocab.
Waktu kat tempat kija, tersekat2 and tersasul2 nak sebut satu2 perkataan...lupa arr.. Kengkadang tu kawan2 kt office gelak2 jer tengok kepelikan my language...Pernah during my lunch time, I've tried to order something in the cafe..

Me: Pakcik, nak ais kosong satu.
Pakcik: Ok
Me: Tapi tanak ais!
Pakcik: Bolehh..
Me: Pastu saya nak suam sikit...sikiiiiittt jer
Pakcik:....
Me: Kiranya macam tak panas langsung
Kawan2 dah start gelak dah...
Kengkawan: Tu air kosong la tuh..
Me: Owh..

Kt UIA, I've met few friends yang English diorang memang superb. Flawless! Ada yang macam kamus bergerak lagi. And my roommate, was a world debater! They were my teachers. Special thanks to R, the only human at that time yang faham my Malay without having them retranslated...Kadang2 tak perlu habiskan ayat pun dia dah faham... (We kinda concluded that Japanese grammar was a bit similar to Sarawak's...hehe, suka2 hati jerr)

This entry is meant as a tribute to my English teachers, directly or indirectly. Though my English is far from perfect, I am not giving up. And I would not. Learning English is neither easy nor difficult. All you need is a good teacher and some good books. I am blessed, my father was my best teacher!