WHY SPEAKING INGGERIS LIKE THAT ONE?
But now only they know that kah? Now only we know it is important? Last time when ask us to do all in Melayu language why never say? But never mind. Now government want to make correct. Now maybe SPM also must pass English.
By MOHSIN ABDULLAH/MySinchew
I STARTED schooling in 1962 when as a Malay kid, you either go to a Malay school or an English one. My parents decided the latter. I thank them for that. I thank also the authorites for allowing such a situation. I am not claiming my English is impeccable as the result of my English education. In fact it's far from perfect. But at least I do not write like this one lah below. Thank God.
Now everyday I read the Inggeris papers to improve my Inggeris. Sorry. English. I also say sorry to you all because my English not so good. Broken. But when my school time, they all say we must speak and learn with the Malay language. Easy lah for me. My mother tongue what. Now everybody say Inggeris very important. Alamak always like that. English not the Inggeris. Sorry again. I read the paper now, the very the many people say why English is very the important one, English also can help breach or bridge (so confuse. Susah lah this English language) international barrier. Got the people who say even China banking on English.
But now only they know that kah? Now only we know it is important? Last time when ask us to do all in Melayu language why never say? But never mind. Now government want to make correct. Now maybe SPM also must pass English. I support the government. That why I agrees with the Pemuda UMNO who say retired teacher who good in English must take back. Also teacher from Britain, England, New Zealand and Australia, (I always confuse with Austria. Mat Salleh country also make confuse). Brings them here to teaching our school childrens.
I supports but must slow slow also. If do now, fast fast student mati. Cikgu also trouble. Many teacher also cannot speak the English also. So I think maybe can start with standard one students next year. Tahun satu. Then when they go year two can speak English already. So to makes them must pass the English in SPM ok. Fair what. They got time already. Maybe start from the kindergarten is also good.
For the rest student what to do. Like me lah. Just try the best to learns the English. Read the English paper everyday. Read the Star, the Sun, the NST. Got one more. The Malay Mail (again I confuse, mail and male). Anyway we must talk talk in the English with the people when we go walk walk, eat eat in town. Don't shy shy one. People laughing never mind.
But I also wants to laughing when I read one news in the newspaper. I read the Star.I write again what I read in the Star baru baru ini.
It is like this. I copy straight from the Star paper.
"In Muar, Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman said the state government supported the call for English to be made a compulsory pass subject for the SPM.
"He said although the state had protested against the teaching of Science and Mathmatics in English, the subject was important for Malaysians to master."
So if the Inggeris, sorry, English subject is important for Malaysians to master, why protest? That why I laughing.
(MOHSIN ABDULLAH is Editor-in-chief, News and Current Affairs, ntv7 & 8TV)
16 comments:
Pat, I seriously don't understand what's the fuss with learning English. As it is almost half of the Malay language is "adapted" from English. For instance, teknologi, komputer, bajet (budget), produk (product), ambisi (ambition), migrasi (migration) etc etc
So if a lot of English words can be borrowed and adapted into Malay, then what's the big deal of learning the words in English itself? I know its not that simple, considering grammar and all.
But it seems to me the problem here is the perspective and not the language itself.
And oh Pat, you may want to check this blog out:
http://nose4news.wordpress.com/2009/06/24/maths-and-science-to-be-taught-in-bahalish/
I wonder, since our English is supposed to have deteriorated so much, and given what you say: do you think that we don't understand what we're saying even in Malay now???!!!
No Pat, I am saying its more of a psychological barrier to learn English.
If English words can be learnt in Malay, then why not English words in English itself?
For example lets look at the whole affair of teaching Science and Mathematics in English. Both politicians and academics argue that very little progress has been made since Science and Mathematics were taught in English. They say not only did students fail to grasp English in the first place, but Science and Maths itself are lagging behind.
Now my point here is that if we were forced to learn Science and Mathematics in Malay (like in my days) e.g endokrin, arteri, kapilari, sin, kos, tangen etc. then why can't we learn them in the original English language?
That's why I am saying its more of a psychological barrier. The same words with the same meaning, albeit with a bit of difference in spelling, do not pose a threat to students, but learning them in English does?
Check out this article:
http://auyongminhao.blogspot.com/2008/12/english-or-malay-for-science-and.html
English should be used to teach all scientific subjects, not only there are more resources available but learning them in English makes it easier for further tertiary studies i.e. research, Phd's, etc.
Pat, I couldn't bring myself to finish reading the article because it irritated me too much. I think English proficiency is deteriorating worldwide, and people like us are a dying breed. My American friends, professionals all, write this way: "My ex-wife was an angle. I should of treated her better." Or, "My son wun a writting contest in school. He gets that from me!" (Wow, he did? Poor kid!) Shudder!
The younger generation of Brits are even sorrier. Go to YouTube and see what qualifies as English: "OMG! He is SO FITTTT! I lurve him! He is gawjus! He go's to my shcool! Its thru, I dont lied, he is in my sisters class' in Year 12!"
Nobody is even making an effort anymore. We seem to be fighting a losing battle here.
The solution, clearly, is to make Manglish the Official Language... den evlybody can unnerstand evlybody else mah!
P.S. Will email you a list of whom to slap the next time you get uptight, okay?
Naga,
My point was that we understand the English words that've crept into Malay; do those who speak only Malay do?
Your point about you having learnt stuff in Malay: It's not quite the same the other way around. It's not just about the students' ability to understand, it's also the teachers' ability to impart knowledge in a language that's alien to him/her, and as you say, with a 'psychological' barrier operating as well.
There is no easy solution to this. IMHO, it will be 20-years in the making, at the very least, to make a complete reversal of what it is now.
E,
You know, when I was young, I had a pen-pal in England. She was older than I was, and she'd just gotten married - so there was lots to talk about. We were pen-pals for about a year or so, until I grew up and away from the kind of mind she had.
Yennyways, her grammar and spelling were horrendous! And that's the native speaker for you!
Do you know that I cannot get a job - as an English teacher/lecturer - at a 'foreign' university here (that's say, from Britain or Australia), despite my Masters, because I am not a 'native speaker'? (And also because I am a UM grad lah!!! Hahahaha! Not very 'standard' for them lah!).
Thank you very much, I am glad that my English is much better than most native speakers. Yours, Antares', Naga's - heck, most of the people on my blogroll!!! We're all leaps and bounds better than them!
So, yes, English is deteriorating the world-over, BUT, here it is kinda mati-ing: the oldies are dying off, and the younger ones don't speaking anymore ;)
Darling Antares!
Yes, please to be sending the list. I vill be werry happpy to be slappping them h-all for you!
And Manglish rocks! My current favourite for someone who's staring at me funny: "See watt?? See watt??!!"
English as a language is changing and deteriorating all over the world. Some say that's how language develops, some say that's dumbing down in full sway.
Arguments that start with Malay being a borrower form English and then develops into the next stage of taking up English wholesale is shallow. All languages borrow from other languages. When Hebrew was revived to be the language of Israel, the Jews hadn't spoken Hebrew for so long that they had to look to Arabic big time to look for lost keys. English itself is, to an extent, like Malay, a language so cosmopolitan that it is, in itself, polyglot. Remember that Malay was once the language of trade in Southeast Asia and beyond. Read what Tomas Pires had to say.
This being uptight about English is not a failure to recognise its importance, but arises from the growing disregard for our National language. There are many forces at play here. The Star newspaper, for instance, while acting as cheer-leaders for the re-introduction of English, is also subtly urging Malaysians to learn another language. You do not have to be too politically sophisticated to understand the game here. Malaysia is a nation that needs a glue to hold it together. English cannot be that. It is the lingua franca of the world, and then we need to take other matters into consideration too. No one is saying that English should be sidelined. And, by the way, those Malay readers who come across English words in use in Malay text [what were they originally eh? Latin? Greek? Arabic? Chinese? Malay?] need no knowledge of English to understand them. All they have to do is look up a Malay dictionary. Languages borrow, as I said, and once borrowed, the words evolve within the terms of that language, and they seldom hold on to the original. Just look at those 'false friends' between English and French.
And by the way, many may have not noticed, but there is a growing movement among Malay speakers against this rampant borrowing. If anything, it reflects the laziness of people in Dewan Bahasa to understand the terms fully and originate a term. Many are up in arms against such neologisms as 'presinkt', 'seksyen' 'sentral' that have crept into the language lately (by this I mean in the last few decades). The French do this better, but then they still have le pullover.
I say this in all sincerity. I applaud the move to make us more literate in English. But then, how many Malaysians can say that they are literate even in their own language? And then there is always the question, what is the political agenda?
- Patrick Choy
Patrick,
Thank you for visiting, and leaving such a cogent comment :)
I agree that English is changing and deteriorating all over the world. I think that is the natural fate of all languages, a rise and fall, if you will - and after which, it either dies, or comes out fighting.
And while I grant that all languages borrow, my quarrel with Malay borrowings is that these seem to replace words that already exist. A recent example I gave
here was 'famili', when 'keluarga' works perfectly fine, and is understood by all.
I agree that there is a disregard for the National Language. It seems to me that this has always been so, perhaps some misguided notion that it is not 'good enough', perhaps by people who don't understand about languages.
Whenever I'm away from home, I find myself lapsing into Malay with my husband, and recently, with my daughter, in Canada. It's not so much the need to 'exclude' others, but a need to 'feel at home' - and that's what Malay does for me: it helps me bring a bit of the Malaysian sun to warm the distant shores ;)
You say 'But then, how many Malaysians can say that they are literate even in their own language?' For me, in my home, 'my own' language is English. And when I went to school, it became Malay. And I think I speak both better than 'reasonably well'. I speak no singhalese, or malayalee; my children speak neither of those, nor hokkien. Why would they need to?
A little anecdote: a girlfriend tells me that when she was in China, they didn't understand her Mandarin, forcefully shoved, and painstakingly learnt, when she was in school.
Larnee, my daughter, tells me that she met up with Chinese nationals who understood perfectly the very-basic Mandarin she'd learnt at the hands of a Chinese national in Canada.
Moral of the story: Language becomes flavoured with the colours of the place in which it is spoken (forgive the mixed metaphors). All that really matters is the need to understand each other, and be understood. If that's a given, all the rest is moot.
Hi Pat
About English deteriorating in many parts of the world, I decided I just had to tell you this. Some time last year (or maybe it was the year before last, my memory fails me), the New Zealand government, or some extension of it, was contemplating whether or not to allow 'txt language' to be used in examinations! The reason? "That's how people talk/speak/write these days."
Can you imagine an essay that starts with "If u dun thk dat u r gonna go 2 da parti.." ? I shudder at the mere thought of it!
Thankfully, the 'idea' was binned. Otherwise, I might actually have to invest in a 'new-age' dictionary to inform me of all the 'trendy new words of the txt world' that I never got a hang of.
Hahaha!
Thtz 2 funE!
Pat: What can we or anyone do about English?
I just feel that having had my entire education completely in English gave me an advantage in life.
I think that learning Mathematics and Science should be taught in English. The reasons are so very obvious. Unfortunately, the lack of able and qualified English-speaking teachers poses a great obstacle.
Those who have learnt Mathematics and Science in Bahasa Malaysia have only learnt the essence of the subject matter. However, in any other part of the world, they would have to do a speedy mental translation of all the words they learnt, that is, of course, if they already know the correct equivalent in English. Therein lies the chasm that many can't cross.
I see that many comments are about others not speaking or writing English better than us, especially those from a predominantly English speaking environment. I have to agree wholeheartedly with them.
Everywhere, I see errors that we are now becoming accustomed to overlooking. It's sad and it's a slippery slope. Too hard to climb back up, lah!
Hahaha! Just had to add the "lah" to make this less serious lest I be crucified for my comment.
:)
Hi Lita!
I won't let anyone crucify you on my little blog! There is always 'delete' ;)
But what you've said is true - and it is a slippery slope, all we're attempting with the English language.
Maths and Science should be understood. And it's not going to be understood if taught in English - simply because, as you say, we haven't got good English speakers who're also teachers. Add to that the fact that our students don't speak or understand English ....
If we take politics out of the equation, we can try to be rational about this. Teaching and learning a language takes time. If we're willing to put in the time, I think we'll make it out of this mess.
Thank you for letting me drag you here!
Hi Pat,
I hope you don't mind my calling you Pat. Somehow I picture you as a teacher that everyone likes to love.
Yes, our old system worked. We were conversant in both English and our National Language. Politics is now the stumbling block, and politicians – of whatever colour - are wood.
I appreciate your observation on otiose words in the Malay language. Trouble is there are too many pompous prats pretending to be upholders of the language. And they like to show off their learning by importing foreign words into whatever they write. And some of them work for the Dewan Bahasa! The remedy for this is not sneering but helping to make the language work. The press are too compliant vis a vis the wreckers and they even give them support. Look for instance, at our police. Not only are they corrupt, they are also corrupting the language. Just look at the way they rank themselves in Malay (konon). And when that last PM but one said we shouldn't use 'belanjawan' because it contains the word 'belanja' (and the government shouldn't be seen to be belanja-ing) the massed members of the mess [sic] media said not NO! But Amen! And so we have that stupid Mahatharism, the 'bajet'. Let's bring our 'belanjawan' back. But looking from there we find the trend of conversation to be: there are English words already in there, so let's all speak English-lah. It is easy to smell therein, a rat.
Ah well, I fail to see the point of your mixed metaphoring morality tale. So OK, clothes are basically to hide our nakedness, little green apples grow in Indianapolis in the summertime, books are for reading, words are merely speech, food is to satisfy your hunger, and everything else is moot. Reductiolah, sampai absurdum.
Kalau semua orang fikir begitu...habislah kita, Pat!
- Patrick Choy-
Ahhh, a fan of Harry Potter, eh?
Pat
Who? You're talking to me?
I hate the brat!
- Patrick Choy
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