We were plotted...

I would like to clarify few things before your do a further reading. I wrote this not with the intention to discredit my students ability to use English language nor do I want to humiliate them and neither did I mean any disrespect to their English teacher(lecturer).

Also, I hope it does not cross your mind that I think English language is much more better than Malay language. I am a Malay, so Malay language is my mother tongue and when I use Malay, I like to use a proper Malay language(well,plus certain states dialect but certainly not speaking in Malay with an omputih(i.e English) slang). Honestly, it irritates me to listen to people who does not speak English very well, but when they speak Malay, they sounds like they just got off a plane from UK or US. Ewwww!!! (Ella-ratu rock mesia tu salah satunya).

I spent few hours last week marking lab reports. Here are few phrases and sentences which caught my attention:
1-Hot water was pouring in the upper calorimeter.
2-The upper calorimeter is well filled with hot water.
3-All the ice is removing in the tube.
4-The difference in temperature was taking.

Goodness!!! I did wonder who is their English teacher. Of course I can't put the blame entirely on their English teacher . So,last two days when I had a chance to meet one of them for an oral test for the lab, I asked her about her 'English problem'. And her answer was 'she has forgotten most of what she had learned'. I was devastated. She has a chance to be in an environment where I could say 95% of her classes are in English. I have no problem to cut her some slack if she studies in a Malay medium environment. She has spent +/- two years at the matrics and complete her 2nd years for an undergraduate courses. I guess she just don't know or don't want to take the advantage.

I still remembered my freshman and sophomore years at PPP/ITM Shah Alam (where I was part of American Degree Program students-ADP2). Even though most of my lecturers were Malays, Chinese and Indians whom absolutely knows how to speak Malay, we still conversed in English. It just never occured to me to speak in Malay with them. But most of my students now, they just don't give a damn to practice their English. They'll use Malays even in the classroom. Whenever they have questions, they try not to ask during the lecture, they'll wait until the lecture ended, then they'll ask their questions. I will pretend not to understand whatever they were saying until they speak in English. Hehehe...

Hence I guess it's fair to them if I put 'NO ENGLISH, NO ENTRY' sign on the front door of my office huh?!