Welcome to my Blog...

Do you ever feel like breaking down?
Do you ever feel out of place?
Like somehow you just don't belong
And no one understands you

Do you ever want to run away?
Do you lock yourself in your room?
With the radio on turned up so loud
That no one hears you screaming...

To be hurt, to feel lost
To be left out in the dark
To be kicked when you're down
To feel like you've been pushed around
To be on the edge of breaking down
And no one's there to save you
No you don't know what it's like
Welcome to my life...

So friends, you are all most welcome to my humble-orange blog...
Feel free to access on my blog and share my knowledge and experiences.
Who knows, maybe it can soothe you from sadness and gloomy…
Therefore, feel free to put your comments on my blog, ok guys…
Enjoy da show and the fun will begins…

Once upon a time, I was a student of English Literature in my school (Convent School). I was picked up by my teacher to join the first batch of English Literature that time…He really want me to do English literature beside Malay literature that I was studying on that time…because I seem to refused his proposal, he made an effort to negotiate with my father in order to influenced me to do so… (memang beriya betul Sir tu…) Because it was my father requests, I made my decision to join the group because I trust my father the most… Believe it or not, there were only 5 Malay students in that class and the other half were Chinese and Indian. (We are the experiment batch actually)

That is how the word literature comes into my life… Then, it follows with my father’s (again) choice who wants me to join IIUM and taking English and Literature course… (again, pity me) Actually, it was my father who fills up the UPU form and made all the choices for me. Not, even my mother though. (she just agree with him) That’s why my siblings and some of my relatives said that I’m a father’s daughter, am I? God knows better…

However, after four years been ‘into linguistics and literatures’, it made me realize that actually this course goes well with me, Alhamdulillah… Therefore, I’ve to thank my teacher and my beloved father for ‘forcing’ me to this course.

Okay, as I endure this course, I think I prefer more on literature because in literature I can explores the world of beauties in words and the language… I love literature also because by learning it we have borderless of knowledge to dig up. For instance, you can learn about history, geography, science, society, politics, customs, and belief among others.

When I study English Literature, I’ve learned about Christianity, the people lifestyle in certain period such as Elizabethan era, Romanticism era, Victorian era and what not…Even though I kind of hate it for the first place, but as I explores the field, I feel the sweetness insides (chewah!)

I also love to interpret poetry…the most inspiring to my life is the poem by Robert Frost “The Road Not Taken” (I’m sure you also like it right Madam) I’ve learned this poem in my secondary school and I’m the one who recites it to class, hehe… (proud) Currently, I also adore the poems by Malaysian writer, Muhammad Haji. Salleh. It attracts me when I first read a poem by him which is about his daughter. He dedicates the poem to his new born daughter. I was touched by the words he chose and how he plays with the words in describing the WORLD to his daughter. It catches my attention (and makes me cry at last, sob…sob…) because the way he portrays the father-daughter relations similarly with me and my beloved father…

Last but not least, I also enjoy studying linguistics such as Phonetics and Phonologies, Sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics etc…Emm, not to forget, Linguistic Approach to Literature by Dr. Normala. For me, as I learned the course, it catches my interests because in that course we learn on how to interpret literature linguistically… As Aida said before “Once you get the hang of what Dr. Normala is saying, the class would definitely be a breeze for you all”. Finally, I thank GOD for sending me here to fulfilling my life with knowledge and plus the Islamic surroundings I must say, where can you find such a wonderful university like IIUM… Bliss, Bliss, Bliss…

Me and my Blog...

Okay, to begin with…
Firstly, I want to thank Dr. Rozina (our beloved Madam) for assigning us to do this blog. If not, I’m sure that I would not be bother to blogging or anything to do with blog things… Even thought I love to write diary, I never let myself to write on blog what thing that I wrote on my diary… For me, it seems like people will laugh or criticize me when they read it. I never have confident to do so, even until now… to speak the truth, I’m a secretive person who likes to keep secret inside and not letting anyone to know about it, unless the person I’ve trusts the most. For your information, this is one of the reflections of SCORPIO…

Next, I also want to thanks Liza for introducing me to Myspace blog. I like this blog despite the others because I can build my own template, which is obviously orange…hehehe…
Ops, not to forget Azrul or Bobab who also assist me with this and that about blogging matters…Thank you Bobab…

My Study Plan...

Title: Book Review

Teacher: Miss Yasmin Md. Yusof

Grade Level: Intermediate to Advance

Time: Approximately about 45 minutes to 60 minutes

Overview: Most English teachers have a variety of ways to help students write about novels they read. I use this pre-writing activity, along with others, to help students fulfill the writing component in a contract reading unit. Usually the students are on the intermediate and advance grade level and have fallen into the dismal habit of writing a book review which is an often times confusing re-telling of the entire story. This is an effort to help them identify and describe the bare bones of novel.

Objectives:

Students will be able to:
1.Write one sentence, using carefully chosen words, which describes the character, plot, setting, and mood of a novel.
2.Use, if they choose that one sentence as a spring board for additional writing about the novel.
3.Identify (during discussion) plot, setting, mood, character.

Activities and Procedures:
(The Students Have All Completed a Free Choice Novel)

1.I ask the students to think carefully about their novels and choose a word which describes the main character's age and sex (male or female) then choose one word which best describes the main character as a person.
2.The students choose two words which best describe another important character.
3.The students choose two words which describe the setting of the novel.
4.The students choose three words which best describe the mood of the story.
5.The students choose ten words which describe the sequence of events in the novel. (I encourage them to leave out articles and conjunctions.)
6.The students take the nineteen words they have chosen and ten additional free words and write one long sentence or two shorter sentences which are, in essence, all the "important stuff" about their novels.
7.The students read their sentences aloud.
8.They have at their disposal a sentence which may be awkward and crying for revision, but handles the main idea of their novels and is a good starting point for further writing about reading.

Evaluation: I find that an element of mystery helps this pre-writing activity get off the ground. I don't announce what will happen with the words the students are choosing, in fact, I avoid answering the obvious "why" questions. I name and define plot, setting, mood, and character as we choose words, which is generally review for most students. I do the exercise on the board along with the students using a book we have previously read as a class or one with which the students are familiar. When it is time for the students to write the sentence, I usually hear lots of moans and questions. I take the opportunity to circulate, and help the students as I also struggle with the word choices I have made on the board.

My Favaurite Language links:

1. http://www.english-to-go.com

This site provides ESL lessons to institutions, teachers and students around the world, for use either online or in hard copy formats. Their lessons are based on Reuter’s news stories.ETG’s products are more cost effective and efficient than any traditional publishing model.

We achieve this through our robust and scalable business model which is based around 4 key elements.

• A qualified contract labour resource pool of ESL teachers that produce our educational resources.
• A global base of geographic distributors who are connected with their markets and eager to take advantage of it.
• Centralized marketing functions which are localized by our distributors.
• Distribution via the Internet.

Therefore, this link is highly recommended for student from all levels and those who want to improve their skills - reading, writing, listening and speaking. It provides almost everything you want to know about English Language.


2. http://www.usingenglish.com/

UsingEnglish.com provides a large collection of ESL (English as a Second Language) resources for students, teachers, learners and academics. Browse our grammar glossary and references of irregular verbs, phrasal verbs and idioms, join our busy forums, read our articles, download our teacher handouts and printables, and find useful links and information on English. Topics cover the spectrum of ESL, EFL, ESOL, and EAP subject areas.

Blogging anyone...?

Blog is short for weblog. A weblog is a journal (or newsletter) that is frequently updated and intended for general public consumption. Blogs generally represent the personality of the author or the Web site. Blogs can promote critical and analytical thinking.

There are several benefits you can obtain from blogging, such as:

• Blogging can be a powerful promoter of creative, intuitive, and associational thinking.
• Blogs promote analogical thinking.
• Blogging is a powerful medium for increasing access and exposure to quality information.
• Blogging combines the best of private reflection and social interaction.

In addition, blogging also encourage me to think creatively and play with the language in order to reflect my idea. Next, blog can surely enhance language learning. This is because, as we all know that our blog will be viewed by others, and we will carefully construct sentences and alert with the errors before posting our blog. It is recommended to use simple and comprehensible language in order to make our blog more interactive and user friendly…

Synchronous Chat -CMC-(Citcat Melalui Computer)...

Synchronous or "real-time" communication can be accomplished either using special software programs for local area networks, using a variety of chat media such as Internet Relay Chat, Yahoo Messenger or Web chat programs.

The language used in computer-assisted discussion has been shown to be more lexically and syntactically complex than in face-to face discussion .This is likely due to the written nature of computer-mediated communication, which allows more planning time than oral communication and adopts more written syntactical features.

Next, it also improve passive speaker to take part in the chat room without being afraid of being condemned or shy to shout out face-to-face. It is also happens to a person like me who is kinda shy to speak up and it is the truth…when I started to be an active chatter after my S.P.M, it help me a lots in improving my English.

For whatever reasons, computer-mediated discussion seems to be a good vehicle for helping students to push their language to greater levels of complexity. Printed transcripts of computer-mediated discussions can also be used later for grammatical analysis or lessons.

For these reasons, many teachers also have found computer-assisted discussion advantageous on an occasional basis as a supplement to oral discussion. This is what have been exposed by Dr.Rozina in our class.(right Mdm...?)hehe..

Famous Quotes...

"Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other."

- John F. Kennedy

"What is written without effort is read without pleasure."

Samuel Johnson

"Truth is beautiful, without doubt; but so are lies."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when he discovers that someone else believes in him and is willing to trust him with his friendship."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it."

-Mark Twain

"The perfect human being is all human beings put together, it is a collective, it is all of us together that make perfection."

-Socrates-

"One who condones evils is just as guilty as the one who perpetrates it."

-Dr. Martin Luthor King Jr.

"Which dreams indeed are ambition, for the very substance of the ambitious is merely the shadow of a dream"

-William Shakespeare

"We know what we are, but not what we may be."

-William Shakespeare

"Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm"

-Abraham Lincoln

Inspirational...

Karma by Alicia Keys

Weren't you the one that said, that you don't want me anymore.

And how you need your space, and give the keys back to your door.

And how I cried and tried and tried to make you stay with me.

But still you said that love was gone, and that I had to leave.

Now you, talkin bout a family

Now you, sayin I complete your dream

Now you, sayin I'm your everything

You confusin me

What you say to me

Don't play with me

Don't play with me.

Cause what goes around, comes around.

What goes up, must come down.

Now who's cryin, desirin to come back to me

What goes around, comes around.

What goes up, must come down.

Now who's cryin, desirin to come back

I remember whenI was sittin home alone

Waitin for you

Til 3 o'clock in the morn

And when you came home, you'd always have some sorry excuse.

And explainin to me, like I'm just some kinda fool

I sacrifice the things I want to and do things for you

But when it's time to do for me, you never come through

Now you, wanna be a bond of me (eyyy)

Now you, have so much to say to me (heyy)

Now you, wanna make time for me

What you do to me.

You confusin me

Don't play with me

Don't play with me.

Cause what goes around, comes around.

What goes up, must come down.

Now who's cryin, desirin to come back to me

What goes around, comes around.

What goes up, must come down.

Now who's cryin, desirin to come back

I remember whenI was sittin home alone

Waitin for you

Til 3 o'clock in the morn

Night after night

Knowin sumthing goin on

Wasn't home befo me

You was,you was gone

Lord knows it wasn't easy, but believe me.

Never thought you'd be the one that would deceived me.

And never do wha u was supposed to do

No need to hose me fool, cause I'm ova you

Cause what goes around, comes around.

What goes up, must come down.

Now who's cryin, desirin to come back to me

What goes around, comes around.

What goes up, must come down.

Gotta stop tryin, to come back to me

What goes around, comes around.

What goes up, must come down.

It's called Karma baby.

And it goes around.

What goes around, comes around,

What goes up, must comes down,

Now who's cryin, desirin to come back to me