How I struggled to learn English and enjoyed every minute

The new post by Izaham on the advertisement posted in the most recent issue of Berita Kampus, has resurrected some of the fondest memories i had during my schooling days.
The first day i stepped on the ground of Sekolah Seri Puteri, Jalan Kolam Ayer, i was amazed with the kind of sophistication that most of my seniors carried with them, like it was their second skin. The jargon the teenagers would now use would be "glam". Yes, they were born with the style and flair which make them looked so good with the current hair styles and dressing. The same was in their mannerism and the way they talked. It was classy and demure at the same time.

The most noticeable thing was they spoke and told jokes in a smooth English language. This was my greatest envy because I, on the other hand, my English was not only broken, i spoke haltingly and every word was a pain, which needed to be thought of and every sentence composed in the mind before any words could be uttered. I was among the few who was fortunate enough to join the rank amidst all the daughters of the diplomats, heads of ministries, and other professionals. Some were lucky to have parents who were the school alumni. Most of my friends had English as their first language.

My first introduction to the English curriculum was the Cloze Test. we were streamed into the different classes based on the results of the cloze test. Surprisingly, i was put in the Set "A" class, albeit my marks were among rock bottom ones.

Then I was made to understand that each class will get its own library box and maintained a log book. In this box I was introduced to the Prisoner of Zenda, Anna Karenina, Wuthering Heights, Les Miserables, Pride and Prejudice, The Good Earth, Little House on the Prairie, Animal Farm, and had my first journey into the world of Jane Austen, Leo Tolstoy, Victor Hugo, George Orwell, Pearl S. Buck, Emily and Charlotte Bronte, and many other world-acclaimed writers.

Needless to say, my friends and I were crazy about the library box. You would always see us having a book handy, and I was seldom without a Danielle Steel or Sidney Sheldon in my bag. The books were my best companions while going through the rigorous boarding school highly disciplined upbringing.

The English curriculum also included aural exercises, this was another aspect of English language that was so foreign to me. In this class, you got to listen to songs and the teacher would pass the lyrics where you need to put in your answers in the blanks. There was also the regular 5 words a day where you needed to find out the meaning, used them in sentences and this needed to be passed up every week to the English class teacher.

The ultimate excitement would of course be the video/TV shows which were incorporated in the curriculum, i guess unofficially. This was like a treat to us. That era was famous of the alien "V" series, MacGyver, Fame, and the hype was so much over Duran Duran, AHA, and the latinos boys, The Menudo. We just went crazy over John Taylor, Nick Kershaw, Simon Le Bon and you have such names out of a figment of imagination written everywhere i.e Freida Le Bon, Nita Taylor, Shaz Kershaw, etc.

We had challenging times producing class drama out of famous English Literature e.g Alice in the Wonderland, Shakespeare's "As You Like It", "Romeo and Juliet"and "Lady MacBeth".
we had tremendous fun during the English Week when heavy fines were imposed at 10 cents a word for every Malay word used during the week. For Author's Week we were overjoyed with decorating the class to the theme of the selected author you picked out and the scenes you acted out of a chapter of their books.

That was how I learnt English, as how a language should be learned - in the class room, and out. I was among the English-handicapped, how I struggled to learn the language but thanks to my teachers, their dedication and spirit were what made me prevailed.

Bakiah: Often wonder how is the English language currently being taught? Does it still bring enjoyment to the learners? Do the students answer to the challenge and take pride when they succeed?