English Monthly 01

7/23/2019 English Monthly 01

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/english-monthly-01 1/4

1

ENGLISHMONTHLY

E X A M I N A T I O N E D I T I O N

I A U G U S T 2 0 1 4

I I S S U E 0 1

A WORD FROM THE EDITOR

Assalamualaikum.

The first (technically, second) proper edition of

English Monthly is ready to be read. Thanks to

our readers and especially to everyone who had

participated in our contest. Congratulations to

the winners! Don’t worry, your prizes will be

given in our first assembly following the

examination. And for those who did not win,

it’s okay, you can always try again.

In this edition, we are back with more

interviews, articles, word games, poems, riddlesand stories for your reading pleasure. So, we

hope that you will enjoy reading and continue

to take part in the contests and stand a chance

to win wonderful prizes! And even if you don’t,

at least it is still a good opportunity for you to

brush up your English.

So, we really pin our hopes on you to give us

your support and feedback so that English

Monthly will keep getting better and better.

p.s : Don’t miss our special announcement on page 4!

Thank you!

The Editor

Before examination:1. Wake up early in the morning.

Spend some time to dotahajjud.

2. Make brief notes or flash cardsduring the revision time. It willmake it easier for you to readbefore you s i t fo r theexamination.

3. Have a safe breakfast. Do noteat things that might give youstomach ache. Even better,

you can try fasting.4. Check all your stationeries thenight before. Make sure youhave everything at the ready.

5. Some students remember wellby drawing, others by reading

their notes aloud or readingwhile pacing up and down.Experiment and find a studystyle that suits you best.

During examination:

1. Recite the doa before youopen the question paper.

2. Read all the questions givencarefully before you startanswering.

3. Start answering the question

that you are most confidentabout. Do not worry aboutanswering the questions inorder.

4. Don!t spend too much time ona single question.

5. Whatever you do, do notsleep! Use your time wisely bychecking your answer.

After examination:

1. Give yourself a break. Findsomething to let your hairdown after the examination.

2. Don!t think too much about thepast paper. DON !T evercompare your answer with thenote. Just let it go.

Prepared by:Nur Addini & Ainnur Shafiqah

It’s that time of year again. Examination is in the air! And although some of us are already in the thick of it,it won’t hurt to go through some tips to help us get through it easier, inshaAllah.

ARTICLE OF THE MONTH

Here are the winners for English

Monthly’s July competitions:

Young author:

Upper form:

no contestant ( gasp! )

Lower Form:

Nur Iman Fariza bt Shamsul

(1AB)

Poetry:

Nur Syahira bt Mohd Bidu

(2IK)

Comic strip:

Nurul Hani bt Omar (1IK)

Each winner will receive one of the

cool pin badges you see on the right

as well as a modest sum of cash! On

top of that, winners of the young

author contest will also receive a book

worth up to RM60! So what are you

waiting for? Participate now and theseawesome prizes could be yours!

Submit your entry by September 15. All

entries must be handwritten and

original. Plagiarised content will be

rejected

English Monthly is

brought to you by:

The EM Committee:

• ! innur Sha " qa#

• $ ohd Noor Azrae%

• $ ursyid Anua&

• ' ur Addin%

• ' ur Aqilah Zawani



2

EM: Are there any secret behindyour English?Wan: Nope. It’s all in your head. Idon’t see English as a subject but I

see it as a language. It’s kind of like a part of me. It comes naturally, like gowith the flow. It’s just like talking inMalay, except it’s in English.

EM: It is not a secret that you spenta few years in America. Could youshare wi th us about yourexperience studying in America.Wan: My first 2 weeks in theirschool, I didn’t talk much. I onlyanswered yes, no and nod/shrug.Studying in America is way differentthan in Malaysia. The way the teacherteaches, the way the student learns.They’re different but similar. Butwhat I like the most is that the kids inUS love to go to school, includingme. This is because, we don’t look atschool as a place where you learn andthen you get tested; but we see schoolas a place where we get knowledge

by what we hear, do, watch, touchand see.

EM:How would you comparebetween studying English in

Malaysia an America.Wan: Obviously the difference is thatI didn’t learn English by translating itto Malay and understanding it.English is English and Malay is

Malay. When you tend to mix it up,you will create problems in yourunderstanding of the language. Thestudents in Malaysia, most of them

are actually not learning English, butthey’re just translating Malay word orsentences to English. That’s why theirgrammar all is wrong (semuanya

salah - get it?)

EM: What is your advice for thosewho are still struggling in theEnglish subject?

Wan: My Advice is: Read a lot ofEnglish books such as magazines,novels and articles. Watch televisionshows, movies and cartoons that arein English and DO NOT USESUBTITLES. Use English in yourcommunication such as with friend,family and actually yourself (in yourhead) P/S: You can always to talkwith me, I would gladly have aconversation with SMKAPian :)Finally, try to write anything (at leastonce a day) like hobby, holiday, andappetite. It doesn’t matter as long asyou like it. Just write whatever youwant

EM: Word has it that you are in theprocess of writing a novel, couldyou tell us a little bit about yournovel ?Wan: Well I haven’t started on it yet.I’m going to learn the techniquesfirst. But I’m probably going to trywrite children’s poems and probablysell them, Insyaallah. But the novelwould be an action/mystery type of

novel because I like to read actionand mystery books. And also fiction.

EM: Thank you for the interview.

When it comes to English, Wan Atirah Wan Jamaludin from 5 Al-Biruni is our current top student. We have asked

her to share the keys behind her mastery of the language as well as some helpful pointers for us to improve our

English. Read on and take note.

“ Read a lot of English books such

as magazines, novels and articles.

Watch television shows, movies and

cartoons that are in English and

DO NOT USE SUBTITLES.”

1. Mary’s father has 5 daughters – Nana, Nene, Nini, Nono.

What is the fifth daughters name?

2. In a one-story pink house, there was a pink person, a

pink cat, a pink fish, a pink computer, a pink chair, a pink

table, a pink telephone, a pink shower – everything waspink! What color were the stairs?

3. What is the longest word in the dictionary?

4. What occurs once in a minute, twice

in a moment and never in one thousand

years?

5. Take away my first letter, and I still

sound the same. Take away my last

letter, I still sound the same. Even take

away my letter in the middle, I will still

sound the same. I am a five letterword. What am I?

1 . I t ’ s M a r y 2 . T h e r e w e r e n ’ t a n y s t a i r s , 3 . S m i l e s , b e c a u s e t h e r e i s a m i l e b e t w e e n e a c h ‘ s ’ 4 . T h e l e t t e r M 5 . E M P T Y

ANSWERS:

Our God

He has ninety-nine names, And we remember it, He will help us,

If we ask him with “Doa”. If Superman is strong, He is The Strongest. He is watching us everyday, Until we are afraid to do something bad. If we make Him mad, He will punish us.

But he is reasonable, He loves us and we love him.

That is Allah for me,

That is Allah for us.

By : Nur Syahira binti Mohd Bidu 2 Ibnu Khaldun.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

riddle me thispoetry contest

( inne&


I A U

G U S T 2 0 1 4

I I S S U E 0 1

) on*s+



3


I A U

G U S T 2 0 1 4

I I S S U E 0 1

EM: Before we start our

conversation. Can you tell a

little but about yourself?

M r . S h a m s u l : M y n a m e i sMuhammad Shamsul Amin bin MD.Yusof and I was born in Kota Bharu,Kelantan. I started watching theworld on 26 May 1993. Now I’mstudying at University Malaya. BeforeI went to university, I was here since2006 until 2012.

EM: Okay! So, what are your

thoughts about English ?

Mr Shamsul: For me, English is a very vital language that every Malaysian

need to know. It’s important for us toset it as our second language as it isnowadays the dominant language inbusiness. But at the same time, wehave to never forget about our ownlanguage.

EM: What is your opinion about

student’s mindset of thinking

English as a killer subject ? Mr.Shamsul: English is not a killersubject but it is subject that ourschool’s students can score in theirexamination. In my opinionn, toimprove our English, we mustpractice writing.

EM: Do you have particular tip

to be an excellent student?

Mr.Shamsul : Yes. First of all, payattention in class, do not skip class.and finally, don’t play around. Do

revision instead.

EM: As an alumni here, what is

your advice for the current

generation of SMKAPians?

Mr. Shamsul : Now that I’m teaching,I started realising that some of thecurrent generation are rude to their

teachers. They don’t obey to theirteachers. As students, we have torespect our teachers and appreciatethat they are teaching us.

EM: What will you do after you

finish practical here?

Mr.Shamsul: Actually, I am just asubstitute teacher here. I’m stillstudying in UM. I also have my ownpublisher company that I’m workingfor. It’s called Legasi Oakheart whichis by youth writers for youth readers.

That is what I will do after I’vefinished here.

EM: We wish you all the best in

your future endeavour

Our second interview for this month is with our substitute teacher, Mr. Shamsul Amin. Mr. Shamsul was a student

of our school from 2006 until 2012. In his days, he was one of the best students and in fact, graduated his Pre-

University studies here as one of the country’s best! We did not waste the golden opportunity to ask him to share

his thoughts with the current generation of SMKAPians

• The Malaysian flag was

adopted on Sept

16,1963. The flag was

designed by Mohamed

Hamzah, a 29-year old

Public Works

Department architect in

Johor Baru who entered

a design competition

with two designs.

• Kuala Kangsar district

office is the site of the

last surviving rubber

tree from the original

batch H. N. Ridley

brought from London's

Kew Gardens in 1877.

• “Tun" is the most senior

federal title and there

can be no more than 25

living recipients at any

one time.

NATIONAL FACTS !

ALLAH DOES EXISTSubmitted by : Nur Iman Fariza Bt

Shamsul (1 Al-Biruni)

A man went to a barbershop to havehis haircut and his

beard trimmed. Asthe barber began towork, they began toh a v e a g o o dconversation. Theytalked about somany things andvarious topics.

When they eventually touched on thesubject of God, the barber said: “I don’t

believe that god exist”.

“Why do you say that?”. Asked thecustomer.

“Well, you just have to go out in thestreet to realize that God doesn’t exist.Tell me, if God exists, would there beso many poor people? Would there beabandoned children? If God existed,there would be neither suffering nor

pain. I can’t imagine a loving God whowould allow all of these things”.

The customer thought for a moment but didn’t respond because he didn’twant to start an argument.The barber

finished his job andthe customer left theshop. Just after he leftthe barber’s shop, he

saw a man in thestreet with a long,stringy, dirty hairand an untrimmed beard.He looked dirty an unkept.

The customer turned back and enteredthe barbershop again and he said to the

barber “You know what? Barbers donot exist ”.

“How can you say that ?’’. Asked thesurprised barber. “I am here, and I amthe barber. And I just worked on you! ’’.

“No!”, the customer exclaimed.“Barbers don’t exist because if they did,there would be no people with dirtylong hair and untrimmed beard, likethat man outside”.

“Ah! But barbers DO exist! Whathappen is people do not come to me’’.

“Exactly!”, affirmed the customer.

“That’s the point! God does exist! Whathappens is, people don’t go to Him anddo not look for Him! ’’.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

SHORT STORY

( inne&) on*s+



4


I A U G U S T 2 0 1 4

I I S S U E 0 1

1 . t h r a s h 2 . a m i a b l e 3 . w a i f 4 . c o l l o s a l 5 . r e f r a i n 6 . r e s p i r e 7 . m u r m u r 8 . s o g g y

9 . p u n y 1 0 . j u v e n i l e

Answer:

1 . Only two English words in current use end in , -gry- . .e/ are , angry- and , hungry- .

2 . More English words begin wi 0 0e le1 er , s- 0an wi 0 an/ o0er le1 er.

3 . .e word , uncopyrightable- is 0e longest English word i 2 3 ormal use 0at contains no le1 er more 0an once.

4 . .e fo4 owing sen*nce contains a4 26 le1 ers of 0e alphabet:,5e quick brown fox jumps over 0e lazy dog.- .is sen*nce i 6 of *n used 7 *st 8 pewri *rs or keyboards.

5 . .e word , Checkma*- in chess comes 9 om 0e Persian phras: ,;hah Mat - meaning ,0e king is helpless- .

word gamesCOMIC STRIP

( inne& STUCK

By : Nurul Hani bt Omar (1 IK)

I’ve been stuck here

for sixteen days...

When can I go home!!!!

You can’t go home until

you finish your work!!

english trivia

A C h i p O n Y o u r

ShoulderBeing upset for somethingthat happened in the past.: She still has a chip onher shoulder as she

r e m e m b e r e d h e rargument with he father.

• A Piece of Cake

A t a s k t h a t c a n b eaccomplished very easily.:The English examinationwas just a piece of cake.

• Twenty-four seven

All the time.: The cafe is open twentyfour seven so if you arehungry, you can get yourfood there.

ATTENTION!Want to start reading but don’t know where to start?Can’t find the right book? Too expensive to buy them?Or are you an avid reader looking for the next book toread? Fret no more!

Introducing

The EM Book Club aims to help fledgling readers bysuggesting suitable books while for the more advancedreaders who are looking for a particular book; give usthe title and we’ll try to find and buy it for you at thelowest price possible.

For further enquiries, kindly ask any of the EMcommittee members.

english expressions

) on*s+

Documents

English Monthly 01