"What day is today?"

Post 139 Language learning

When I was in the Chinese primary school in a small town in the 1950s, the first thing my Year 3 English teacher would do when he entered the class was to ritually ask us: “What day is today?” The class would then respond by saying “Today is Monday” or “Today is Friday.” To us his name was “What day is today?”

The environment for learning English in my hometown at that time was at best, very unsatisfactory. It is a totally different scenario now. The state-of-the-art digital technology has made language learning joyful for children through DVDs and other Audio-visual aids inventions. As a learner and speaker of the English language, I wish to convey my thoughts of the importance of English in Malaysia.

English played a vital role in nation-building. Malaysia is what it is today because of our forefathers' ability to use English to negotiate independence from the British, communicate with the international community, acquire knowledge and ideas to move ahead of other neighbouring countries, and attract foreign investments and tourists. However it is a pity that the same cannot be said of the present generation and students as the majority are struggling with English, both spoken and written. They simply lack the competence, confidence, fluency and skills in English. How are they going to lead, run and manage the affairs of the country in the globalised world? English is not to be deliberately denied and ignored. The sooner we know and acknowledge this fact, the better it is for us.

To be monolingual is like a one-eye Jack whose vision is narrow and limited.-Quote by Ho Nee Yong

10 April 2012