dont learn english the japanese way
Thursday 7 February 2008
geezz..since its exam`s week, i told myself to turn away from FJ, but its juz like there`s some special bond between us that i`d feel uneasy without her.you can say that i`m addicted to FJ, but i juz can`t help it.maybe it is because that she has been my most loyal companion since I came here.=)
today was my 2nd day of exam.i had only 1 paper today, english.maybe ok la kot but the questions this time were quite difficult than those previous ones.it wasn`t because of difficult words or sentences or even idioms, it was juz that, how should i say it,mm...if you dont know japanese, you cannnot answer lah.imagine if you were asked to translate english sentences in the paragraph into japanese.though ive been here almost a year, there are still limits in my japanese vocabulary.and there`s another question where they give a passage, for example about manners at dinner table.and the instruction for that question sounds like this:
Give the improper manners at dinner table in details.Please answer in Japanese.
but of all the the questions, the most ridiculous one is when they give you a passage like this:
To understand American culture, it is.................
.......to describe the same thing.Consider the sandwich.There is special kind of sandwich that is made with French bread.It contains a lot of meat, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and onions.To order this is New England, you must say "_____".To order the same in New York, you have to say "_____".To get it in Pennsylvannia, you would use the word "______".And if you you want to eat in New Orleans, you would have to say "po`boy".No matter what you say, though, it always tastes good.
and the ques. was: fill in the blanks with the appropriate words from below.
a. hoagy b. hero c. grinder
why i felt it was ridiculous is that it requires you to remember the passage learned in class in order to answer the question.(the ques. asked in the exam are all exactly the same as in the textbook used in class).i didn`t expect this kind of question would come out, so i was quite x puas hati when i saw this kind of questions.and did i tell you that all the instructions are in japanese?even the class is fully conducted in japanese!in class, i can say its lucky if you were asked to read a sentence or answer the questions by the teacher as it is maybe your only english sentence or word in two weeks!no wonder why japanese people cant improve their english.and that`s why there`s so few japanese who can speak english.(to anyone who is travelling to japan, i advice you to look for someone you know in japan, a friend for example, who can speak japanese to be with you during your travel.if not, you would have problems communicating with the locals here.especially for muslims, when it comes to searching for edible food.)
as for me right now, my english is deteriorating bit by bit.now i can`t speak english as fluent as before.i am not saying that my english was fluent, but it was better 2 or 3 years ago compare to now.and for essays, i don`t think that i can write them anymore.that`s why, for the sake of not losing my writing skill completely, i am writing my blog in english.so pliz juz ignore it whenever you spot any mistakes here k.actually i`m quite jealous with my friends going to uk, america, even those studying in malaysia coz i believe their english now is far far way better than me.but i dont regret my choice to study here.to me, i believe there`s reason in everything, or in a more familiar words, `ada hikmah di sebaliknya`.maybe i`m not gonna as good as my other friends in english, but i got the chance to learn a new language.maybe from my own view, i`d say that my friends are lucky, but maybe from my friends view, they`d say that i`m lucky.Allah is fair right?
hmm...its already 8.got to get myself to study now.tomorrow i got mechanical drawing and another english paper.yup, this english paper is juz like the one today, giving out questions exactly from the text book but this time, they won`t be any translation questions coz the lecturer is so baik.=)
k,gtg now.see you later..
wish me luck!!
Not surprised to see questions like that came out in your english paper. That is just the way how the Japanese conduct their English lessons. It is not only your English is deteriorating (I couldn't even spell this word) as I believe almost every one of us is in the same situation.
Anyway, all the best in your upcoming papers ^.-
ya lor ho..
but urayamashi la, u`ve finished urs.
huhu..
ya, almost forgot.hepi cninese new year!sory a bit late.
n thx!
gimme five! one of our reasons blogging is to make sure our english not deteriorating (thas d toughest word i ever typed) in japan..i still cant imagine d situation, because i only have english starting next year..but what i heard from sempai n u guys, i dont think its something that im looking foward to
thanks a lot. selamat tahun tikus to you too ^.^
and yes, my main intention to start a blog was to make sure i don't lose out much on my english. it seems to be working well so far, at least :)
funny eh when english is being taught like that...i cant think of any way they can improve their english thru that mode of teaching..but mate, guess wat, still i envy u ppl for being able travelling abroad,experiencing different lifestyle..n it is really cool..where on earth can u get this kind of chance of staying in another country when everything is being paid by the other party.who cares wether ur english is getting rotten or x..u can always improve it later...piece of cake meyh..u read a lot, u talk a lot...not even a year u can master it back...u oready have strong foundation wut...its just the matter of polishing it ...like me here, everyday speaks english..got x chance learning other language meyh.. which i believe will be ur great advantage later of the day....so have fun dude!!...
thx!hehe..but still, quite tkut la..tkut time blt msia lak sush ku mk interview keja..huhu..but neway, everythg got hikmah right?hehe..hey,u hv fun too!!dont tension2 lagik k?