all-a-buzz over English proficiency, here's my say.

Believe it or not, I learnt English through TV. I seldom read books when I was a child (I know not a good example but bear with me for a bit.)

Now I have to say I am annoyed by the amount of dubbing done to English cartoons/movies/series. To me it is a plague. And with it from my own opinion and observation it acts as one of the reason why the quality of English language proficiency in Malaysia had dropped.  They now had dubbed Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Dora the Explorer, Diego, (in naming a few) and the worst part they started with SESAME STREET (why oh why?)

I used to remember when the only dubbed TV shows were Japanese drama/Japanese tokusatsu shows/arab series (I still vividly remember the one on Nabi Musa) and the only subbed TV series were the English movies/series on TV and during the age of 4-9 years old movies and series gain little attention from me.

So what else a boy would do? I watch cartoon. I remember during that time the cartoons were only in English and there were NO subtitles. None of it were subbed nor dubbed (YES NOT EVEN SESAME STREET), so there I was, watching what to others seemed like I’m just watching bright coloured moving figures on TV (most adults believed this) but little did they know, I was trying to understand what the cartoons were saying (no one noticed this until what happened next)

Obviously with great cartoon shows come cool toys. And naturally I (well, my dad) bought it.

(This part was re-narration from my mom’s story) 

So the moment the toys got out from the box, to my parents’ surprise, I began to play with the toys in English (My parents do not/NEVER speaks English neither to me nor between them)

So there I was playing and I remembered that I always make it a point to make my toy reenactment of the cartoon episode just like the episode that I watched. So I tried to make sure to play with the toys in English. Often I asked my mom or dad “mama ‘lari’ orang putih panggil apa?”(Mom, what is run in English?)  Or “abah, ‘sembunyi’ orang putih kata apa?” (Dad, what’s ‘hide’ in English?)  And the vocabulary kept growing and growing every time I play with those toys.

Then when movies and TV series began to get my attention (salute to 6million dollar man, bionic woman, manimal, A-Team etc.) I gained more vocabulary by listening to conversations on TV and reading the subtitles to understand the words that weren’t familiar to me then.

Now I’m not saying that it is a foolproof language learning strategy but at a certain level it works.

But my advice is this. Regain control over that astro remote. If your kids want to watch cartoons let them, but DO NOT let them to even touch the Dual Language button.  It’ll save you RM70/month worth of English tuition fees.

 -writer is an English teacher/lecturer and is also an editor for a certain muaythai magazine. 

The Spam that made my day LOL

i received an email from Capt. Steve Rogers.
Who? it's Cap'n America yo hahahahaha

left me wondering though, where did these guys get the idea? and to think people don't know who steve rogers is? (well for those who didn't follow the comic or the movie may not know him, but com'on the reboot one was only 1-2mths old!)

so anyway here's the whole text!
ahahahahahahahhahahahahahahha

from: Capt. Steve Rogers
subject: FOR YOU

With due respect,Pardon me for this letter. This is a genuine matter of utmost importance and immense mutual benefit which must be kept highly confidential.It is with genuine interest and trust that I have contacted you.I know you would be surprised to read from someone relatively unknown to you before now,I have a very desperate need for assistance and have summed up courage to contact you. I found your contact particulars in an address journal,My name is (Capt Steve Rogers),I am an American soldier, serving in the Military with the army's 3rd infantry division and I am seeking your kind assistance to move the sum of Twenty Five million United States dollars ($25,000,000 MILLIONS US DOLLARS ) to you , as far as I can be assured that my share will be safe in your care Until i complete my service here.

This was quite an illegal thing to do, but i tell you what! no compensation can make up For the risk we have taken with our lives in this hell hole, of which my closes friend Was killed by a road side bomb last time in the battle field.One Passionate appeal i will make to you is not to discuss this matter with anybody, should You have reasons to reject this offer, please and please destroy this message as any Leakage of this information will be too bad for the u.s. soldier's here in Iraq. I do Not know how long we will remain here; month of May was the deadliest month for us out Here.


Totally,we lost 127 men and i have been shot, wounded and survived two suicide Bomb attacks by the special grace of god.This and other reasons i will mention later Has prompted me to reach out for help. We plan on using diplomatic means to shipping the money out as military cargo, using diplomatic immunity.This is the reason for contacting you.Once the funds get to you,take your 30% out and keep our own 70%.The only thing we require from you is just for you to help us find a safe place where the funds can be sent to,because Iraq is a war zone. If you are interested get back for more details with the email below,I honestly want this matter to be resolved immediately:steve.rogers@shqiptar.eu



May god bless you and your family,Capt. Steve Rogers.

Me in a zine...and a poster too wohooo!!!!

hard work pays...

thanks boxxtomoi for the chance.

may this be the beginning of all the wonderful things in life Insyaallah.

The Next Muay Thai

i didn't take that much of action pics this time. i've gone artistic (so to speak) for the time being.

this time i focused on muay thai from its artistic facade. to me all martial arts forms has both its brutal and the artistic facade.

from my days in taekwondo i saw people bled too. just as these muay thai exponents did. i say kicks that broke jaw bones. let alone fingers, toes and legs. i saw those in taekwondo. but i wonder why is it there's such a double standard towards muay thai?

gearing up for another bout.

i am currently gearing up for the next muay thai bout tomorrow. to shoot it that is. its still a looong way to till i fight again

by the way there's going an impromptu photography exhibition featuring the past Z1 kedah royal cup.

http://www.boxxtomoi.com/2011/07/fight-card-17-18-july-z1-menara-alor.html

The Best Seat in The House(night 2)

Being this late is unforgivable. I know.
At the beginning of the week i was so slump with work.
Barely have time to catch a breath.

Night 2 was AMAZING. But not too many shots though.
Why? 1 pluralized sweet word.

KNOCK-OUTs baby!!!

Almost all the bouts didn't last to the final bout. It was a knockout galore, fights ended at round 1 mostly, few left standing.

 

The best seat in the house.

muay thai had caught my eye for as long as i remember. 

when i was young it was not so commercialized. no modern gyms then and there were the old kampung style gyms which for a town(not city) kid it was too far away. hence i join one of the more accessible martial art and coincidentally taekwondo has clubs in almost all the schools around town. 

later in my life i rekindled my interest for muay thai thanks to the birth of contender asia and tony jaa and his movies. 

then last year i learnt about this tournament here in Kedah. Last year i couldn't join it because i got something to do but this year i didn't want to let the chance fly by again. I got in touch with Mr. Musaddik from http://www.boxxtomoi.com/ asking him if i can tag along. And he said yes. One thing lead to another i landed myself a spot right at the corner of the ring. And here's some of my haul from night one.