ENGLISH IDIOMS & IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS ALPHABETICAL LISTS

Just click at the alphabet which u want

Alphabetical Index A - Z
A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I - J	K
L	M	N	O	P	Q-R	S	T	U-V	W-Z

Perak trial exam-The pearl (novel)

The Trial Exam question on The Pearl was:
Describe an important event
Give reasons why you choose the event

Outline:

There are two parts to the task given. First, to describe an important event and second, give reasons why you chose that event as the most important.

Example:
Important event - when Kino found the greatest pearl
(Describe this event, not mere mention of the event)
Reasons: give at least two reasons.
The most important event is when Kino found the greatest pearl of the world. He had felt very dejected and angry toward the doctor who refused to treat his son, Coyotito because he did not have money. So, early in the morning, he had set out for the sea with Juana, with much hope. He dived into the sea and as he was young, he could remain underwater a long time. Suddenly, he spotted a very large oyster and got a glimpse of a shiny object within. He opened the smaller oysters first and found nothing. Then, he opened the large oyster and there, he found, a large pearl, as big as a seagull's egg, perfect as the moon. Kino gave a loud scream, overcome with emotion.
I chose this event as the most important event because the finding of the pearl triggered many other events. This event was the start of all of Kino's troubles and finally, he would lose his son while trying to protect the pearl from the trackers.

Besides, this event also revealed the true character of Kino, who became very stubborn and refused to let go of the pearl even though he was warned repeatedly by Juana that the pearl was evil. Juan Tomas, also warned him about going against the system.
Finally, this event revealed the greed of the many people of La Paz. Immediately after he found the pearl, Kino had a visit from the priest who hoped to get some donation from him. Then, the doctor came to visit, frightening Kino to allow him to treat Coyotito who by then had become well again. He even offered to keep the pearl for Kino. Even the pearl buyers also collaborated to cheat Kino.

Comments: This answer fulfills the task set. The event is described in detail and three reasons given. Many students just described the event without giving reasons, or some just mention the event and citing many reasons. Marks will be deducted for that.
Posted by Jen's corner at 3:01 AM 2 comments
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
The Pearl
The Pearl

When answering the essay question for the novel, always give three points with elaboration. For example, if you are asked to write about the character you dislike and give reasons to support your answer. Your rough plan would look like the notes I have made below:

1. Character you dislike
The doctor
Reasons:
1. he oppressed the poor and uneducated. he was of a race which for nearly four hundred years had bullied and despised Kino’s race
- when Kino came to ask him to treat his son who had been stung by a scorpion, he said, “Have I nothing better to do than to cure insect bites for little Indians. I am a doctor, not a veterinary.” Here, he implied that Kino’s race are animals.
- Demanded money before he wanted to treat Kino’s baby – turned it down when he saw only eight ugly misshapen pearls.
2. greedy- demanded moneywhen he heard that Kino had found the Pearl of the World, he claimed that Kino was his client. He also thought of Paris,his mistress and all the pleasures he would enjoy. He plotted to get the pearl. He visited Kino….
- frightened Kino into letting him treat Coyotito who was already better by telling him that the sting would suddenly become worse and sometimes there will be a withered leg or a blind eye
- Gave a capsule of white powder which made Coyotito sick and came back an hour later and gave him three drops of ammonia……demanded payment. Tried to read Kino’s eyes to see where he was hiding the pearl.
3. cruel – caused Coyotito to be sick for the sake of getting the pearl and he also conducted clumsy abortions, causing many to die. Also an ignorant doctor and a glutton, villagers refer to him as a fat lazy doctor.


Another question to try.

Do you like the ending of the story. Describe the ending of the story and state your reasons.

Describe the ending : Kino killed all the trackers cold-bloodedly but in the process, Coyotito was shot. The tracker thought that the baby’s cry was a coyote and he shot at the direction of the cry. At the same time, Kino attacked him and killed them all. He returned sadly with Juana to the village and he threw the pearl away.

I like the ending
Because
1 Kino has learnt his lesson – finaly he had to let the pearl go because it had caused him to lose his son even tho he had said that the pearl had become his soul – repeatedly warned by Juana that his pearl is evil but he refused to listen.
2 Good triumph over evil – all manner of people grew interested in the pearl but no one could get hold of it in the end, not the pearl buyers, the doctor, the attackers and the trackers.
3 There was a closure for Kino as he had to throw the pearl back into the sea himself – signifying the end of his pursuit and his dream.

Dislike the ending because:

1. Coyotito died in the fighting – he was innocent but he was killed…..(describe the fight)
2. Kino did not succeed in improving his life and he had lost everything- his house which was burnt down, his canoe – the source of his income was destroyed and finally, he lost his only son.
3. no mention about what became of the doctor – got away with his cruelty….(had done so much harm but nothing happened to him)

sumber : http://spmenglish1119.blogspot.com/

-Guide for writting essay-

Writing Essays Booket

Important Vocab: Eriksen Translations

Kosakata berikut diambil dari bacaan mengenai Eriksen Translations:

accurate (adj) : akurat, teliti

apply (v) : menerapkan

become (v) : menjadi

blunder (n) : kesalahan besar

certainly (adv) : tentu saja

communicate (v) : berkomunikasi

comprehensive (adj) : meliputi banyak hal, menyeluruh

consist of (v) : terdiri dari

culture (n) : kultur, budaya

customer (n) : pelanggan

difficult (adj) : sulit, sukar

environment (n) : lingkungan

excellent (adj) : sangat baik

expert (n) : ahli, pakar

field (n) : lapangan, bidang

find (v) : menemukan

guarantee (v) : menjamin

impact (n) : dampak

important (adj) : penting

language (n) : bahasa

life(n) : kehidupan

master (v) : menguasai

natural (adj) : natural, alami, wajar

need (v) : membutuhkan

nowadays (adv) : dewasa ini

occur (v) : terjadi

offer (v) : menawarkan

priority (n) : prioritas

provide (v) : menyediakan

quality (n) : kualitas, mutu

reach (v) : mencapai

really (adv) : benar-benar

result (n) : hasil

role (n) : peranan

service (n) : jasa, pelayanan

sound (v) : kedengaran

therefore (conj) : oleh karena itu

translation (n) : terjemahan

value (n) : nilai

various (adj) : berbagai

Important Vocab: Auto Loans

Daftar kosakata berikut diambil dari bacaan mengenai Auto Loans.

amount (n) : jumlah

approve (v) : menyetujui

current (adj) : saat ini

damage (n) : kerusakan

debt (n) : hutang

establish (v) : mendirikan

existence (n) : eksistensi, keberadaan

finance (v) : membiayai

further (adj) : lebih lanjut

installment (n) : cicilan

kind (n) : jenis

lend (v) : meminjamkan

lender (n) : orang yang memberikan pinjaman

loan (n) : pinjaman

obtain (v) : memperoleh, mendapatkan

provide (v) : menyediakan, memberikan

purchase (v) : membeli

repair (v) : memperbaiki, mereparasi

replace (v) : menggantikan

type (n) : jenis, tipe

undergo (v) : mengalami

useful (adj) : berguna

vehicle (n) : kendaraan

visit (v) : mengunjungi

Developing your writing skill in English: The beginning 01

From Fokus SPM magazine, 'Living English with Teech Airil', May 2008
by Airil Haimi Adnan @ Teech Airil

Bulan lepas ruangan ini membincangkan cara untuk menambah kemahiran membaca anda dalam Bahasa Inggeris. Bulan ini fokus kita adalah kemahiran menulis pula. Memang sukar untuk belajar menulis dalam suatu bahasa baru tetapi anda perlu belajar agar hasil tulisan anda nanti akan dapat difahami oleh orang lain dan juga mempunyai daya tarikan yang boleh membantu anda mendapat markah tinggi di dalam ujian serta peperiksaan…

Whenever I mention writing to my students, they will always moan and groan and pull a long face. Let’s face the fact – writing is not easy and not everyone can become a good writer in the English language.

Is this true? NOT NECESSARILY! Even though not all of us can become excellent writers like William Shakespeare or John Grisham, ALL of us can learn how to write using good grammar and with good creativity.

One of the biggest problem for Malaysian students in terms of writing in English is that they are only good in one area at a time. So for example, your English grammar is okay but your essay lacks imagination and so it fails to get the high grade that you want.

Some students have a bigger problem when they write in English because their grammar is very bad and they do not know what to write whenever they are asked to do so!

Let me share with you some basic tips on writing in the English language. First, you might like to use a combination of passive and active sentences in your composition. For example, you can write ‘When I arrived at the farm the animals were being slaughtered, so I watched the butchers for a while because I was curious.’

Second, when you start writing choose to write using single syllable words that are used to simplify sentences. They are therefore considered easy vocabulary in contrast with multi-syllable words. For example, write ‘We often visit the museum’ as opposed to ‘We often go and visit the museum’.

Third, when you start to become confident you might like to use certain well known phrases in your writing. The best place to start is in your English dictionary BUT do be careful, if you are not sure of the phrase or word, do not use it as you are bound to write something meaningless or even wrong.

I would also like to suggest you to start a Personal Vocabulary Book (PVB) when you start to learn to write in English.

To start one is easy, just get an empty notebook and then set yourself a daily or weekly quota – three new words per day or ten new English words per week, is a good start. What you need to do is to read lots of English stuff and whenever you find a new word you do not understand, jot it down in your PVB.

Next, find the meaning of the word in context (as used in the English material that you were reading), and finally use the new word to make a new sentence based on your own creativitiy.If you feel that you need help, try to approach your English teacher in school or your tuition tutor and ask her or him to check if your new sentences are correctly written.

You will notice that your vocabulary will slowly increase and you are now able to write more creatively than before. In time, your writing skill as a whole will improve as you continue reading new English materials and to develop your personal vocabulary.

The final point I want to share with you this month is the importance of writing in different genres. A genre basically means type of writing, for example short story, poem, magazine article, informal letter and more.

To become a GELL, you must practice writing in different modes and style. For example, you might want to train yourself to write better emails in English. At the same time, may be you want to try to write articles for your school magazine.

In addition, if you like English literature, why not practice writing some short poems that you can easily share with your friends in school or upload them to your personal website for the whole world to read?

Whatever you choose, just remember writing IS NOT boring and difficult. With the proper approach (and lots of practice) it is the best way for you to express yourself in the English language!

This is the original unedited version of the article that appeared in the magazine, please refer to the MAY edition of FOKUS SPM for the updated copy - Ed.

The Pearl John Steinbeck ++Notes++

Character List

Kino - The protagonist of the novella. Kino is a dignified, hardworking, impoverished native who works as a pearl diver. He is simple man who lives in a brush house with his wife, Juana, and their infant son, Coyotito, both of whom he loves very much. After Kino finds a great pearl, he becomes increasingly ambitious and desperate in his mission to break free of the oppression of his colonial society. Ultimately, Kino's material ambition drives him to a state of animalistic violence, and his life is reduced to a basic fight for survival.
Kino (In-Depth Analysis)

Juana - Kino's young wife. After her prayers for good fortune in the form of a giant pearl are answered, Juana slowly becomes convinced that the pearl is in fact an agent of evil. Juana possesses a simple faith in divine powers, but she also thinks for herself. Unfortunately for her and her child, Coyotito, she subjects her desires to those of her dominant husband and allows Kino to hold on to the pearl.
Juana (In-Depth Analysis)

Coyotito - Kino and Juana's only son, who is stung by a scorpion while resting in a hammock one morning. Because Coyotito is an infant, he is helpless to improve his situation and thus at the mercy of those who provide for him. Kino and Juana's efforts to save him by finding a big pearl with which they can pay a doctor prove to do more harm than good.

Juan Tomás - Kino's older brother. Deeply loyal to his family, Juan Tomás supports Kino in all of his endeavors but warns him of the dangers involved in possessing such a valuable pearl. He is sympathetic to Kino and Juana, however, putting them up when they need to hide and telling no one of their whereabouts.

Apolonia - Juan Tomás's wife and the mother of four children. Like her husband, Apolonia is sympathetic to Kino and Juana's plight, and she agrees to give them shelter in their time of need.

The doctor - A small-time colonial who dreams of returning to a bourgeois European lifestyle. The doctor initially refuses to treat Coyotito but changes his mind after learning that Kino has found a great pearl. He represents the arrogance, condescension, and greed at the heart of colonial society.
The Doctor (In-Depth Analysis)

The priest - The local village priest ostensibly represents moral virtue and goodness, but he is just as interested in exploiting Kino's wealth as everyone else, hoping that he can find a way to persuade Kino to give him some of the money he will make from the pearl.

The dealers - The extremely well-organized and corrupt pearl dealers in La Paz systematically cheat and exploit the Indian pearl divers who sell them their goods. They desperately long to cheat Kino out of his pearl.

The trackers - The group of violent and corrupt men that follows Kino and Juana when they leave the village, hoping to waylay Kino and steal his pearl.

Sonnet 18 ++Note++

Shakespeare's Sonnets

William Shakespeare

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Summary

The speaker opens the poem with a question addressed to the beloved: "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" The next eleven lines are devoted to such a comparison. In line 2, the speaker stipulates what mainly differentiates the young man from the summer's day: he is "more lovely and more temperate." Summer's days tend toward extremes: they are shaken by "rough winds"; in them, the sun ("the eye of heaven") often shines "too hot," or too dim. And summer is fleeting: its date is too short, and it leads to the withering of autumn, as "every fair from fair sometime declines." The final quatrain of the sonnet tells how the beloved differs from the summer in that respect: his beauty will last forever ("Thy eternal summer shall not fade...") and never die. In the couplet, the speaker explains how the beloved's beauty will accomplish this feat, and not perish because it is preserved in the poem, which will last forever; it will live "as long as men can breathe or eyes can see."This sonnet is certainly the most famous in the sequence of Shakespeare's sonnets; it may be the most famous lyric poem in English. Among Shakespeare's works, only lines such as "To be or not to be" and "Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?" are better-known. This is not to say that it is at all the best or most interesting or most beautiful of the sonnets; but the simplicity and loveliness of its praise of the beloved has guaranteed its place.

On the surface, the poem is simply a statement of praise about the beauty of the beloved; summer tends to unpleasant extremes of windiness and heat, but the beloved is always mild and temperate. Summer is incidentally personified as the "eye of heaven" with its "gold complexion"; the imagery throughout is simple and unaffected, with the "darling buds of May" giving way to the "eternal summer", which the speaker promises the beloved. The language, too, is comparatively unadorned for the sonnets; it is not heavy with alliteration or assonance, and nearly every line is its own self-contained clause--almost every line ends with some punctuation, which effects a pause.

Sonnet 18 is the first poem in the sonnets not to explicitly encourage the young man to have children. The "procreation" sequence of the first 17 sonnets ended with the speaker's realization that the young man might not need children to preserve his beauty; he could also live, the speaker writes at the end of Sonnet 17, "in my rhyme." Sonnet 18, then, is the first "rhyme"--the speaker's first attempt to preserve the young man's beauty for all time. An important theme of the sonnet (as it is an important theme throughout much of the sequence) is the power of the speaker's poem to defy time and last forever, carrying the beauty of the beloved down to future generations. The beloved's "eternal summer" shall not fade precisely because it is embodied in the sonnet: "So long as men can breathe or eyes can see," the speaker writes in the couplet, "So long lives this, and this gives life to thee."

Enjoy learning English

Tips for Learning English

English is one of the most widely spoken languages, particularly in the western hemisphere, it is also one of the most difficult to learn.Here are some tips you can use to make it a little easier.

Tip 1 - Identify Your Motivation and Desire
Make sure you really want to. If you cannot say that you truly want to learn the language, you are going to struggle, it is a challenging language and will take a measure of dedication to learn.

Identify your motivation. Ask yourself why you want to learn English. Understanding your motivation, whether it be to help qualify for a better job or to communicate with someone you know, will help you stick to your goal of learning English.

Tip 2 - Set Realistic Goals
You are not going to learn overnight, even if you are highly motivated, are a great student, and are attending the best online English school you can find. You need to set realistic goals that you can work toward as you master the language.
Your goal for the first week may be to master some basic vocabulary. Then you may wish to tackle an important grammar rule. If you already have a basic understanding of English, you can set goals to improve your pronunciation or listening comprehension.

Tip 3 - Set Aside Time to Practice
Learning any language takes practice, and lots of it. Knowing how to practice a language is important. You can’t simply sit at home and talk to yourself. Even if you are trying to learn English online, you need to find native speakers to talk to. You can use the telephone or online chats to talk to people who know English well, but you need to find someone to talk to.
Practice writing English. Write letters, emails, and notes in English whenever the recipient can understand English. Your English Lesson at school will probably have you writing as well, but practical writing in the real world is the best way to discover whether or not you know the language well enough to communicate.

Tip 4 - Immerse Yourself in the Language
Train your brain to think and understand in another language is to immerse yourself in the language as much as possible. Subscribe to publications in English, and read them. Read books in English, and listen to recordings made in English. Speak the language whenever you have someone near you who can understand it, especially when that person is a native speaker who can help you with your pronunciation.

Watch television programs in English, because you will have a visual reference to help you understand the spoken word. If your television has closed captioning capabilities, turn this on. Then you will also have a written reference to reinforce what you are learning.
The best thing about the immersion approach is that it gets you used to the proper pronunciations of the words. Also, by immersing yourself in the culture that surrounds the English language, you can pick up on slang words and words that are not quite used correctly, but sound right to English speakers. You will pick up on phrases that are commonly used, and phrases that are best left untouched. So, whenever you have the chance to practice speaking, writing, or listening to English, take advantage of it. You will soon learn English as well as any native speaker, or perhaps even better!

English common idioms

Filed under: SPM BAHASA INGGERIS

IDIOMS / PHRASAL VERBS	MEANING
Absence of mind	inattention
Above-board	Honest
Above someone	Too difficult to someone to understand
About to	Ready to
Above all	Most importantly
Account for something	To explain something
Achilles’ heel	The weakest point in the person character
Acquiesce in something	To agree/accept something
Acquit someone well	To perform one’s task well
Ad to something	To increase something
Advanced in years	Old
Advisable to	Wise
After a storm comes a calm	There must be something better after an unpleasant event
Time and again	Very often; repeatedly
Agape with	In the state of wonder etc
Agree to differ	to stop trying to persuade each other
Akin to	Like/ similar
Alien to	Different to nature and character
Alive and kicking	Healthy and active
All agog	Eager and full of excited anticipation
All alone	Completely by oneself
All and sundry	Everybody; all types of people
All at once	Suddenly
All day long	The whole play
All for nothing	With no result
All good things come to an end	No pleasure will go on forever
All honey and no sting	Excellent things without unpleasant feelings
All grist to the mill	Something which bring profit/advantage to a person
All hours	At all the time
All in convulsions	In a violent fit of laughter , etc
All in favour	Supporting fully
All lay loads on a willing horse	Everyone take advantages of a good-nature and helpful person
All talk and no action	Talking abt something but never doing it
All the rage	Very fashionable
All told	All together
All too	Very
Allow the heart to rule the head	Influence by one emotions rather than by one’s reasons
And the like	And so on
An whatnot	And so on
Answer the door	To open the door to et someone in
Antagonistic to/towards	Unfriendly / oppose to
Anxious about	Worried about
Any stick will serve to beat a dog with	It is easy to find fault with a person if you want to
Apart from	Besides
Apples on the other side o the wall are the sweetest	Anything we cant get seems to be better than what we have already had
Apply double standards	To treat one person differently from the other
Apt to	Likely to
Around the corner	Very near
A general rule	Usually; in most cases
As a matter of fact	Actually; in fact
As a rule	Generally
As cool as a cucumber	Serene and calm under stress
As different as night and day	Completely different
As it is	In reality
As of now	From this time on
As one man	Together
As stubborn as a mule/ as obstinate as a donkey	Very stubborn
As well	Too
As well as	In addition to
As yet	Until now
Aside from	Besides
Ask for the moon	Ask for the impossible
At a crawl	Very slow movement or speed
At a gallop	In the fastest pace; in a rush
At a loose end	With nothing to do
At a low ebb	In a bad or inactive state
At a pinch	If absolutely necessary
At a stretch	Continuously
At bottom	In reality
At first	At the beginning
At heart	Really
at the top of one’s voice	Very loudly
As your pleasure	As you wish
Barking dogs seldom bite	A man who utters threats in a loud voice not be taken seriously
Bark up the wrong tree	To direct an injury or accusation at the wrong place or person
Be that as it may	Even so
Be of roses	A happy comfortable state
Before long	Soon
Before you can say Jack Robinson	Very quickly and unexpectedly
Beggar description	Cant be described
Behind time	Late
Beside the point	Irrelevant
Better an egg today than a hen tomorrow	Something sure is better than something unsure
Better late than never	It is better do a thing a bit late than not to do it at all
Between two stools, you fall to the ground	If cant do two things together, you are liable to do neither
Beyond me	I don’t understand
Beyond measure	Very great
Beyond reproach	Perfect
Big name	Famous
Bite the hand that feeds you	To be very ungrateful to a benefactor
Blacken someone’s name	To spoil someone’s reputation
Bleed for someone	Feels sorry to someone
Blood is thicker that water	The ties between relatives are closer than those between friends
Bored to death	To be very bored
Bound for (a place)	Ready to go to some place
Bury the past	To forget about the past; let bygones be bygones
By day	During that day
By the same token	In the same way
Call it a day	To stop work/cease activities
Camp out	To sleep outdoors
Cannot but	Must
Cap in hand	Humbly
Carry coals to Newcastle	To do something unnecessary
Cat-and-mouse game	A state of suspense or uncertainty, treating someone cruelly and kindly by turns
Change of heart	A change of opinion and mind
Chance in a million	A very little changes
Cheap-jack	Cheap but of bad qualities
Chatter like a magpie	To talk incessantly
Cheek by jowl with someone	Very close with someone
Chew over something	To think abt something carefully
Clean bill of health	An assurance that one in good health
Close at hand	Nearby
Clothes do not make the man	A person’s character is something tat really matter, not his outward appearance
Cock-a-hoop	Very happy
Come in handy	To be useful
Come to a standstill	To stop
Come what may	Whatever happens
Cost a bomb	To cost a lot money
Copy-cat	A person who copies what someone do else
Crack a joke	To tell funny story
Crime doesn’t pay	Crime will not benefit a person
Cross with someone	Angry with someone
Crux of the matter	The most difficult part of the problem
Cry over split milk	To waste time being sorry abt something which cant be changed
Curiosity killed the cat	Excessive curiosity can lead one into trouble
Cupboard love	Love shown only for a purpose of gaining a reward
Crystal clear	Very clearly stated; understood
Cry wolf	To complain abt something when nothing really wrong
Cut both ways	To affect both sides
Cut your coat according to your cloth	To adjust your expenses according to your resources
Daylight robbery	Charging too much money
De facto	In fact
Devil is not black as he is painted/ give the evil his due	No one is completely bad or as bad as he is described
Devil-may-care	(Attitude) not caring what happened
Devoid of something	Lacking something
Dog-tired	To be exhausted after a hard work
Don’t make your self a moue, or the cat will eat you	If you look down on yourself, others will take advantages of you.
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket	Spread your risk
Don’t teach your grandma to suck eggs	Don’t try to instruct someone who is more experience than you
Drink like a fish	To be an excessive drinker
Earn a honest penny	To make money honestly
East or west, home is best/ there is no place like home	No matter you go, home is the best place for you
Easy on the eye	Pretty; attractive
En route	On the way (to)
Empty vessels make the most sound	Empty-headed persons are always the most talkative and noisy
Err is human, to forgive, divine	It is a nature mankind to makes a mistakes, so one should forgiving as possible
Ever so/such	Very
Every nook and then	Everyway
Every now and then	Sometimes, but not often
Feel ill at ease	To feel uneasy or uncomfortable
Fish around	To search
Fish in troubled water	To try t gain advantage out of other people troubles
Fit for human consumption	Fit for people to eat
Flood the market	To have too much than necessary
Fly into a temper	To become very angry suddenly
Food for tough	Something to think about
Foot the bill	To pay the bill
For a laugh	For fun
For pity’s sake	(used to add force to a request) please
For the most part	Mostly
From hand to mouth	With just enough money to live on
Get together	To meet

“Advancing your writing skill… Why? What? How?”

ENGLISH COLUMN
- from fokus spm-
- sir Airil.

HI there! What have you been writing lately? If you have been following my articles in this column, I have no doubt that you have been writing many things either in your blogs, in emails to your friends, in your own personal writing journal, and perhaps even in your own school magazine!

The skill of writing, like all the other skills in the English language, can only be learned by doing. You also need to focus on important aspects of this international language like grammar and vocabulary – to make sure that you will be able to write well.

Even my own university students always tell me that it is very diffi cult to become an advanced writer. They tell me that they have no writing skill, they have no idea on what to write, and even worse sometimes they tell me that their grammar is so bad that they themselves could not understand what they have written!

Well, to tell you the truth, to become an advanced writer in English is not easy. It is a LONG process that must be faced step by step. During that process, you must try to make writing a HABIT and then turning it into your own HOBBY. That sounds difficult, right?

Not really. The more you try to do something, the more natural it becomes. The more natural it becomes, soon it would become a habit, turn into a hobby and fi nally, you will become an advanced writer in English.

FOCUS ON YOUR GRAMMAR!

How about grammar you ask? Well, grammar rules MUST be learned and you must always take time to improve your own grammar. Take 30 or 60 minutes per day to complete grammar exercises from your own textbooks or any exercise books that you can buy from a good book shop.

DO NOT be lazy when you do your grammar exercises. You must force yourself to learn grammar on your own. Learn grammar like you learn mathematics and science and force yourself to memorise and to know by heart about grammar rules.

There are no short cuts when you want to learn grammar and they process should be faced step by step. If you do not continue learning grammar on your own – you will NEVER become an advanced level writer in the English language.

FOCUS ON YOUR READING!

Please re-read what I have proposed last month in this same column about advancing your reading skill. Why? This is because the more you read, the more likely will you be able to improve your grammar and writing skill.

You can never become an advanced level writer if you never take some time to read. In fact, just read the biography of some well known authors – they will most likely state READING as one of their main interest or personal hobby.

KEEP YOUR FOCUS!

The choice of what to read is up to you, and when you have fi nished your reading you can then continue practising your writing skill. Do not give yourself excuses for not reading. Do not even think about not reading if you want your writing to improve.

Before I end this month’s article, I would like all of you to think about your current level in writing. If you have taken steps to improve your writing skill, you are always trying to practise writing new things, and you are constantly doing grammar exercises plus reading English language materials – you are already on your way to become an advanced level English writer.

However, if at this moment in time you are still too lazy to do grammar exercises, you do not like reading English short stories or novels because you think they are too boring, plus you never want to try writing new things as a way to practice and to improve your writing ability in the English language – you will never become an advanced level writer.

The process is a long one and it is not easy at all for you to become a really good writer. However, if you try very hard and you never ever give up. I believe that one day soon, it would be YOU who will be writing this column… not me. Think about that, and happy writing!

SPM Literature In English (SPM 2008-2010)

Due to popular request, I have decided to dedicate a post to Literature in English (SPM 2008-2010). Please note that the previous Literature posts were only applicable for 2005, 2006 and 2007 candidates. You may of course, view them for comparison purposes and such.

FORMAT PENTAKSIRAN KESUSASTERAAN DALAM BAHASA INGGERIS SPM 2008/2009/2010
Snow
Literature in English
Marking Scheme/ Guideline
2008-2010

KESUSASTERAAN DALAM BAHASA INGGERIS
SENARAI KARYA BAGI PEPERIKSAAN SPM TAHUN 2008, 2009, DAN 2010

Novel
Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury)
Fasting, Feasting (Anita Desai)
Holes (Louis Sachar)

Drama
Julius Caesar (William Shakespeare)
The Lion and the Jewel (Wole Soyinka)
An Inspector Calls (J.B. Priestly)

Short Story
Naukar (Anya Sitaram)
Cinderella Girl (Vivien Alcoc)
The Landlady (Roald Dahl)
A Common Story (Kassim Ahmad)
Neighbours (Robert Raymer)
Harrison Bergeren (Kurt Vonnegut Jr. )

Poetry
Theme: Relationships
Tonight I Can Write (Pablo Neruda)
Ways of Love (Chung Yee Chong)
A Prayer for My Daughter (Yeats)
The Way Things Are (Roger McGough)
For My Old Amah (Wong Phui Nam)
How Do I Love Thee? (Elizabeth Barret Browning)

Theme: Perceptions of Self
Birches (Robert Frost)
I Am (John Clare)
This Is A Photograph of Me (Margaret Atwood)
Waiting to Go On (Hugo Williams)
Daring Tears (Craig Romkema)
The Traveller (Muhammad hj Salleh)

Theme: Conflicts
Dulce et Decorum Est (Wilfred Owe)
The Man He Killed (Thomas Hardy)
Death of A Rainforest (Cecil Rajendra)
The War Against Trees (Stanley Kunitz)
A Quarrel Between Day and Night (Omar Mohd Noor)
"Crabbed age and youth cannot live together "(Shakespeare)


Examination Format
The candidate is asked to choose one question from each component.

Section A:
There are 6 texts to be studied. Only 4 short stories will be selected for testing each year. Each short story will be tested individually. The candidate is required to answer ONE out of the four questions.

Section B:
There are 3 texts to be studied. All 3 novels will be selected for testing each year. Each novel will be tested individually. The candidate is required to answer ONE out of the three questions.

Section C:
There are 3 texts to be studied. All 3 plays will be selected for testing each year. Each play will be tested individually. The candidate is required to answer ONE out of the three questions.

Section D:
There are 3 themes to be studied. All 3 themes will be selected for testing each year. Each theme will be tested individually. The candidate is required to answer ONE out of the three questions.

Extra Answers

• Candidates are allowed to answer two or more questions from each component.
• The examiner will chose the highest marks that the candidate has attained for ONE question.
• A single question comprises of three sub-questions. They are to be considered as a whole and not to be counted as separated questions.
• No extra marks will be given for any additional answers.
• No extra marks will be awarded beyond the maximum marks cited.Illogical/irrelevant information may be ignored by the examiner.
  

Section A: Short Stories [25 marks]

I. Text Comprehension. (Maximum of 5 marks)

1. First point given.
2. Appropriate supporting information given.
3. Second point given.
4. Appropriate supporting information given.
5. Third point given.
6. Appropriate supporting information given.
7. Overall understanding.
8. Language. (None of the common mistakes as stated.)
   

II. Plot Expansion. (Maximum of 8 marks)

1. Basic description correctly given based on the short story.
2. First point given.
3. Appropriate supporting information given.
4. Second point given.
5. Appropriate supporting information given.
6. Third point given.
7. Appropriate supporting information given.
8. Fourth point given.
9. Appropriate supporting information given.
10. Overall contribution of stated event/incident/occurrence/etc to the plot.
11. Writing techniques used by author given.
12. Language. (None of the common mistakes as stated.)
    

III. Evaluation and Understanding with Reference to the Text. (Maximum of 12 marks)

1. First point given based on story.
2. Appropriate supporting information given.
3. Second point given based on story.
4. Appropriate supporting information given.
5. Third point given based on story.
6. Appropriate supporting information given.
7. Fourth point given based on personal ideas.
8. Appropriate supporting information with reference to the text.
9. Fifth point given based on personal ideas.
10. Appropriate supporting information with reference to the text.
11. Sixth point given based on personal ideas.
12. Appropriate supporting information with reference to the text.
13. Overall understanding.
14. Language. (None of the common mistakes as stated.)
    

Section B: Novel, Section C: Drama, and Section D: Poetry are all worth 25 marks each. The guidelines for answering is the more or less the same as Section A.

All the best.

P/S: Literature in English actually has quite easy texts, contrary to popular belief. It's easier and more interesting than that dry novel some of you have to do for normal English, The Return. Give it a try. = )