My Rigorous Efforts in Improving English Listening, Writing, Reading and Speaking Skills

Today, I am studying Preparatory Program for Overseas Universities (PPOU) in Institute of Liberal Studies, Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN). PPOU is an intensive, post-secondary, pre-university, preparatory program that prepares me to study abroad. In order for me to study abroad, I must pass my International English Language Testing System (IELTS) exam with good band. Thus, I have started to put rigorous efforts in improving my English language. There are four components in IELTS: listening, writing, reading and speaking skills. Do you want to know how I improve these four important skills?

One of the ways to improve my listening skill is by visiting the website, given to me by my English lecturer, like Randall’s ESL Cyber Listening Lab. While doing these listening exercises, I listen carefully and concentrate on many different conversations like phone conversations, hotel reservation, enquiries, lectures, speeches and others. I often visit these websites to do listening practice as practice makes perfect. Another way to improve my listening skill is by watching television programmes. Watching news like Nightline not only enables me to know the current issues in our country, but also helps me to listen and understand the content and thus to improve my listening skill. Besides that, I also watch documentary programmes like National Geography and Discovery to improve my listening skill besides increasing my knowledge.

What about my writing skill? My English lecturer said that the best way to improve writing skill is by reading a lot of good sample essays. Therefore, I read at least one sample essay per day and it has become part of my daily routine. Reading sample essays certainly has brought me enormous good. I not only can learn how to organize the points in an essay, but also can learn how to use various sentence structures to make an essay more interesting. I can also learn many new words and thus improving my vocabulary. I often visit website like IELTS blog given by my English lecturer to read many band 8 IELTS essays. Apart from that, I train myself by writing an essay every weekend to publish on my blog. This helps me to reduce grammatical errors and spelling mistakes when writing essays.

In order to improve my reading skill, I read novels and storybooks like Harry Porter and The Pearl. While reading novels and storybooks, I try to understand the message and the content of the stories. Besides that, I also read newspaper everyday not only to know the latest issue in our world today, but also to improve my reading skill. I believe that reading a lot of reading materials makes me want to read more and enables me to read thoroughly and thus increasing my reading speed and reading skill. Reading materials nowadays somehow have become part of my life as I see them everyday.

How do I improve my speaking skill? It is simple. I watch English movies and I able to learn how people from different place of origin use fluent English to communicate with one another. I can also learn many new words used by native speakers. Apart from that, I speak English with my family at home since I was little and it helps me a lot in improving my speaking skill. I also use English language to communicate with my friends and lecturers at university. Speaking English with others has become my usual habit and it is essential that I am about to study abroad in a foreign country where English is the medium of instruction.

In the nutshell, these are the steps I take today to improve my English language. I will continue to work hard and improve my four important skills to pass my IELTS exam with flying colours and thus placing me in one of the top ranking universities in Oceania.

My Eid Experience

A multiracial country like Malaysia with a myriad of races, religions and cultures celebrates a wide array of festivals. The Malays, the most dominant race in Malaysia, celebrate Hari Raya Puasa (Eid), a festival honoured by the Muslims worldwide marking the end of Ramadan, the fasting month. This year, the celebration is expected to be more spectacular and exciting. Although I am a Chinese and not celebrating Hari Raya, I somehow experience the celebration. Do you want to know how my eid experience was like?

On the first day of Hari Raya, I went back to Beaufort, Sabah to visit my family. I took a plane from Low Cost Career Terminal (LCCT) in Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) to Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) Terminal 2. When the plane finally landed in the airport, it was at night and it was raining cats and dogs. After claiming my luggage, I went to the terminal building to meet my family as they were waiting there for me. I was as happy as a lark. It had been a long time since I last met them. Then, we went back to Beaufort by my father’s car. On the way home, I saw many Malays’ houses beautifully decorated with colourful light bulbs. The houses were transformed into a sea of colour as the colourful light bulbs were twinkling repeatedly. Ignited oil lamps were also placed around the houses. The Malays think that oil lamps can make their Hari Raya celebration more hilarious. I also saw Malay children running and playing firecracker along the road. After about 2 hours, we finally reached our home. I really missed a lot of things at home. As saying goes, “no place feels like home”.

It was the second day of Hari Raya. After getting a good night’s sleep, I got a call from my Malay ex-classmate and he invited me to his house. At his house, I not only met my Malay friends, but also all my Chinese and Kadazan friends. All my Malay friends were dressed neatly with Malay traditional attire. My female friends wore baju kurung while my male friends wore baju melayu with a songkok or cap on their head. Various kinds of food were served on the table. They were Malay traditional food like lemang, pulut, ketupat, and kari ayam. My favourite food was the mouth-watering rendang. After having heavy meals, I had cookies and desserts with juice. Kuih lapis, the colourful layer cake was my favourite dessert. While we were eating cookies and desserts, we were also chit-chatting about where we study after our separation in secondary school. Some of my friends are currently studying in prestigious Malaysian colleges and universities while others further their study in government matriculation and Form 6. Finally, I got myself a green packet or known as duit raya from the old folks. Then, I bid farewell to all my friends and hoped that we will meet again some other time.

On the following day of Hari Raya, I still went to many other opening houses. With this, the Hari Raya celebration came to an end. It was indeed an exciting moment for me to be able to experience such a dazzling celebration. I will certainly never forget this wonderful experience.

Appearance, Genes and Photography

Every living thing has genes that heavily determine its appearance. Humans look like humans because they have human genes. This set of genes makes up an individual person with specific appearance. Do you know how our appearance is controlled by our genes?

Variation refers to the differences which exist between living organism as a result of their genotypes and the environment. Variation in the physical appearance of humans is believed by anthropologist to be an important factor in the development of personality and social relations. Some differences in human appearance are genetic while others are the result of age, disease, and make-up. In humans there are hundreds of features which illustrate variation. Height, body weight, blood group, skin tone, hair colour, eye colour, nose shape, and ear shape are the physiological differences in human physical appearance.

People who are genetically identical share the same facial appearance with their twin brothers and sisters. Hence, identical twins tend to look alike. Apart from that, parents and their children share 50% of their genes. Thus, a son has similar facial appearance either with his mother or father. Down’s syndrome is a relatively common birth defect caused by the presence of an extra chromosome number 21. People with Down’s syndrome usually have a short and stocky body, slanting eyes, broad face and stubby nose. They are usually mentally retarded and are likely to have heart defects. People with a wide array of races also differ widely in physical appearance. A Negro, for example, has darker complexion like the westerners living in the temperate climate. Malays have brown complexion while the Chinese are commonly referred as “yellow” people.

How the things can be recorded on films? Photography is the process of recording pictures by means of capturing light on a light-sensitive medium such as a film or electronic sensor. Photography provides an important photographic documentation of different facial appearance. Pictures can be used for comparison and documenting different facial features and similarities among people with different ethnic, country of origin, and genetic combination.

In the nutshell, variation enables each individual to be different from others. In Malaysia, there is a need for peaceful coexistence among the various ethnic groups. Treating people with respect, regardless of their cultures, languages, races and backgrounds, makes this country a better place to live in. Therefore, as civic-minded people, we should treat other people the way we would like them to treat us.

Transport and Tourism

What is tourism? Tourism is travelling for predominantly recreational and leisure purposes or the provision of services to support this leisure travel. Nowadays, tourism has become a popular global leisure activity. In Year 2004, there were over 763 million international tourist arrivals. Tourists have always travelled to distant parts of the world to see great buildings or other works of art, to learn new languages, to experience new cultures and to taste new cuisine.

There are various types of tourism. Health tourism is associated with spas, places with natural mineral water, treating diseases from gout to liver disorders and bronchitis. Winter tourism involves winter sports like snowboarding and skiing in the mountainous areas while mass tourism is travelling to great seaside resort, beaches and islands. Pilgrimage is a tourism that involves travelling to sacred places for religious reasons.

Tourism is vital for our country due to the income generated by the consumption of goods and services by tourists, the taxes from businesses in tourism industry, and the opportunity of employment in service industries related with tourism. These service industries include transportation services such as cruise ships and taxis, accommodation services like hotels, restaurants, bars and entertainment venues, and other hospitality industry such as spas and resorts. Malaysia was the most popular tourist destination in the Asia-Pacific region during the Visit Malaysia Years in 1990 and 1994. It was the top foreign exchange earner, ranking in billions of ringgit. This year, it is the Visit Malaysia Year 2007 and it is expected to be more spectacular. Malaysia has everything under the sun that attract tourists – beautiful sandy beaches, exotic island resorts, luxurious hotels, natural tropic forests, and a wide array of festivals celebrated by people with a myriad of races, religions and cultures.

What are the ways to enhance our tourism industry? Travel agents must be creative and come up with new and interesting packages for tourists. Advertising by word of mouth or through brochures alone is not enough. They have to promote a variety of interesting tourist destinations in Malaysia and provide updates of the latest development in the tourism industry in order to woo foreigners to visit Malaysia. Services industries also play an important role in developing the tourism industry. Transportation services, accommodation services and hospitality industry must improve the quality of their services such as public transports, hotels, restaurants, spas, resorts and others. Besides that, the Malaysian public should also play its part in keeping the country clean while showing a good image to tourists. The media should come up with programs and articles to place Malaysia on the world tourist map.

The bottom line is that with everyone working hand in hand, it is not impossible for Malaysia to once again emerge as the top tourist destination in the Asia-Pacific region.

Space, Developments That Will Affect Our Future and Research Papers

At each night, when you look up the night sky, don’t you ever wonder what’s out there? Many questions appear in our mind when we look up the night sky. Is there any other living thing in outer space? Do aliens really exist? How big is the universe? The night sky or commonly known as outer space is indeed full of mysteries. Nowadays, many nations have enhanced space development to explore the unknown. I believe that space development will affect our future and research papers.

Do you know how space development can affect our future? Space exploration is the physical exploration of outer space by human spaceflights and robotic spacecraft. Modern space technologies have allowed space exploration to become a reality. Since the 1990s, private companies began to promote space tourism. This can be a valuable experience for us as we get the chance to travel and explore outer space. It is the dream of every mankind in Earth. Besides that, with sophisticated space technologies, maybe we can even live in outer space someday. Astronomers nowadays are still doing extensive scientific research on space settlement in locations outside Earth, especially in natural satellites and planet such as the Moon and Mars. Space settlement maybe can solve the world population problem as the number of human beings in our world today is sky-rocketing. Space vehicles may also be invented someday and allow us to travel through space or to another planet.

Apart from that, I think that space development can also bring changes to our research papers. Nowadays, modern space technologies have improved by leaps and bounds. The dream of stepping into the outer reaches of the Earth’s atmosphere was driven by space technologies. Rockets are used as launch vehicles for artificial satellites and for human spaceflight and exploration of other planets. Rovers are the space exploration vehicles designed to move across the surface of a planet or asteroid. Astronomical satellites are satellites used for observation of distant planets, galaxies and other outer space objects while spacecrafts and space shuttles are used for human space flight missions. Other space inventions are biosatellites, space probe and aerobot. These modern space inventions have allowed scientists to explore the mysterious outer space and to discover new living things, planets and galaxies easily and thus they can conduct research and create new facts or theories.

However, there are many obstacles of space exploration. First of all, space exploration costs us a fortune. A spacecraft containing temperature controlled cabin, breathable air, food and drink storage, waste disposal, communication systems, safety features and medical facilities, alone is very expensive. What more if space travels do not achieve any major scientific breakthrough? Secondly, space travel can be dangerous. A spacecraft alone does not guarantee safety to humans as space travel is a long journey and humans may encounter problems along the journey such as lack of oxygen gas and get hit by an asteroid. Another obstacle of space exploration is that the outer space is so wide that it took very long time for spacecrafts and space shuttles to travel from Earth to another planets or natural satellites. The distance in outer space is so far that it is measured in light year .Human space travel will never be able to do more than visiting our closest neighbours in the solar system.

In the nutshell, scientists in our world will continue to work hard towards more advanced and sophisticated spacecraft and to solve the obstacles of space exploration in order to achieve our dream of stepping into the outer space and discovering the unknown.

Communications, the Business World and the Media

Today, we live in a world full of technological wonders. Colour televisions, supersonic jets, personal computers and mobile phones are common things. We enjoy a high level of living that our ancestors have never even dreamed of. Nowadays, communication technologies have improved by leaps and bounds. It makes our life easier and has brought many benefits to the business world, the news media and mankind.

Do you know how communication technologies have changed the business world? Business communication is the communication used to promote a product and service, to relay information within the business and to deal with legal and similar issues. Nowadays, Internet, radios and televisions have always become the important advertising medium in the business world. They are used to convey messages and to promote new products and services. Advertisements inform the public about the wide array of products and services that are available in the market and how much they cost. Some business companies attract the customers with colourful and interesting advertisement on the television and Internet while some prefer to publish their new products or services on the newspapers and magazines. Business companies spend a fortune just to advertise their products or services. They build a reputation for their products or services through advertisements. Apart from that, telephones, telegraphs and e-mails enable businessmen to communicate with other businessmen from far and wide and to discuss business matter and trading between two countries. Modern inventions certainly have expanded small business and enhanced international trading among countries.

Besides the business world, communication technologies have also brought a host of benefits to the news media. The news media is the section of the mass media that focuses on presenting news to the public. These include print media like newspapers and magazines and broadcast media like radio stations and television stations. Both print media and broadcast media present the latest news to the public. Thus, it provides us both national issues and world issues like road accidents, terrible flood, water crisis, earthquake, volcanic eruption and weather report. It also provides us political news, economic news, social news and sporting events in a nation.

What are the advantages of communication technologies to us? In this modern hectic world of ours, Internet is now widely used by everyone. Some people use the Internet to find various information and thus to increase their knowledge while some use the Internet to communicate with others via online chatting. Nowadays, everyone has at least a television set at home. Watching television seems to be everyone’s favourite pastime. Television programmes like National Geography and Discovery Science provide us an abundant of knowledge. Some of us prefer to watch entertainment programmes like cartoons and movies just to entertain ourselves. Other modern invention like mobile phones uses microwaves to transmit messages and audio signal to other phones. It enables us to communicate with other people from far and wide.

The bottom line is that the communication technologies certainly have brought enormous good for the business world, the news media and mankind. However, communication technologies can be both a bane or a boon and therefore it is up to the discerning public to benefit the use of communication technologies.

Education and Learning (In and Out of the Workplace)

What is education? Education is a process of teaching, training, and learning, especially in schools or colleges, to improve knowledge, to develop skills and to expand experiences. The education of an individual human begins at birth and continues throughout life. Learning is the goal of education. The process of learning can happen either in or out of the workplace. Formal learning occurs in the workplace while informal learning occurs out of the workplace.

Formal learning is the process of learning that takes place within a teacher-student relationship, such as in a school system. A classroom is the second home to the students and the teachers act as their second parents. Textbooks, workbooks and exercise books are the things often used in formal learning. During the process of teaching and learning, the students pay full attention to listen to the teachers’ explanations and try to understand them. Some students prefer to take notes while listening to the explanations. Asking questions is what they do if they do not understand the teaching. Homework is often assigned to the students after class. At the end of each semester, they are required to sit an examination to test their understanding. Therefore, students need to be hardworking and highly disciplined. Besides the students, teachers need to be efficient in their work and understand a subject well to teach to a new generation of students. Good teachers are able to translate information and experience into knowledge of a subject that is understood and retained by the students.

On the other hand, informal learning is the process of learning that takes place outside of the formal learning system. It occurs through the experience of daily life. For example, a driver would learn to be careful while driving because of the danger of not paying attention to the road. Besides daily life, parents are the important element in a child’s educational development. Parents are the one who spend the most time with their children. Therefore, children are indirectly exposed to parents’ teaching. Parents often educate their children about communication skills, positive attitude and healthy lifestyle. Another example of informal learning is going to the libraries. Libraries provide access to a variety of books and other self-instructional materials. As modern technologies have improved by leaps and bounds, the rise in computer ownership and internet access has given the students greater access to education. Computers are now widely used in developed countries to develop new ways of learning such as online education. This gives students the opportunity to choose what they are interested in learning. Other modern inventions like radios and televisions also provide self-directed learning as they are the source of knowledge.

The bottom line is that education is one of the most important things in the world. If we are not well educated, we will be looked down upon by others and considered as people in the lowly station. As civic-minded people, we must ensure that we are well educated in order to be the role model to the new generation of young children and to contribute to our own country.