using a dictionary

Posted by sazali

Salam

I taught English for SM Tumpat and SM Kota, Kota Bharu, Kelantan in the early eighties.

When I started my classes I always make it a point for my students to buy / possess a good dictionary such as Little Oxford English Dictionary.  Usually it cost RM10 - RM30.  I stressed that by having a good dictionary , we can see two things.

First the direct meaning and
Secondly, how the author wrote some sentences using any 'word' that we had looked for earlier on.

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I also encouraged my students to write a journal at the back of their exercise books from January to October.  If they wanted , they can show their journals to me everyday and at any time.

Alhamdulilah, some of my ex-students are now English teachers who are practicing their skill at the secondary schools all over the country.  Of course their english is not as good as Dato' Wira  Idris Jusoh but I am glad I  had somehow contributed to the betterment of my country Malaysia.

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I am the happiest daddy in this wide wide world because one of my children is an English teacher.  I forced her to be an English teacher many years ago because ..  I think .. we can impart many good social values to our younger generation by teaching a language such as English.

I think one can be an english teacher if one has the following habits:

first, enjoying reading, watching english films and concerts and
secondly, the yearly assessment and evaluation reports indicated there is some strength in the languages like English, Malaysian and Arabic languages.

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many years ago , when I taught English

I always write these types of sentences:

(i)  I always pray in the mosque.
(ii)  In the weekends, I always make a point to visit my grand dads and mums.
(iii) Before I go to sleep, I read Quraan for 10 minutes daily.

Basically, most of my instructions were directed towards being a good citizen of this beloved country Malaysia.

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In the traditions of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), if we teach well of our students, all the good deeds that the students do, the 'tsawab/ blessings' will keep passing to the teacher(s) from now to the end of the world.

In fact Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. has exposed to his followers the idea of multilevel marketing 1500 years ago.  I think it was true indeed.

My religious teacher like the late MOK WEN ( the mother of my best friend Nik Mohd Ghani bin Nik Othman) stressed that ..  in this world , God can give the blessings to you directly day in and day out before you meet him in the next world or God gave you the rewards a bit late.  What are the blessings?

First it could come in the form of having a happy family.
Second , all the family members obey Allah and they do the amals with full of joy and willingness.
Thirdly,  the children respect their parents and the elders.

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In this world, many people are working so hard to get a happy family.The father sometimes work in the most remote area of this world (drilling petroleum, diamonds , gold) and the mother work in the sky (air stewardess) .. but what is there if their effort can not bring some form of sincere happiness at the end of the day?

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By teaching English and Mathematics, I saw that Allah is kind to me and my family.  In short, what can I ask now because it is the happiness that we are running for since we wake up to the time when we shut our eyes for good.  Al Fatihah.

I think that is all my secret whisper from my heart.  Alhamdulilah.

Thank you Allah for giving me the opportunity to teach a simple subject such as English.
Now I am teaching Mathematics at the university using English.  I am sure Tun Dr Mahathir is happy with this . (laugh)

Dr S.  BSc ( Operations Research & Computing), M Ed ( CBL , CAL) and Ph.D (TVEd).  PGCE/ SPLI  .. mati

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