When air is water

In Malaysia, notices are displayed in Malay and English. Confusion arises when the spelling of both languages is the same.

For example, when your fill up your petrol at a petrol and needs to inflat you tyre you will go the side when water and the air pump are provided. Here you will see 'Air' and 'Angin' being displayed side by side. To the local people, it is very clear that 'air' means 'water' and 'angin' means 'air'. It will cause confusion to the foreigners as they may think that the Malay 'air' is the same as the air they are familiar with.

About 'langkah bendul' and 'perlintasan'

I like to read the English and Malay dictionaries. In doing so, I get to increase my vocabulary and discover words peculiar to English or Malay.

Today as I looked up all the affixes that link to the Malay word 'lintas', I had a new discovery. There is such a word as 'perlintasan' which is the gift given by the younger sister to her elder sister if she is the one to get married first. Normally the elder sister will get married first and the younger sister. It must happened in the past before, or else there will not be such a word in the dictionary.

The idiom 'langkah bendul' also has to do with this situation. If a younger sister gets married earlier than her elder sister, then she is said to have 'langkah bendul'.

Hajimemashite

Now that I have some knowledge of Japanese, I would like to present a simple 'How do you do?' in the languages that I know of.

In Malay, you say 'Apa khabar?' and in Madarin it is rendered as 'Ni hao ma?'

As for the Japanese, you would say 'Hajimemashite' to them.

My Hokkien friend will say 'Loo hor O?' and the Cantonese will probably utter 'Lei hou mou?'

Now for the reply.

The Malay will say 'Khabar baik' [good news] when you utter 'Apa khabar? [Literally 'what is the news?']

In English, when someone says ' How do you do? ' to you, you will reciprocate with the same words too.

The Chinese will say 'Wo hao' in reply to your greeting of 'Ni hao ma?'

"Hajimemashite' will be the reply from the Japanese to whom you utter 'Hajimemashite'.

As for the Cantonese, they will say 'Ngo hou, thor chay.'

Hokkien people will utter 'Gua Chin Nya Hou' to reply to your greeting of 'Loo Hor O?'

Keying in Japanese through my pocket PC

After some searching through the Internet, I was able to download a free version of Japanese input software and installed in my pocket PC. With this software, I am now able to key in Japanese using free hand.

The Internet really helps me to learn Japanese. There are sites where you can listen to how the Japanese vowels are pronounced and how the Japanese are written according to the correct strokes. Right now, I am satisfied with my mastery of the fifty sounds. I shall go on to Katakana later when I am sure that I can recognise all the fifty vowels. I shall share what I have learnt with readers of this blog.

Dewan Eja Pro and me

As a Malay tutor, I need to key in text in Malay and check the spelling too. The best Malay spelling in Malaysia is Dewan Eja Pro. I have used it since 2007 after having tried it for three months. Nowadays the Name Technology which produces this software allows users to try it for a period of two months only.

The best part of the software is the 4th edition of Kamus Dewan. Whenever I need to confirm the meaning of a certain, I just key in the word in the space provided. The bar is always there for you to use. If you add another RM30, you can have your Kamus Peribahasa too. Hence you pay RM180 for the full Dewan Eja Pro that comes with Kamus BM to English, Kamus English to BM, Kamus Istilah and Kamus BM-Cina.

All Malay teachers and writers should benefit from this software. No pirated version works because the registration is online. I have to trouble the Name Technology whenever I reformat my Hard Disk because you won't be able to register it anymore unless they reset the setting for you to register again.

Improving one's English through reading

Through my own experience, reading English materials such as newspapers, magazines, books and posters helps one to master the English language.

When I was still in Form 1, I had the chance to read books written by Enid Blyton cheaply. I have mentioned in my earlier post that I paid onl 10 cents per book after having paid 40 cents for the first Enid Blyton book. The Indian man who operated a second-hand book store at Tek Soon Street in Penang charged me only ten cents when I returned one Enid Blyton in exchange for one which I had not read before. Initially I came across a lot of words which I did not know, but I took the trouble to find out their meanings. As I read more and more books, those words became my friends and I knew them well.

As for newspapers, I still remember how I read the old newspaper that was used to wrap things bought by my mum. I read them and looked up the dictionary for words whose meanings I did not know.

Reading helps one to master prepositions which form an important part of the English language. Constant reading will make you have remember how prepositions are used without you realising it.

Think in English and write in English

I finally found the boy who was like me when I started to learn English. He would asked me any word which I missed out in my explanation. Sometimes, he did not want to interrupt the lessons and opted to ask me after the class.

If you still remember the post I wrote about how I learnt English from scratch. I would arm myself with an English-Chinese dictionary and wrote the meanings of all the words whose meanings I did not know. It was this spirit of not leaving out any single word which I first came across that made understand what I was reading later in my schooling days.

The initial stage of direct translation for understanding is accepted but I still prefer learners of English use only English dictionaries with English explanation so that the train of thought in English will be there.

Think in English and write in English. This is my advice to master the English language.

What follows ‘be’

The verb-to-be ‘be’ is an interesting word. You can use it at the beginning of a sentence such as the one below:

Be good always.

It can also be appear in the middle of a sentence as exemplified below:

I realized that I would be late for school when I woke up late this morning.

So far, the sentences that I have constructed have adjectives following the verb-to-be ‘be’.

Let us see what other words can be used behind ‘be’.

1 Past participles can be used after ‘be’.

Example: Be prepared to work if you want to be a member of the staff here.

2 Nouns can be placed behind ‘be’.

Example: Let us be champions of this cause.

3 A gerund can be used at the back of ‘be’.

Example: I will be going for an audition soon.

4 ‘Be’ can also be followed by a pronoun.

Example: If you want a volunteer for this job, let it be me.

5 You can use a preposition behind ‘be’ too.

Example: This book will be of use to researchers.

6 An adverb can come after ‘be’.

Example: I will be there as usual.

I hope you know what to put behind ‘be’ when you make your sentences in any post or assignment.

Be with me along the path of learning the English language.

Recollecting Chinese words through mobile phones

I have not been writing Chinese for many years. This results in my not being able to write out the words correctly. Hence I am now trying to relearn the strokes so that I can remember them. Sometimes I need to write the Chinese equivalent of the English or Malay words to my lower form students especially those from Form 1.

I find that I can use my mobile phone to help me recall the words. Luckily I know pinyin - a system of denoting Chinese words by sound. This can also be used to key in to produce the Chinese words displayed on the screen of my mobile phone. In fact, it helps me pronounce the Chinese words correctly, particularly those words with 's' or 'sh' sound, 'c' or 'ch' sound and 'z' or 'zh' sound.

In Malaysia I find that people don't bother to pronounce Mandarin accurately. They take the easy way out, that is pronouncing all 's' and 'sh' words with 's' sound only. For example, "Wo3 shi4 xue2 sheng1' [I am a student.] is simply pronounced as 'Wo3 si4 xue2 seng1.'

Make use of your mobile phone to learn Mandarin. It is worth the effort.

Let us learn correct English and Malay

Happy New Year to all readers of this blog. Thank you for visiting my blog. Your perusal of my posts means a lot to me as I know that my effort in penning things here is appreciated. I really feel proud to be of help to those who want to master English. By reading the posts labelled 'Tips on English' you will learn the finer points of the language. I learnt them the hard way and I will be too willing to share my experience with all of you.

For those who would like to learn correct Malay, I have some posts on 'Tips in Malay'. Learning English and Malay as well as teaching them now enable me to realise the difficulties encountered by students in learning these two languages. I am lucky because I was taught by good teachers who aroused my interest in both and even now I still find learning languages fun. It pays to look at how words are used in sentences and how they are spoken so that you can articulate them correctly and grammatically correct. Remember to use the dictionary regularly.

New Year is the best time to start anything. So, if you still want to improve on your English and Malay, read all the posts labelled 'Tips on English' and 'Tips on Malay'. I will be adding more posts this year too in the hope that more people will use English and Malay correctly.

May all of you have a fruitful year ahead.

Some common errors in English usage

As a learner of English, one often makes mistakes in its usage. Some are influenced by his mother tongue and some are committed owing to lack of understanding of proper grammar.

In this post, I shall discuss some of these errors.

1 Using ‘send’ to mean ‘take one to a place by car or motorcycle’.
e.g. Mother sends my younger brother to school every day. [incorrect]
Mother takes my younger brother to school every day. [correct]
Mother drives my younger brother to school every day. [correct]

2 Using ‘call’ to mean ‘ask someone to do something’.
e.g. My brother called me to buy him a manila card. [wrong]
My brother asked me to buy him a manila card. [correct]

3 Using ‘borrow’ when ‘lend’ is intended.
e.g. Please borrow me your pen for a while. [incorrect]
Please lend me your pen for a while. [correct]

4 Using ‘repeat again’ when ‘repeat’ is enough to convey the meaning.
e.g He asked me to repeat again what I had said earlier. [wrong]
He asked me to repeat what I had said earlier. [correct]

5 Using ‘comprises of’ when ‘comprise’ only is enough to convey the meaning.
e.g Our team comprises of ten members. [incorrect]
Our team comprises ten members. [correct]

6 Using ‘eat’ when ‘take’ is more appropriate.
e.g. The patient eats the medicine prescribed by the doctor every day. [incorrect]
The patient takes the medicine prescribed by the doctor every day. [correct]

7 Using ‘pass up’ when ‘hand in’ is more appropriate.
e.g. The teacher asked his pupils to pass up their homework on time. [wrong]
The teacher asked his pupils to hand in their homework on time. [correct]

How do you say ‘What does he suggest?’ in Malay?

I was watching my favourite soap opera when an advertisement about a brand of toothpaste for sensitive teeth. Then the following question flashed across the screen:

Apakah yang beliau syorkan? [What does he suggest?]

The above question is grammatically wrong. Let me explain why it is incorrect.

The question ‘Apakah yang beliau syorkan?’ is in fact a ‘ayat pasif songsang ‘ (inverted sentence in the passive voice)

The sentence in the active voice is ‘Yang beliau syorkan itu apa?’ This sentence is wrong too. It should be ‘Yang disyorkan oleh beliau apa?’ Hence to convert this correct sentence to the inverted passive voice is ‘Apakah yang disyorkan oleh beliau?’

What should be flashed on the screen should be:

Apakah yang disyorkan oleh beliau?

What do call a cock without a tail in Malay?

Another word of interest in Malay is the word 'togel'. It means without a tail.

Hence a cock without a tail is called 'ayam togel'.

This word is specially meant for chicken as pointed out by my well-esteemed friend Cikgu Yaakub Isa. I was misled by the explanation in the 'Kamus Pelajar', a dictionary publised by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka when it states (togel: tidak berekor tentang ayam dan lain-lain).

I was under the impression that 'dan lain-lain' can include dogs and cats because there were actually naughty boys who had severed the tails of such animals in real life situation. Hence the earlier contents of the post appeared. I would like to thank Cikgu Yaakub for sharing his knowledge with me.

So much for an interesting word in Malay for your perusal.

How do you say 'I am in stitches' in Malay?

In the course of learning and teaching English and Malay, I find that certain expressions are peculiar to both languages. In this post, I will take one example to illustrate what I mean.

How do you say 'I am in stitches' in Malay?

By the way, 'I am in stitches' mean 'I can't help laughing incessantly.'

If you translate the above sentence as 'Saya dalam jahitan' you are wrong.

The correct equivalent is 'Saya tak kering gusi.' In Malay, the expression 'tak kering gusi' means 'laugh incessantly because of watching some funny act by someone.'

'Tak kering gusi' is literally 'the gum is not dry'. I suppose when you laugh you produce so much saliva that it wets you gum all the time.

The two meanings of 'kemasukan'

Today's post is about the two meanings of the Malay word 'kemasukan'.

As a noun, it means entry. Look at the following sentence to see how it is used in this sense.

Unit ini ditubuhkan khas untuk mengendalikan kemasukan pelajar ke semua universiti di Malaysia. [This unit was specially set up to manage the entry of students to all universities in Malaysia.]

The other meaning of 'kemasukan' as a passive verb means 'dimasuki' (entered by). The sentence below shows how the word is used in this context.
Mataku terasa pedih kerana kemasukan debu. [My eye felt painful because it was entered by dirt.]

The three meanings of 'melewati'

In this post, I will talk about the Malay language again. This time I will deal with words with more than one meaning. Let us look at the word 'melewati' which as three meanings.

The first meaning is pass by. You can make a sentence such as the one below.
Semasa saya melewati rumah Ali, dia sedang menelaah pelajaran.
[When I was passing by Ali's house, he was doing his revision.]


The second meaning of 'melewati' is 'through'. The following sentence will illustrate this.
Penulis memberitahu kita pentingnya memulihara dunia kita melewati novel ini.
[The author tells us the importance of conserving our earth through this novel.]

The third meaning of 'melewati' is 'skip' and it can be shown by the sentence below.
Untuk mengetahui kesudahan cerita ini, saya melewati bab-bab yang tidak menarik .
[To know the ending of this story, I skipped those uninteresting chapters.]

The usage of 'diangkat' and 'terangkat'

The passive verb 'diangkat' which means 'is lifted' is used for pronouns of the third person such dia, mereka and beliau. Hence it is correct if we write:
1 Kerusi itu diangkat oleh beliau lalu diletakkannya di atas meja.
[The chair was lifted by him and then put on the table.]

2 Kotak-kotak itu diangkat oleh mereka untuk dibawa ke sana.
[The boxes were lifted by them to be carried there.]

It is write if we write:
3 Basikal itu diangkat oleh saya. [This basikal was lifted by me.]
The correct sentence should be 'Basikal ini saya angkat.'

As for 'terangkat' which means ' is able to be lifted' can be used for all personal pronouns.
For example, it is correct to write sentences such as the ones below:
1 Kotak yang berat ini terangkat oleh saya. [This heavy box was able to be lifted by me.]

2 Besi yang berat ini pasti tidak terangkat oleh engkau. [This heavy iron was surely able to be lifted by you.]

3 Batu yang berat ini terangkat olehnya. [This heavy stone was able to be lifted by him.]

The use of Malay words in Penang Hokkien

Besides being melodious in the sing-song manner Penang Hokkien is spoken, it contains quite a lot of Malays words. Some of these are listed below.

1 Gua balu (should be baru) khua tio ee niah. [I just saw him.]
The Malay word baru is used here, but pronounced as balu because in Hokkien there is no 'r' sound.

2 Lu takkan bei hiau meh? [Don't you know this?]
The Malay phrase takkan (tak akan) is used to mean 'don't' here.

3 Gua chang aik (pronounced as egg) eh si gua yong sa bun. [I use a cake of soap when I bathe.]
The Malay word sabun (soap) is used here.

4 Ee kau yin (should be kahwin) ka gua eh char boh khneah. [He married my daughter.]
The Malay word kahwin which is pronounced as kau yin by the Penang Hokkiens is used here.
5 Ee yong ba tu tim hee chiak kau. [He threw a stone at the dog.]
The Malay word batu (stone) is used here.

6 Gua su ka chiak liu lian. [I like to eat durians.]
The Malay words suka (like) and durian which is pronounced as liu lian by the Penang Hokkiens are used here.

7 Gua eh mak chu eh gu lai chin kneah lu mak. [The curry cooked by my mother is very creamy.]
The Malay words gulai (curry) and lemak which is uttered as lu mak are used here.

8 Ee chay tuah goh kha khi. [He sat on the corridor.]
Goh (five) kha khi (which in Malay is kaki) is the equivalent of kaki lima (corridor).

9 Ee kau gia som bong. [He is very arrogant.]
The Malay word sombong (proud) is used here.

10 Ee khi jam ban pang sai. [He went to the loo to defaecate.]
The Malay word jamban (toilet /loo) is used here.

Redundancy in Malay usage

Learners of the Malay language often make mistakes because of redundancy in its usage. In this post, I will talk about such mistakes so as to promote the correct usage.

1 "saling" which means "mutual" is often used together with duplicated words, causing redundancy.
For example, hormat-menghormati means respect each other or one another. It carries the sense of mutuality. Hence it is wrong to write "Mereka saling hormat-menghormati." The correct sentences should be:
a) Mereka saling menghormati. [They respect one another.]
b) Mereka hormat-menghormati. [They respect one another.]

2 "antara satu dengan yang lain" also shows the mutual sense. Hence it is wrong to write:
Mereka bantu-membantu antara satu dengan yang lain.
The correct sentences should be:
a) Mereka bantu-membantu. [They help one another.]
b) Mereka membantu antara satu dengan yang lain. [They help one another.]

So much for redundancy in Malay usage.

The slight difference between 'awhile' and 'a while'

Look at the following sentences and tell me which is wrong?
1 Please wait for awhile and I'll be with you soon.
2 Please wait for a while and I'll be with you soon.

The first sentence is wrong because 'awhile' needs no preposition in front of it.
Hence the first sentence should be rendered as:
Please wait awhile and I'll be with you soon.

Both wait awhile and for a while means wait for a moment.