I seek your deepest apologies

To all my Hindu brothers, sisters, friends and family, with great respect and love, I am as intensely outraged, enraged and humiliated. I seek your deepest apologies.

Humanity of all walks of life should condemn the act of hatred and intolerance against nature.

• Urge Najib To Act NOW Against Cow-Head Protestors
• The Cow-Head Lesson for Merdeka: Delegitimize Violence and Hatred

Classes on both Tues & Thurs

Welcome back everyone!

I'm all well and healthy... I hope so do you! From now on, classes will be on full gear, god-willing.

Please be informed that both groups 103 & 115 need to attend this week Tuesday & Thursday classes:

Tuesday & Thursday | 24 & 26 Aug 2009 | *7.30PM | Podium F

Ramadan Mubarak to all!

Mr. M

*Only for Ramadan

KML Quarantined

Hello Group 103 & 115,

Kolej Matrikulasi Labuan has been quarantined due to the A(H1N1) influenza for a week (10-16 Aug).

It is highly unlikely that I could go to UMS campus for classes. All KML students and staff are NOT allowed to get out of the compound. Coincidentally you will have a mid-term break (17-23 Aug). This means we will only be able to see each other on the next 25 & 27 Aug.

Watch this space to keep yourself updated on reading and writing assignments.

Mr. M

Pronunciation Lesson

Objectives

By the end of the lesson, students should be able to

1. be aware of RP
2. attempt RP in daily communication
3. neutralize accent

Personal accents are beautiful as it reflects speaker's culture and background. Hence, all of us must be aware that the teaching of RP/Queen's English is not to eliminate that  originality and beauty altogether. Rather, through practice it is to reduce heavy accents to increase effective communication in English. - Mr M

Pronunciation Lessons of Received Pronunciation (RP). More on RP in:

• Wikipedia: English
• Wikipedia: Simple English
• BBC

Video links to , narrated by Alison Pitman

1. RP British Accent Training (Part 1)
2. RP British Accent Training (Part 2) 
3. Beyoncé tries British accent

Photo taken from Aspen Baker's Blog

Classes will start on these dates

Dear UMS students,

For some health reasons, I have not been well lately.
Please be notified that classes will definitely start as usual for

Group 115 on 23 July (Thursday)
Group 103 on 28 July (Tuesday)

It could be the haze? You take care too.
Thank you.

Mr. M

MUET Workshop

Quite a number of students have been asking about the new MUET format as well as the tips and advice on how to prepare for the exams. To be honest I cannot answer all of that in one email or two.

The best is to buy a book on MUET new format or attend a briefing or a workshop for it. You can refer here and here for the new format.

I am also considering, if the number is sizable, to organize a workshop. Let me know if you are interested by emailing me your name and your contact no.

The best is to have 8 to 12 students so we could have a good number for the Speaking Exam practice. I don't need a big class. Minimal number of students for this workshop to run is 8.

You could also suggest the best time to do this. Ideally it will be carried out in 4 classes, less than 2 hours each, depending on how much help you need. Fees will be minimal.

UPDATE:
Mr M's MUET Workshop
Minimum no. of participant: 8
Maximum no. of participant: 16
Fee: RM80 per person (About RM10 per hour, including workshop materials)

Workshop synopsis
This workshop will be carried out in four 2-hour sessions. Materials of the workshop will be provided to participants which contain all tips and tricks in answering all four newly-formatted papers: Reading, Writing, Listening, Speaking. All participants will have a chance to not only grasp the theories but will also put what they have learned into practice in the workshop.

Skills objectives
By the end of the workshop, students will . . .
Reading*: be aware of the new nature of reading questions and the best way to answer them
Writing*: be writing according to the MUET marking scheme
Listening*: be aware of the new nature of listening questions and the best way to answer them
Speaking: definitely be able to prepare in 2 minutes & speak in the 2-minute allocated time.

(*) indicates new format

Stunted Growth - Visual Aids in Classroom

Upcoming action research: Stunted Growth - Visual Aids in Classroom

Synopsis
With or without motivation, students would typically give cold shoulders to any kind of presentation tasks thrown at their feet. Forum is one of the most effective forms of presentation. However at most times, teachers and audience would mostly be uninspired, jaded and occasionally snubbed listening to daunting presentations, one after another.

Poor preparation is definitely the main cause. Through an action research using excerpts from The Oprah Winfrey Show and MTV’s Chat The Planet, students are introduced to analyse the mechanics of forum presentation in both TV shows. This expectantly helps students to prepare and present a better forum presentation, consequently motivates them to explore it further. This action research also investigates the perception of students on these selected visual aid materials and its relevance to their task.

Video excerpts of Chat The Planet is gathered from archive.org