JENIS-JENIS KERAWANG

 1. Kerawang kacau

        Mestilah berbentuk lima @ enam segi. Saiz kerancang ini bergantung pada selera anda dan kesesuaian motif yang hendak disulam.

2. Kerawang kacang

        Ia sesuai di ruangan yang luas. Biasanya dijahit pada alas meja, alas dulang, dan bahagian depan baju kebaya. 

3. Kerawang jaring

        Biasanya dijahit pada kelompok bunga yang besar. Ia berbentuk empat segi. Saiznya mengikut selera masing-masing

4. Kerawang kudung

        Dijahit pada ruangan yang agak kecil, biasanya dijahit pada daun. Ia merupakan kerawang yang paling senang berbanding kerawang yang lain.

JOM TEROKAI DABONG, KELANTAN

     Dabong merupakan salah satu pekan kecil yang terletak di jajahan Kuala Krai. Tempatnya kurang popular di kalangan pelancong. Walau bagaimanapun, setelah keretapi ke Dabong diviralkan, ramai pengunjung ke sini dengan menaiki Keretapi Tanah Melayu.

    My first perception, saya sangkakan keretapi di kawasan pedalaman kurang selesa, kotor dan tidak berhawa dingin. Rupa-rupanya, keretapi ni bersih, selesa, berhawa dingin, ada tandas, belakang kerusi ada meja (macam dalam plane), dan siap ada cafe lagi. Yang paling menyeronokkan adalah orang tidak ramai. Jadi, penumpang duduk seorang dalam sebaris kerusi. Jadi, bolehlah tidur dengan selesa hihihihi........ Inilah kelebihan melancong pada hari bekerja, tidak crowded. That's why, I prefer to travel during working day. Saya sarankan anda membawa jacket @ sweater kerana air-condnya terlalu sejuk.

    

Cafe di dalam train

    Tiket train pertama dari Wakaf Bharu adalah 4.30 pg, diikuti 10.30pg, kemudian 2.50ptg. Bagi mereka yang datang ke stesen ini dengan kereta, anda usah risau kerana tempat parking di sini luas. Anda boleh parking di sini, free of charge. 

        Di antara tempat popular yang dikunjungi ramai di Dabong adalah Pipe Resort, Gua Ikan dan Gunung stong. Apabila anda sampai di Stesen Keretapi Dabong, anda bolehlah ambil prebet untuk pergi ketiga-tiga tempat tersebut. Biasanya mereka mengambil RM15 per kepala untuk pergi dan balik. Di antara nombor phone yg boleh anda contak untuk mendapatkan prebet adalah 014-2121782 & 010-9297921.

    Di atara aktiviti-aktiviti yg boleh dilakukan di Pipe Resort adalah menunggang ATV, mandi-manda di air terjun, jungle trekking, memancing, berkemah, bbq and flying fox. Di sini juga disediakan penginapan bagi mereka yang ingin merasai suasana bermalam di dalam hutan. 

Penginapan di Pipe Resort

    Aktiviti-aktiviti yang boleh dilakukan di Gua Ikan adalah berkelah, melihat pemandangan gua kapur, meneroka Gua Ikan, Gua Keris, Gua Gelap, dan Gua Pagar. Di sini tidak digalakkan mandi kerana airnya keruh.

Gua Ikan

Pemandangan gua kapur

    Di Gunung Stong pula, anda boleh mendaki gunung tersebut. Ketinggiannya adalah 1422m. Anda juga boleh mandi-manda, berkelah, jungle treaking, berkhemah dan memancing di kaki gunung tersebut. Di sini juga disediakan penginapan bagi mereka yang ingin bermalam di kaki bukit, di tepi air terjun.

Pemandangan di kaki Gunung Stong

    

Pemandangan di puncak Gunung Stong

    Seandainya anda dari Wakaf Bharu dan ingin ke Dabong, hanya sekadar ingin menaiki keretapi, mengenal tiga tempat tersebut, mandi-manda, ambil gambar, menunggang ATV dan berkelah, saya sarankan ambil train pukul 10.30pg dan balik pada hari yg sama pukul 6ptg dari Dabong.

    Manakala, sekiranya anda ingin melakukan banyak aktiviti-aktiviti seperti berkhemah, mendaki gunung stong, dan meneroka gua, saya sarankan anda bermalam. Untuk menjimatkan kos, anda boleh berkhemah. Sekiranya anda ingin menginap tempat yang lebih selesa, saya sarankan anda bermalam di homestay kerana lebih selesa dan murah. Di antara homestay yang boleh anda menginap adalah Rose House Dabong, masjid homestay, dan An-nur Guest House. Penginapan yang berada di Pipe Resort agak mahal, sempit, kurang selesa dan toilet berada di luar bilik.

        Sekiranya anda ingin makan mee udang galah viral yang terletak berhampiran dengan stesen keretapi Dadong, saya nasihatkan anda tidak perlu membazir duit makan di situ kerana ramai yang berpendapat rasanya kurang sedap. Saya berpendapat, lebih baik anda makan di restoran bersebelahan surau Stesen Keretapi Dabong kerana rasanya lebih sedap dan terdapat banyak pilihan makanan. Maaf, saya lupa nama restoran itu.

 Untuk gambaran yang lebih jelas, anda boleh layari  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQeJB78ld08 . Selepas menonton, jangan lupa untuk subscribe.

TIPS TO TRAVEL ABROAD

1. Stay at a hotel with WiFi

        If you don't buy a SIM card, you'll have to stay in a hotel that has WiFi. As a result, you can use your smartphone to connect the WiFi network. The smartphone is useful as a communication device as well as a tool for looking information.

2. Download the google translate

        You need to download the foreign language after installing the google translate on your smartphone. For example, if you want to go to China, you have to download the Chinese language. That is because you can use it even if you don't have access to the internet. 

     The application is very important because you can use it as a communication tool. Don't aspect that everyone knows the English language. I had bad experiences when I was in Korea and China. It was too hard to find people who can speak English. As a Malaysian, we should be thankful because we have to learn English as a second language and our government encourage us to learn more than two languages too.

3. Take pamphlets about the tourist attraction

        You must take any free pamphlets that you discover at an airport and any tourist information centres because they are useful when we have a communication barrier. When you wish to go to a specific tourist attraction, simply show the driver the photograph on the flyer. You don't have to speak, he can understand and he will inform you when we get at our location.

4. Where to stay??

        If you travel for shopping, better for you to stay near the shopping spot. Meanwhile, it is preferable to stay near tourist attractions if you travel for visiting interesting places. As a result, you can save your budget for transportation. You can choose to stay near facilities too like money changer, train station, restaurants and so on. 

5. Universal adapter

       Universal adapter allows a device from one country to be plugged into the wall outlet of another country. It is very important to us to make sure we can use our devices like a smartphone.

6. Bring food

        As a Muslim, we have to carry food when we want to go to a non-Muslim country. Don't aspect that we can find halal food immediately when we arrive at the destination. We can bring a snack, bread, cake, keropok, biscuit and so forth. Malays who cannot separate with rice can bring a small rice cooker like the picture below to cook. It can cook for two people. 

A small rice cooker

 

7. Print out rail transit line, subway and train map stations

        People who travel independently must have the maps because we use the public transports when we want to go to many destinations. The maps are important to make sure we can arrive at the destination correctly.

8. Search information about the destination

        Climate is one of the important information. If you want to go to a country with four seasons, you have to check its season and make preparation to face it, for instance, if you plan to go on winter, you have to bring suitable clothes. 

        You have to know about their culture, attitude and lifestyle too to make sure we do not feel weird and shocked.

9. Advice and opinion

        You can ask for advice and opinion from people who have been in the country. If you do not know even a person, you can get the information from internet. You can use them as your guideline and preparation to go there.

10. Search information about money changer

        If you want to save your budget, you have to search which money changer offers the cheapest rate for exchange.

11. List down the places that you plan to visit

        After listing down the places, you have to find information about the places like visiting hour, entrance fee and how to get there.

12. Clothes

        If you go abroad during spring, autumn and winter, you do not need to bring more clothes because the weather is cold and we will not sweat. We can wear the same clothes several times.

13. Search information about ways to save money

        Certain country offers a discount card, for instance, South Korea offers T-money Card for use on subway, bus and taxi. We can get a little discount when we use it.

      Certain places offer combo tickets, for example the Paris Attraction pass grants you free entry into an additional 13 attractions and tours.

14. Activate your debit card

      Of course, you can use your debit card to make any kind of payment in abroad. But first, we need to activate the overseas consumption. 

        The card can be activated either at an ATM machine or online. When your debit card has be activated or authorized, you can make payment and withdraw your money abroad. 

15. Loss passport

        Make sure to have copies of your identity card, passport, flight ticket, and passport photo ready before you go in case your passport gets stolen. I never experienced with losing of passport but based on information I got, the embassy needs all the documents to give us Sijil Perakuan Cemas (SPC)

16. Wise Card

        If you like travelling abroad, I advise you to have the Wise Card because it is cheaper compare to other debit card for international transactions. We can use this card in store, online or withdraw from ATM machine in local currency like a local. With the Wise card, we never have to be concerned about exchange rate markups, or high transaction fees when we spend abroad. 

17. Touch'nGo eWallet 

     Wherever you see the Alipay logo, you can use your Touch'nGo eWallet in making any payment 

The information mention above is crucial for those who travel alone and do not use any travel agencies. You will not need to worry if you travel with a travel agent because they will arrange every thing.

PETUA UNTUK MENGELAKKAN BAHAGIAN DALAM PENGUKUS MENJADI HITAM

 Perasankah, setiap kali anda menggunakan pengukus, bahagian dalam pengukus menjadi semakin hitam seperti gambar di bawah.

Untuk mengelakkannya menjadi hitam, anda boleh meletakkan dua keping asam keping setiap kali anda menggunakannya. 

Asam keping

So, pengukus anda menjadi putih berkilat, jeng jeng jeng !!!!!!!

Keadaan pengukus selepas menggunakan asam keping

Peringatan, asam keping yang telah digunakan tidak boleh digunakan lagi kerana ia tidak mendatangkan apa-apa kesan pada pengukus anda !!!!!

Selamat mencuba !!!

MALAYSIANS' PROBLEMS IN MASTERING ENGLISH LANGUAGE

 1.0 INTRODUCTION        

            British Council (2016) stated that a consonant cluster in a word is a group of consonants with no vowels between them. It is also known as a cluster. We can see examples of clusters as below:

• The example of two consonants that are positioned together at the start of words:

            cl in clock

            pr in print

            ph in phone

 

• The example of two consonants that are positioned together at the end of words:

            mp in jump

            nt in print

            sk in desk

 

• The example of two consonants that are positioned together at the middle of words:

            th in gather

            nk in blanket

 

• The example of three consonants in a word:

            mpl in trample

            nsp in transport

            nsf in transfer

 

• The example of four consonants in a word:

            ntry in country

            rthd in birthday

            syst in system

 

• Examples of words with Consonant Blends:

            Blend

            Breathe

            Drastic

 

            The School Run (2018) defined the syllable as single, unbroken sound of a spoken (or written) word. Syllables usually contain a vowel and accompanying consonants. Sometimes syllables are referred to as the ‘beats’ of spoken language.

            When we learn about syllable, actually we learn how to decode and spell the words. It also helps us how to pronounce double letters and vowels in words.

• The examples of words in one syllable: run, cat, red
• The examples of words in two syllable: table, pencil, flower
• The examples of words in three syllable: butterfly, beautiful, computer
• The examples of words in four syllable: category, transportation, systematic

 

2.0 MALAYSIANS' PROBLEMS IN MASTERING ENGLISH LANGUAGE

            There are many challenges faced by Malaysians in mastering the English language. One of them is to produce sound clusters. I agree with the statement that some sound clusters and the formation of syllabi are difficult for native speakers of any of the Malaysian languages when they try to master the English language. These can be proven by analysing the recorded speech that was conducted among three Malaysian English language learners. You can listen the recorded speech by click the link https://youtu.be/vuiGFa4g0q4

 

2.1 THE RECORDED SPEECH

 Firstly, I asked three Malay speakers of English learners to read the short text below. They are intermediate learners:

 

“Last Friday, I went to Wakaf Bharu Market. I bought vegetable, fish, salt, onion, and some chocolate. After that, I took breakfast at Siti Restaurant. I ate sandwich”.

 

The three learners read as follow:

 

2.1.1 The first learner

The first learner read as follow:

/lʌst/ /fraɪdeɪ/ , /aɪ/ /went/ /tʊ/ /wʌkʌf/ /bʌrʊ/ /mʌrkət/ . /aɪ/ /bɒt/ /vedʒɪtəbl/, /fɪʃ/, /sɔ:lt/, /ɑ:nɪən/, /ən/ /sʌm/ /ʈʃɔ:klət/ . /ʌftər/ /dæt/ , /aɪ/ /tʊk/ /brəkfəst/ /æt/ /sɪtɪ/ /restrɒn/. /aɪ/ /æt/ /senwɪʃ/.

Words	Explaination
Last	The first learner can produce sound consonant cluster “st” at the word “last” correctly. It only has a syllable in this word.
Friday	She can produce sound cluster “fr” correctly. It only has two syllables in this word.
Went	She can produce sound cluster /nt/ correctly.
Bharu	It is a classic Malay Language word. The new spelling is “baru”. We do not change its spelling because “Wakaf Bharu” is a name of the place. This situation is also the same with “Kota Bharu”. She did not pronounce “h” sound because it is an old spelling.
Market	The British English and the American English pronounce it differently on this word. The British English does not produce “r” sound /mɑ:kɪt/ while, the American English pronounce “r” sound /mʌrkət/. The learner used American English on this word and she produced it correctly. This word has two syllables.
Bought	This word is past tense for “buy”. Even though the word has three consonants, we do not need to produce /g/ and /h/ sound. We only produce /t/ sound. So, the learner can pronounce it easily.
vegetable	The learner can pronounce it correctly at the consonant cluster but she made a mistake when pronouncing /ɪ/ sound after /vedʒ/ sound. Actually, she has to silent the first “e” word. People always make mistake on this word.  It is supported by Emma (2017) who stated that this word is a challenge because it looks like there should be four syllables in this word ‘Vegetable’. But there are only three syllables, ‘vegetable’. Can you see the syllable – that we completely forget the ‘e’? ‘Vegetable’. We don’t pronounce that second syllable.
fish	The learner has no problem in pronouncing it. It only has one syllable.
salt	The learner also has no problem in pronouncing this word and also the cluster. It only has one syllable.
and	The learner also has no problem in pronouncing this word and also the cluster. It only has one syllable.
chocolate	The learner has no problem in pronouncing the word but she made a mistake in pronouncing the first /ɒ/. She pronounced in long vowel /ɔ:/.
That	The learner cannot produce /ð/ sound correctly because there is no /ð/ sound in the Malay Language. /d/ sound is the nearest sound.
breakfast	The learner pronounced correctly all the clusters but she made a mistake in pronouncing /brək/. The correct is /brek/. It only has two syllables.
restaurant	The learner pronounced both two clusters correctly and also the whole word. It only has two syllables and it has silent sounds of /a/ and /u/.
Sandwich	The learner pronounced the first cluster correctly in which she has to silent the /d/ sound. However, she made a mistake in pronouncing “ch” sound. She pronounced /ʃ/ sound. The correct is /tʃ/.

 

2.1.2 The second learner

The second learner read as follow:

/lʌst/ /fraɪdej/, /aɪ/ /wɜ:nt/ /tʊ/ /wʌkʌf/ /bʌghu:/ /mɑ:rkət/. /aɪ/ /brɒt/ /vegɪtəbl/, /fɪʃ/, /sɔ:t/, /ʌnɪjən/, /ən/ /sʌm/ /ɒf/ /ʈʃɒklət/. /ʌftər/ /dət/, /aɪ/ /tʊk/ /brəkfəst/ /et/ /sɪtɪ/ /restɒren/. /aɪ/ /eɪt/ /senwɪʃ/.

Words	Explaination
Last	The second leaner can produce sound cluster correctly.
Friday	She can produce sound cluster correctly on this word but she made a mistake in pronouncing “day”. She is supposed to pronounce /deɪ/.
Went	She can produce sound cluster /nt/ correctly.
Bharu	She did not pronounce /h/ sound because of old spelling. However, she made a mistake in pronouncing /r/ sound. She pronounced it as /gh/ sound.
Market	She used the American English and she did not have any problem in pronouncing the cluster.
Bought	She can pronounce the cluster easily because we do not need to pronounce /g/ and /h/ sounds. However, she made a mistake in pronouncing the whole word. She pronounced it as /brɒt/.
vegetable	She pronounced the word with four syllables. Actually, it is only three syllables.
fish	She did not have a problem with this word
salt	She had a hard problem in pronouncing the cluster. She pronounced this word without /l/ sound.
and	He had a problem in pronouncing (nd) sound. He pronounced the word without /d/ sound.
chocolate	She did not have a problem in pronouncing this word.
That	She pronounced /ð/ sound as /d/ sound.
breakfast	She did not have a problem in pronouncing all the clusters in this word but she has a problem in pronouncing “a” and “e” words. She pronounced it as /ə/ sound.
restaurant	She pronounced it in three syllables because she was influenced by Malay language and its spelling. Malay people always make mistake in pronouncing this word. It is supported by Fadzilah Amin (2012) who stated that the Malay language took the word “restaurant” from English and changed it to “restoran”. When people who are more used to Malay than English come across the original English word, they have a tendency to pronounce it like the borrowed word “restoran”. But you can’t totally blame them. The spelling in English makes us expect it to have three syllables, but we all know how different the English spelling of a word can be from its pronunciation.
Sandwich	She made a mistake in pronouncing “ch” sound. She pronounced them as /ʃ/ sound. The correct is /tʃ/.

 

2.1.3 The third learner

The third learner read as follow:

/lʌst/ /fraɪdej/, /aɪ/ /went/ /tʊ/ /wɒkʌf/ /bʌghu:/ /mʌkət/. /aɪ/ /bɒt/ /vegɪtəbl/, /fɪs/, /sɜ:t/, /ə:nɪjən/, /ən/ /sʌm/ /ʈʃɒklʌt/. /ʌftər/ /dət/, /aɪ/ /tʊk/ /bəkfəst/ /et/ /sɪtɪ/ /restɒren/. /aɪ/ /et/ /senvɪs/.

Words	Explaination
Last	The third leaner can produce sound cluster correctly on this word
Friday	He can produce sound cluster correctly on this word but he made a mistake in pronouncing “day”. He is supposed to pronounce /deɪ/.
Went	He pronounced it correctly.
Bharu	He also did not pronounce /h/ sound because of old spelling. However, he made mistake in pronounce /r/ sound. He pronounced it as /gh/ sound.
Market	He pronounced it as /mʌkət/. I think maybe he used Kelantan English.
Bought	He can pronounce the cluster correctly.
vegetable	The third leaner did the same mistake in which he has pronounced it in four syllables. He did not make any mistake on the consonant cluster /bl/.
fish	The leaner cannot pronounce /ʃ/ sound correctly. He pronounced it as /s/ sound.
salt	He had a problem in pronouncing /lt/ sound and also made a mistake in pronouncing this word.
and	He had a problem in pronouncing /nd/ sound. He pronounced the word without /d/ sound.
chocolate	He can pronounce /ʈʃ/ sound correctly but he made mistake in pronouncing words “late”. He pronounced as /lʌt/. The correct is /lət/. The mistake happens because the Malay Language took this word from English and changed it into “coklat”. Even though the word has many letters, it only has two syllables.
That	He also made the same mistake on this word in which he pronounced /ð/ sound as /d/ sound.
breakfast	He cannot pronounce consonant cluster “br” sound.
restaurant	He made the same mistake with the second learner in which he has pronounced the word in three syllables.
Sandwich	He had a problem in pronouncing the whole word. He cannot pronounce /æ/, /w/ and /ʈʃ/ sounds.

 

2.1.4 The correct pronunciation based on British English

/lɑ:st/ /fraɪdeɪ/, /aɪ/ /went/ /tu:/ /wakaf/ /bhʌrʊ/ /mɑ:kɪt/. /aɪ/ /bɔ:t/ /vedʒtəbl/, /fɪʃ/, /sɔ:lt/, /ʌnjən/, /ænd/ /sʌm/ /ʈʃɒklət/. / ɑ:ftə/ /ðæt/, /aɪ/ /tʊk/ /brekfəst/ /æt/ /sɪtɪ/ /restrɒn/. /aɪ/ /æt/ /sænwɪʈʃ/.

 

 3.0 FINDINGS

            Based on the recorded speech, I found all of them cannot produce /θ/ and /ð/ sound. The consonant cluster that exists at both sounds is “th”. It happens because there is no /θ/ and /ð/ sounds in the Malay language. The sounds nearest to these sounds are /t/ and /d/ sounds. So, that is why the learners cannot pronounce “that” correctly.  Even though they have been learning the English Language since primary school, they have been doing the same mistake. Malay people tend to pronounce /ð/ sound as /d/ sound. It is supported by Swan and Smith (2001), who stated that English fricatives like /ð/ and /θ/ are always pronounced incorrectly as /t/ and /d/; for example, the word “thousand” /θaʊzənd/ would be (tousan). Chinese people also have the same problem.

            Two of the learners cannot produce /r/ sound exactly because they are influenced by Kelantan dialect. Kelantan dialect pronounces /r/ as /gh/ for example, “ghumoh”, “teghe”, “ghambut” and “ghamo”. So, that is why they pronounced “bharu” as /baghu/.

            Even though the third learner cannot pronounce /ʃ/ sound correctly, majority of Malay people can pronounce /ʃ/ sound because they have read Al Quran before they learn the English Language. It is supported by Puspita (2017) which stated that they learn Arabic when they are reading Al Qur’an. Arabic has consonant sounds /f/, / ð/, /ð/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/. Therefore, if the learners learn Arabic industriously, they would not face any problem in pronouncing those sounds. But if they learn Arabic lazily, they may have problem in pronouncing them.

            Besides, Malaysians always make mistake in pronouncing “restaurant”. It is supported by Fadzilah Amin (2012) who stated that while she teaches English language to tertiary students, she would inevitably hear most of them pronounce “restaurant” as a three-syllable word sounding like “res-to-rant” or “res-to-rent”. She had to make them repeat the correct two-syllable pronunciation in British English several times before they could say “res-tront”. Actually, it happens because the Malay language took the word from English then changed the word into “restoran”. When Malaysians want to pronounce the word, they tend to pronounce it in three syllables. Actually, it only has two syllables.         

I found the learners had a problem in pronouncing /ʈʃ/ sound when it is positioned at the end. We can see that all of them cannot pronounce “sandwich” correctly but they can pronounce it when it is positioned at the start of a word like “chocolate”.

            According to the recorded speech, the learners cannot pronounce certain consonant-cluster. They pronounced certain word and be silent in another word. For example, they pronounced /t/ sound but silent /l/ sound on “salt”. For “and”, they pronounced /n/ sound but silent /d/ sound. However, they did not have any problem in pronouncing “bought” because they have to silent /g/ and /h/ sounds. They only have to pronounce /t/ sound, /bɔ:t/. Meanwhile, the third learner cannot pronounce “br” on “breakfast”. He pronounced it as /bəkfəst/. I think the third learner tends to use Kelantan English.

            In my opinion, it is too hard for learners to master pronunciation because their teachers do not emphasize it. It is supported by a study conducted by Jayapalan and Pillai (2011) which reported that the teaching of pronunciation is not being given enough attention by teachers. Besides, Wahid and Sulong (2013) also found that ESL practitioners in Malaysia demonstrate more emphasis on the teaching of the technical aspects of sound productions or phonetic symbols i.e. the segmental. As a result, pronunciation instruction loses its meaningfulness without the presence of communicative elements in the teaching methods. In addition, with examination requirements, teachers barely find the time to ensure that their lessons are communicatively oriented.

I also had experience when I was at primary and secondary schools, in which I never learned about phonetics and phonology, and my teachers never told me that there are many varieties of English language in the world. I learnt phonetics for the first time when I was 30 at a private institution. From there, I realized that I made many mistakes when I pronounced words. Now, I can learn the correct pronunciation myself because I can read the phonetic symbols.

           

4.0 CONCLUSION

            In conclusion, the consonant cluster is not an easy work to master for Malaysians because the education system for primary and secondary school in Malaysia does not emphasize students to produce pronunciation like a native speaker. So, as a teacher, we have to be aware and be sensitive about it, and take reasonable actions. It can be a serious problem when they still cannot master it at higher level.

            Some Malaysians cannot pronounce the words correctly because they are influenced by their dialect for example, some Kelantanise and Chinese cannot pronounce /r/ sound. The Kelantanese tend to pronounse it as /gh/ sound when /r/ sound is positioned at the middle of word. The Chinese tend to pronounce it as /l/ sound such as /labbit/ for /rabbit/.     

Malaysians also have difficulty in identifying syllable because the way the Malay language spells its words is not the same with the English language. We can see it in the word “chocolate”. If we see the word “chocolate” in the Malay language view, the word has four syllables because the Malay language spells the word as cho-co-la-te. They will pronounce every consonant + vowel. So, that is why Malaysians take more time to master pronunciation and spelling of the English language.

            Malaysians also get confused when the Malay language borrows words from the English language. So, Malaysians tend to pronounce the words like the way they pronounce it in the Malay language like restaurant and ‘restoran’, chocolate and ‘coklat’, bag and ‘beg’, pencil and ‘pensil’, computer and ‘komputer’, machine and ‘mesin’, and discussion and ‘diskusi’. So, as an ESL leaner, we have to be sensitive about it.