It was probably introduced to us in our 1st year or 2nd year by non other than DD himself.
Thursday, 19 January 2012
Colourless green ideas sleep furiously
I got this on the internet. To ELS 2008/2012, anyone remember this sentence?
It was probably introduced to us in our 1st year or 2nd year by non other than DD himself.
It was probably introduced to us in our 1st year or 2nd year by non other than DD himself.
Phonological Analysis!
In our phonological exercise on the 16th January, we we’re asked to find out whether glottal stops [ ʔ ] is a phoneme in Standard Arabic. We know that there is absence of the glottal stop phoneme [ ʔ ] in English, but it occurs in the speech of most speakers of English. In my observation, [ ʔ ] in English typically occurs when the phoneme [ t ] is in the phonetic structure of a word.
For example, [ bɒtəɭ ] will be uttered as [ bɒʔəɭ ].
According to my analysis, Arabic has a glottal stop phoneme and I did not notice the presence of it previously. The glottal stop in Arabic is the ‘Arabic letter’ called ‘Hamzah’ which is represented as ‘ء’. Phonological analysis really gets interesting! Studying phonological analysis and phonetics makes us have the ability to utter words or sounds in any language almost in the same manner as a native speaker, perhaps. But practice is needed of course.
However, when phonological analysis was about to get interesting, the last lecture on Features was very technical. Adrian (my lecturer) even compared the lecture of phonology to have a similar approach with a chemistry class on how an atom is made up of neutrons and protons. That lecture really took me back to my secondary school memory in chemistry class. I have a hard time understanding chemistry before and still having a hard time understanding it. I just hope that phonological analysis is nothing like chemistry! Otherwise, I can be in a lot of trouble for that particular course. What I hoping for now is to really understand it and try my best to make sense of ‘Features’ on phonological analysis.
However, when phonological analysis was about to get interesting, the last lecture on Features was very technical. Adrian (my lecturer) even compared the lecture of phonology to have a similar approach with a chemistry class on how an atom is made up of neutrons and protons. That lecture really took me back to my secondary school memory in chemistry class. I have a hard time understanding chemistry before and still having a hard time understanding it. I just hope that phonological analysis is nothing like chemistry! Otherwise, I can be in a lot of trouble for that particular course. What I hoping for now is to really understand it and try my best to make sense of ‘Features’ on phonological analysis.
Saturday, 14 January 2012
AmerE or BrE
An interesting observation on the pronunciation dilemma. Probably it occurs in Brunei as well. American media have spread across the world and it has influenced many individuals on their speech.
The picture depicts the tug of war on American English and British English. Semiotic on 'the struggle of which variety to have more status', perhaps?
The picture depicts the tug of war on American English and British English. Semiotic on 'the struggle of which variety to have more status', perhaps?
Friday, 13 January 2012
Recording for Austism
I had a great experience today as I helped with the recording for SMARTER's jingle that is to be aired on Kristal FM. I hope more tickets can be sold for the upcoming SMARTER play called 'Oddy's Quest 2: A Journey In Search Of A Home'. It is to be held at the Indera Samudera Grand Hall, Empire Hotel and Country Club on the 21st of January 2012, 7.30pm. I'm kind of advertising here as well.
Previously, I did not bother in trying to understand what Autism is. I have heard of it, but I am not sure what it is exactly. Its a pity that I am ignorant to these things in life that is happening to others. I salute to the people who have worked hard in trying to help others who have conditions 'we perceive' as not normal. May be it Autism, or mental illness, poverty, Obesity, disabled and many more. Having one individual is not enough in trying to help others that is in need. I believe all of us should try to at least do something to help the needy. After years of living my life, I thought it was just me climbing up that ladder, but after today, the vision that I used to have in reaching a certain target or position in life is just purely on the basis of my own wants and needs. I have not thought of others that needs care and attention. In the past, I did some fieldwork with lecturers in UBD mostly on poverty and well being, but this is the first time that I worked individuals with medical conditions. What touches me the most is that they are still children, and they need adults support, supervision and that special care and attention.
There was a mixed feelings inside me when I worked with the children with Autism. I felt sad and touched at the same time. I am sad because these kids are really adorable, but with the conditions they have, people who do not understand them may start to say and give a negative impression on them. I am touched because with all these negative vibes around them, they actually did a far more greater job than I did on the recordings. They are far more capable than what we think. We just have to give them the chance to show what they can do. Quoting the Transformers movie "There's more than meets the eye".
I am grateful to Ayla, my lecturer to give me the opportunity to work with the children. It has been a great experience for me, and it is an eye opening for me that there is more to life. I hope someday, I can be more of a help for those people who are in need. I will start with small and simplest things now, and make my way up on to the big things.
Previously, I did not bother in trying to understand what Autism is. I have heard of it, but I am not sure what it is exactly. Its a pity that I am ignorant to these things in life that is happening to others. I salute to the people who have worked hard in trying to help others who have conditions 'we perceive' as not normal. May be it Autism, or mental illness, poverty, Obesity, disabled and many more. Having one individual is not enough in trying to help others that is in need. I believe all of us should try to at least do something to help the needy. After years of living my life, I thought it was just me climbing up that ladder, but after today, the vision that I used to have in reaching a certain target or position in life is just purely on the basis of my own wants and needs. I have not thought of others that needs care and attention. In the past, I did some fieldwork with lecturers in UBD mostly on poverty and well being, but this is the first time that I worked individuals with medical conditions. What touches me the most is that they are still children, and they need adults support, supervision and that special care and attention.
There was a mixed feelings inside me when I worked with the children with Autism. I felt sad and touched at the same time. I am sad because these kids are really adorable, but with the conditions they have, people who do not understand them may start to say and give a negative impression on them. I am touched because with all these negative vibes around them, they actually did a far more greater job than I did on the recordings. They are far more capable than what we think. We just have to give them the chance to show what they can do. Quoting the Transformers movie "There's more than meets the eye".
I am grateful to Ayla, my lecturer to give me the opportunity to work with the children. It has been a great experience for me, and it is an eye opening for me that there is more to life. I hope someday, I can be more of a help for those people who are in need. I will start with small and simplest things now, and make my way up on to the big things.
Wednesday, 11 January 2012
First blogging experience
It is 11.32am, 12th January 2012 and I have just finished my lecture with Dr. David Deterding for EL 4216. This is the first time ever that I created a blog. I used to wonder why people blog, and after creating my own, I now know the feeling of it.
The purpose of this blog is purely academic for the EL4216 Academic and Professional Electronic Communication course. Some of the things that I will do on this blog is to give reflections and my learning experience of my academic life in University of Brunei Darussalam as an English Language Studies student.
I am currently in my 4th year and I still have a lot of work in improving my English proficiency. So i guess having a blog is not as bad as I thought it was. It is actually fun! Probably it may be one approach where I can improve my English language skills.
The purpose of this blog is purely academic for the EL4216 Academic and Professional Electronic Communication course. Some of the things that I will do on this blog is to give reflections and my learning experience of my academic life in University of Brunei Darussalam as an English Language Studies student.
I am currently in my 4th year and I still have a lot of work in improving my English proficiency. So i guess having a blog is not as bad as I thought it was. It is actually fun! Probably it may be one approach where I can improve my English language skills.
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