The Little Angels

They are my little angels...whom I love to photograph since I came back. They are not my kids, but my elder brother's daughters. I recalled the time when K.Lai told me that Akma asked her where were I studying and she responded

'Oooo... London' (she pronounced it as Lawndon)

Following the L-o-n-d-o-n spelling in Malay language. It was ok, she didn't take it close to heart when K.Lai said all of them were laughing..., instead she quickly learned how to say it correctly as in the Oxford Dictionary.

The same thing happened when we were reading ' The Story of Benjamin Bunnies'' last saturday. Am quite sure, she didn't really know what she was reading as the vocabs were too rich for her. Not for a kid whose mother tongue is not English. It happened to me too when I was at her age. I hardly understood the books that I read & I took time to master the 2nd language, English. Even now I have to admit that I didn't speak with an American accent or Brit's accent. I don't think it is necessary, what more important is to be a fluent speaker.

I was in a lift when a friend of mine asked
'Lina, which level are we going to?' and I answered
'Three'

I guess I had pronounced it without putting my tounge between the teeth & so it sounded like I was saying, tree. He said
'Oh.. I so miss listening to the way Malaysians pronounce three.... My Malay friends during undergraduate studies pronounced it that way too'

Oh my... was that a compliment or being synical? I talked to myself. Being a wit person, my quick respond was
'Well I'm not a Brit, I am Malaysian...as long as people understand it then that's ok'

The truth is I was annoyed. Looking at my 3 little angels, I wonder the roads are tough ahead. Having to compete with students from English background, or per say, multilingual students must be an excruciating facts that their parents need to realize. How do I help them to at least be a good speaker? Not only them, same goes to my Village kids. To implement the way how I did it before might not be the best way, even so it could be difficult. I was lucky because in my era the cartoons were not translated into Malay, excepts for Oshin, the Japanese drama. So, whether I like it or not, the alien words I heard require translations either by my own assumptions or ... from the dictionary.

Ah, not to worry, I'm sure they will all be fine as long as they are being motivated. Akma seems to have inclination to be a teacher or I would suggest, a dentist, Alia... well, she loves pretty thing and Aisyah, by far is the most energetic one. Hopefully she'll be an engineer like me! Perhaps even better!