English

Bismillah and Assalamualaikum.

*I wrote this on 12-Eleven 2013 but decided not to post it then, but now I post it sebab semalam terpost entry negatif, tapi dah delete, gantilah dengan ni.

Pronunciation (/prəˌnʌnsɪˈeɪʃ(ə)n/) = Sebutan.

Pronounce (/prəˈnaʊns/) = Sebut.

But there is no such word as Pronounciation. So I read.

I came to learn about it some years ago when I became too careful on pronunciation. It was because, (fortunately) I used to be surrounded by fluent speakers. Very, articulate. But some were too judgemental too, and I was too sensitive. There used to be situations where a group of fluent speakers chatting around, saying things like, for instance;

"You know, the other day, I heard that person pronounced steak as stik, instead of steik. Hahaha so funny. Or you also don't know?"

"Why do people keep pronouncing high as haig, higher as haiger. It's too annoying!"

"Wait, you say what?! MetOd? Bahaha metəd la~ Pronounce it properly la"

"I heard some doctors said stomach as sta-mach. Not all doctors are smart after all. Hahaha"

"Bukan kombaination la. Semua word nak slang je~"

Haha and once, when I was trying to speak in English more in everyday conversation sebab kawan2 ramai yang suka speaking, I ended up getting this:

"Eh so weird. You sound funny when you're speaking. Hahah"

How could I forget such judgemental words? Hohoho. So jadi paranoid and ended up jadi takut nak speaking. Takut sangat salah walhal ramai orang main langgar je ape semua, berjaya jugak dalam hidup. Takde kena tangkap polis masuk penjara pun, ye dak? I wish I was more carefree about other people's words. So maybe I would speak more confidently instead of worrying too much and make things bad.

Although I know precise pronunciation is important, as to avoid confusion la mostly, I still thinks it's NOT THAT important. Is it really? Ok maybe it is, but I don't think people should be too sarcastic about mispronunciation. Ehem, tapi pernah je kot tergelakkan orang salah sebut. Tapi kat belakang la. Huhu ampun. Tak berani nak tegur orang, sebab takut orang tu jadi paranoid jugak, like me. As long as they have the confident, it is understandable, and the word does not have other meaning, it is passable. Why bother too much? Plus, if people care enough about (their) pronunciation, they will ASK. 

Huhu pernah sekali a friend of mine cerita dia order beef steak kat kedai, tapi dapat bistik (telur bistik). How I wished I could tell her in the nicest, non-hurting way that it was because she pronounced it wrongly. Since I know I always choose the wrong words, I ended up saying nothing.*nanges* I'm sorry my friend.

Hurm so most of the times, if not always, I would check the English dictionary (mostly online) every time I found a new word or when I'm not sure how a word should be pronounced. Still, tak jadi pun the best speaker ke apa pun. I used to be a very quiet person. I don't really have the confident in speech since I were born. Haha. Mak said I won't speak a word, not even a single word, until I was three years old. The moment I started speaking, she added, I had very little of pelat or mispronunciations as how children usually do. But I do remember pronouncing 'mandi' as 'mati', and 'pisau' as 'pisang' and wondered why do people looked so confused everytime. Haha

I also used to think that to be an English teacher you have to be perfect in English. Tapi rupanya salah. As long as minat, confident and ada perasaan nak improve diri sendiri, why not? Tak cuba tak tahu. I saw some of my friends that used to be poor in grammar and spelling became very good English teachers, and even well-loved by their students. And from what I see is that their grammars and spellings improved each day, bit by bit while being a teacher. This proves that you don't have to be perfect before you can teach. To teach is to learn, so they say. It's true. Tapi tau, mesti ada hikmah kenapa tak jadi amek TESL dulu. I lack the confident. Huahuahua.

Btw, nampak tak simbol2 annoying dalam kurungan warna biru tadi? Itu adalah phonetic spelling. Phonetic: Representing the sounds of speech with a set of distinct symbols, each designating a single sound. I like learning phonetic (/fəˈnɛtɪk/). It's interesting and full of surprises! Macam belajar makhraj dalam bahasa Arab. It's fun exploring how a single letter could sound differently in different words ^^

Some of my favourites are (ikut pemahaman sendiri):

o'clock. /əˈklɒk/ = lebih kurang mcm e clock dengan e tu macam e dalam demam tapi ada kesan bunyi huruf u sikit, dan o dalam clock tu nak ke arah bunyi huruf a, ternganga sikit. Bukan o-klok sambil mulut ter-macam ni :o

procedure. /prəˈsiːdʒə/ = more to pre-si-je dengan e dalam pre macam e dalam o'clock tadi. And je macam dalam jelatah. Bukan prosider atau prosidiur

cache. /kaʃ/ = similar to cash, bukan cashier or kece or keshe.

subtle. /ˈsʌt(ə)l/ = satel. The b is silent like the n in damn or t in ballet. 

Menarik tak menarik tak? Haa.. Ok sikit je sebab tak mengaji habis. Entah tepat ke tidak.

Just my favourite subject, not saying that I am a phonetic guru or I am the best in pronunciation, or I am very good in English, or I am in mat salleh level already. NO. And I know very well I'm not, and still have loads to learn. I am forever a learner. Bukan tahap sampai boleh pergi jauh pun. Sambil tulis entry ni pun sambil google to check if my fact is right. No confident.

I only have confident in my spelling :) Dulu masa sekolah bercita-cita nak menang Spelling Bee tapi tak tercalon as contestant pun sebab gelabah, lepastu tak dapat focus, lepastu masa disuruh give and spell a word  that starts with 'N' and 2 syllables pergi bagi 1 syllable, lepastu disqualified masa pemilihan. I still remember saying "noun.. N.. O.. U.. N.. noun!" and got "You're out!" as a reply. Lepastu sekolah tak pernah buat dah pertandingan tu. Sob.

P.s: This entry stemmed from Nurulism's tweet "STEAK as in 'stek'. CREPE as in 'crep'. #BukanSTICK #BukanCrip".