Can't Handle Long Spelling in Your Language ---Malay?
An 8-year old reads only syllables consisting of 2 letters in his language. Malay top newspaper Utusan Malaysia's forum published the opinion of the child's uncle, lamenting failure of the education system in combating illiteracy in Bahasa Malaysia.
Oh, if only this kid knew how tricky is a little devil in our language, Malay consonant " NG". Put NG on the left of a vowel, it reads:
Put NG at the right side of a vowel, it reads:
No wonder some kids are confused. But it is even more amazing that no one tells this poor kid ever since he started his formal education in kindergarten!
With my little monkey nephew, his task is not over with the reading of words, he must continue to tackle a little story. Using all the words above, I made up a little story of how a frog came to live under a coconut shell.
Abang tendang tempurung. Tempurung tenggelam. Katak junjung tempurung ke atas kolam. Katak guling tempurung ke arah lalang. Katak tunggu di bawah tempurung rendang. Katak tak banting tulang menangkap serangga.
Can Your Kid Differentiate the TWO NGs?
My little monkey is not really smart. So I want to make sure he is able to see the difference between the two NGs in the language Malay. I blend both in another version of the froggie story.
ngah
second
melangit
sky high
tengah
middle
mengetuk
knock
mengayuh
paddle
mengecap
enjoy
kesenangan
comfort
Abang ngah tendang tempurung melangit. Tempurung tenggelam di tengah kolam. Tempurung mengetuk kepala katak. Katak menjunjung tempurung ke atas kolam.
Katak mengayuh tempurung ke tepi kolam. Katak guling tempurung ke arah lalang. Katak tunggu di bawah tempurung rendang. Oh, Katak mengecap kesenangan hidup!
Instill Principles!!
Are the syllables in this lesson longgggggggg? Yes. Can my little monkey spell them ? Effortlessly. As for the kid mentioned in the forum of Utusan Malaysia, will he overcome his spelling problem? If he learns the phonics of Bahasa Malaysia including NY and NG, yes!
