I say A but actually I mean A.1.1

When I was a kid my mom said I was a very shy girl. It was hard for me to tell directly to my parents what I wanted. For example, I'd ask my dad, "Papa, hari Ahad zoo bukak tak?" to hint that I wanted to visit Zoo Negara. Or rub my tummy and say "Yati lapar la." whenever we passed by A&W Taman Jaya. Zaman tu that was the only fast food restaurant around. Kalau bapak saya ajak makan di sana saya tak pikir panjang terus cari baju raya tahun lepas dan pakai. Event besar! Mesti mahu pakai baju cantik!

Anyway this morning in class we had a little game. The class was divided into two groups and we had a good time. Dan biasalah kan semasa permainan dijalankan, ahli dari kedua-dua kumpulan saling menyakat dan melancarkan perang saraf.

One team was leading by a point. The taunts got louder. Then one kid said to another, "Ala engkau tu kentut dalam air." Madame tersenyap sebentar kerana tidak begitu memahami apakah yang cuba diperkatakan oleh pelajar tersebut.

The student explained: "Ustaz saya cakap kan Madame, kalau kita kentut dalam air puasa kita batal. Dia tu (pointing tu his friend) suka kentut dalam air."

Oleh itu kejadian kentut dalam air juga boleh digunakan untuk memberitahu yang seseorang itu tidak berpuasa. I learned something new today.

Iftar with the Rukaiyah kids

These two mischievous looking boys are part of the Rukaiyah Orphanage I had the pleasure of spending some time with during iftar last weekend. And while I was taking this photo, I could almost hear them thinking out loud. And true enough, when I told them that everyone in my family was tall, they cried out, "Alaaa Achik macamana Achik tau kitaorang nak tanya soalan tu?"

They told me they were brothers. I asked them about another boy Haikal that I met last year during an outing with them. They told me that his parents came back for him. His parents, previously separated, got back together and decided to take back their child and live as a family again.

And to be honest, that was one of the best news that I've heard in a long time. We could do more with these heartwarming stories. It just cheers up any dowdy day.

Then one of the two boys in the photo above came up to me later to admit that they were not really brothers. Just friends. "Tapi saya lagi hensem tau Achik." Katanya. With a cheeky smile. :-))

What language do you speak?

This morning I had a class on countries and nationalities. And the languages that people speak. So after doing a dialog with the students it was time to do some oral with them. I asked them if they spoke a certain language and they would have to answer affirmatively or otherwise.

So I started with a student who volunteered. I asked him:
-Vous parlez français? (Do you speak French?)

He answered:
-Non, je parle malais. (No, I speak Malay.)

Then I moved on to the next student who seemed to be looking at his table. I asked him:
-Vous parlez italien? (Do you speak Italian?)

Dia angguk-angguk. Macam paham. Tapi dia tak jawab.
His friend nudged him. "Oi. Madame tanya la. Vous parlez italien tak?"
He looked up suddenly and replied, "Huh? Oui...oui...tali...tali..."

Ceh. Dia tidur rupanya.