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When we hear about Penang, the thought of Nasi Kandar or as the northern people say, ‘Nasi Kandaq’ will always pop-up in our mind. Besides that, the infamous Roti Canai Transfer Road (Paratha full of curry with a quarter chicken), Char Kuey Teow and many other mouth-watering dishes that you can imagine.
Nonetheless, Penang was opened by a British explorer named Francis Light in 1794. Penang became a home to British settlers in the Malay Peninsula. Penang is located on the trading route. Today (modern day) Penang has become one of the top travel destinations in the world.
Another uniqueness of the northern people is their dialect or slang. Do you know that most of the end syllables will sound like ‘k’ or ‘q’ for local people in the north?
‘Air’, which is water in Malay, will be pronounced as ‘Ayaq’.
They usually use ‘kami’ (we) to represent ‘saya’ (I).
Example of the northern slang is:-
“Kami pi Sungai Besaq nak tengok ayaq terjun.”
In normal malay we will say:-
“Saya pergi ke Sungai Besar untuk melihat air terjun.”
(I went to Sungai Besar to see the waterfall)
Difficult?
Yeah, to non-native this sounded hard. But northern people always find it hard to switch to the normal Malay language. They have been accustomed to the slang and they are proud of it.
There are lots of Malay movies portraying the lifestyle of the northern people. The language itself is very unique, and believe me, if you aren't quite familiar with the slang, you would definitely misunderstand them!
Despite the uniqueness of the northern slang or we called it ‘loghat utaro’, and considering how hard they try to adjust to the Malay Language, do you think it is kind of hard for northern people to speak fluent English
It is not.
English language is the new language that they need to learn from A to Z. Meanwhile the Malay language is all the same everywhere, but only the slang is different.
Take a look at how much English slang existed today? Which one do you find easy to understand?
As a Malaysian, we learn English in British style of writing but most of us are used to speaking English American style due to the influence of the movies from the west.
Without further ado, this article will help you in finding the best English learning centre in Penang.
Check out where to find an English tutor in Selangor.
Why English is Important?
“Melentur buluh biarlah dari rebungnya.”
-Malay Proverb-
You need to start familiarizing yourself or your kids with English from the earliest age possible. To have a multi-tongue is desirable in this era. Imagine today, most of us have been staying at home or working from home for almost a year.
Look at how the pandemic hit us? How bad the impact hits most people. The Covid-19 recession is the worst in history. But you need to remember, everything that God sent to us has its own purposes.
Now, take a look around you. Malaysia is considered as a developing country, lacking in so many aspects compared to the highly established countries in Europe and the United States.
However, the pandemic has brought the people to jump start their life at a very fast pace. Those seniors at work who don't even know how to use a computer have now become a master at it.
Teachers at schools, who always teach us conventionally, have now started to use online learning by using various platforms such as google meet, google classroom, zoom, team meeting, etc.
How do we manage our life?
Everything is done online, even for buying foods and groceries. In a world with no boundaries, the possibility for us to work at home but with a global company is high.
There is no more limit as to where or with whom you are going to work with. If your English level is just average or below, do you think you are able to compete with other people who can fluently converse and communicate in English?
I know how patriotic we are with our own mother language, Bahasa Melayu (Malay). But, being in pace with the Era of Science and Technology is not a bad thing to do. The majority of people around the globe use English as the medium of communication. You wouldn't want to be left behind right?
So tell me now, should you start looking for English classes today? Take a look at English tuition centres in Kuala Lumpur.
The next section will tell you more on how to speak fluently in English.
How to Speak English Fluently
Let’s go back to our first main question earlier in this article. Can someone with a native- dialect be able to speak English as a second language?
YES! Only if you know how.
This is where Superprof came in. We are here to assist you on your journey to be able to learn and speak English as well as acing the English examination!
It doesn't really matter if you come from Penang with a northern dialect, where you always change the end syllable to ‘k’ or ‘q’, or you are from Terengganu with east coast dialect where you would switch the end letter of ‘n’ to ‘ng’.
That’s all a small matter.
Here are some of the easiest ways on how you can speak English fluently in no time.
- Focus in the class and listen to how your English teacher pronounces the words and makes sentences. When the class is finished, try to imitate the teacher's pronunciation. This will help to smoothen your tongue and prevent you from stuttering by lack of confidence of not knowing how the words sound.
- Get a buddy and practice speaking English with him/her. By practice means, start to converse in English.
- Read more books, E-books, English news articles and any other English reading materials. This will increase your vocabulary and enable you to communicate in English using a wide range of vocabs.
- Open English subtitles whenever you binge-watch on Netflix, iFlix, Viu, Astro and so on. This is crucial as you may learn on how to communicate in English.
- Find a Tutor! These days, with the booming of online learning, you can easily find a good and experienced English tutor to teach you, and the best place to look for tutors is at Superprof Malaysia! You cannot imagine how many tutors we have available for both online and face-to-face tutoring.
If you are still on the edge of why you should take up English Lessons, find out the benefit of learning English with an expert in the next section. You’re free to look up for English tutor in Johor Bahru and Ipoh.
What are the Top 5 places to Learn English in Penang?
Malaysia is one of the countries that allows tutoring or extra tuition classes to commence after school hours either one-to-one or in a small group of people.
There are few different English centres in Malaysia that vary depending on your purpose of learning English, the budget allocation for English Learning as well as the timing flexibility. The statistics of primary school in Penang to attend tuition classes is nearly 64% in 2011!
That was a decade ago and these days, parents are more conscious of the importance of education. So, imagine, what can be the number today?
This is why there are many different types of learning centres in Penang. Tuition centre is considered as the most affordable means to get extra classes. Majority of parents opt to look for tuition centres which are closer to them. Usually the fees don't differ much between each tuition centre.
The differences might be the number of people in each class which usually is as little as 2 pax per session and can go up to 150 per class. This type of English centre has a fixed weekly schedule for English lessons and follows national curriculum KSSR and KSSM.
The next one is a English Language centre. This centre is considered to be quite expensive but the lesson they give is an extensive English learning course. Usually there will be 3 levels to pass and each level will take a minimum of 3 to 6 months to complete.
The schedule is usually set on weekends because they don’t only cater classes for school students but also adults and professionals. Each language centre usually follows one curriculum either Cambridge, IB or TOEFL.
Here is the list of the top 5 English Learning centres in Penang.
- OOWS International Learning Centre, Tanjung Tokong
- British Council, Light Street
- Forest Education Centre, Air Itam
- Eduexcel Tuition Centre & Eduexcel Kids Club, Bayan Lepas
- Alpha Greeno Language Centre, Greenlane
So why should you learn English from experts?
Experts are more efficient and know what and where you are lacking. They can help to fill in the gap and tailor a good teaching and learning method suitable to your needs. Besides, experts can give you explanations in the easiest ways because they have a great deal of knowledge and a deep understanding in English.
Take a look at our huge range of English experts at Superprof. We are a global site and are trusted by thousands of parents and students. You will find out how easy it is to start looking for English tutors and you can start your English lesson in no time. Check out the English Centres in Malaysia.
The platform that connects tutors and students
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