Berita petikan dari The Star Online Khamis 27 Oktober 2011
Thursday October 27, 2011
Fun learning Japanese
north@thestar.com.my
A TWO-DAY Japanese language enhancement programme was held for 155 students from five schools in Kedah and Perlis, to arrest the decline in the proficiency in the language.
The programme entitled Gambarou Nihongo (Let’s Endeavour to Master Japanese) was held at the SM Sultan Abdul Halim (SMSAH) in Jenan for Form Three students who take the language as an optional subject. The students from SM Sains Tuanku Syed Putra in Kangar, Kubang Pasu Fully Integrated residential school in Bukit Kayu Hitam, SM Sains Kubang Pasu in Jitra, SM Sains Pokok Sena and SMSAH have been learning the subject since Form One.
Teacher Ooi Guan Lee, of SM Sains Tuanku Syed Putra, said the programme was initiated five years ago to arrest the decline in the students’ proficiency in the language after their Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) examination. He said these students who opted for Japanese had been taught from Form One but they totally lost touch with the language once they started preparing for the PMR examination. “It will be a waste of effort and time if this trend is not arrested in time. Hence, with the help of the Japanese Foundation and the Consulate-General of Japan, we are organising this programme to keep their interest in the subject,” he added.
The programme was carried out by two lecturers — Nakao Yuki and Fujinaga Kaoru — from Japan’s language department. Also involved in the programme were Japanese Foundation assistant head of Japanese language Edward Lee Chee Peng and seven local teachers, all proficient in the language. They were Ooi Guan Lee, Ahmad Rashidi Yusof, Ezze Normezan Rasmi, Sugandavan Kaivaliam, Kim Guat Geoh, Teng Suk Wei and Cheng Siak Thiam, who all are graduates from Japan. Ooi added that the programme was first held in 2007 at SM Sains Tuanku Syed Putra, followed by SM Sains Sultan Mohamad Jiwa in Sungai Petani in 2008, Kubang Pasu Fully Integrated in 2009, and SM Sains Pokok Sena in 2010.
Vice-Consul of the Japanese Consulate in Penang Eriko Nishizawa, who was present to oversee the programme, said: “The programme supported by the Japanese Foundation and the consulate is intended to popularise the usage of the language with emphasis on Japanese culture and lifestyle of young people, calligraphy, grammar and pronunciation to enable a student to master the language.” She was happy to note that more than 11,000 students from 38 residential schools and 47 day schools had taken up Japanese language as an optional subject in Malaysia.
Student Lyana Edayu Abd Najib of SM Sultan Abdul Halim, who hails from Alor Setar, said she was attracted to the language through her brother who was studying Japanese at the Universiti Institute Technology MARA (UiTM). Another student from the school, Mohd Aziam Zambri, from Kota Baru, said he wanted to learn a foreign language, and he took a fancy to Japanese because of its phonetic sounds. Also present was Kubang Pasu assistant district education officer (language) Fadzillah Selamat.
Rashidi
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