Personal Development : My 4th Foreign Language (after Nihongo & Deutsch!)
7:03 PM
My mother tongue is Bahasa Malaysia. And I learn English as 2nd language. And I keep adding up another languages in my resume as follows :
1. Arabic (Al-Lughatul Arabiyah)
Although learned for about 2 years (1998-1999), I scored A+ in this language because I really am serious about learning it. One time in 2004, I helped out a friend during a foreign language exam (we were all arranged in class, 1 foreign language student sitting next to another different foreign language student to make sure we won't cheat), and I sat next to an Arabic language student.
She was lost and asked me if I knew the vocab she's looking for and I successfully helped her. I feel proud, the 2 years of learning didn't just a hit and pass/waste of time - I still remember simple verbs + vocabs in Arabic until now.
Note : But this language never was mentioned anywhere in my resume due to very limited vocab and poor ability to read & speak
2. Japanese (Nihongo)
I learned Japanese for 4 years : 2000 - 2004, and being the top 5 students to make it to Japanese Language Profiency Test (JLPT) sent by our school to UPM, Serdang at that time, in 2004. It is an honor for me, something I will always remember..
As a result, I know all Japanese characters (Katakana & Hiragana), but still knows very little kanji (100 characters) due to limited exposed and application to this language in daily life, obviously..
Although somewhere along the way I hope I can be selected to exchange program to Japan one day through current job position, because I am definitely comfortable with simple greetings like "konnichiwa/hello", "kore wa nan desuka?/what is this?", "kore wa ikura desuka?/how much is this?" and so on..
3. German (Deutsch)
I habe seit 3 Jahren Deutsch gelernt! = I've learnt German for about 3 years (2006-2008), an extensive course ones. I took DSH-Pruefung, and tbh it is one of the toughest language I have ever learned! Because just like Arabic, the grammar goes like : (6 different conjugate verb)
ich bin
du bist
er ist
wir sind
ihr sind
sie sind
Whereas it is simpler for Japanese : (all same, like, saya/awak/dia/mereka = makan)
watashiwa tabemasu
anatawa tabemasu
As a result, I can sometimes join into a simple conversation with the German like one I had in 2008. During a queue for food, I realized a group of people behind me is German (working in Penang, Malaysia) so yeah, the rest is history. I speak "rojak" also.. LOL
4. Mandarin (Guānhuà)
I started watching Youtube videos in 2020 (my favourite channel is: KHALIL CHANNEL, 3 books and Youtube videos later, I joined a proper (basic) Mandarin class for adult! The last foreign language I took is in 2008, I did not think I could do this!
I like this channel for a start
But Tiffany Lǎoshī is good (teaching is her forte anyway since she taught international students!) and I really love this class. I am shy at first, but along the way I am progressing well and shy no more!
Our small group in Mandarin class
However I may not be able to apply Mandarin in daily life as I am working with the Government of Malaysia (we use Malay language 99% with a little english term like pump head, not turus pam, cuz nobody would understand that) and there is no one to talk to. On the other hand, my husband now works with China based company so maybe it's legit so I can join him later to a trip to China maybe? *hopeful*
.. or maybe I can have my son to join Mandarin medium preschool next year?
Until next post!
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