My Perception About This English Project (Entry 12)

          My perception about this English project is it has been a very fun and educational journey to finish this blog. Writing about interesting topics made me aware and realize about all the different aspects that English can cover. Among the interesting topic that I had to cover was "If I Was A Boy". I had to write from a boy's perspective and it has given me a new perspective to look and think about.

          It has been very educational to finish this blog. Before I always been too busy to write about interesting things but by this blog, I am given to write once again. To write about different topics in this blog, I had to do research and learn about new things. Between the blog posts, the most informational was when I was writing "Argumentative Writing" where I wrote about how video games affects behaviors. I have to learn about the advantages and disadvantages of video games in an argumentative perspective.

          Last but not least, I also learned how to design and advertise in this project. This is very important in my future career to learn how to do this to excel in the global market. A design must be simple yet interesting enough to attract readers from around the globe. I also learn how to advertise my blog to an income based on a simple blog. So far my journey to finish this blog has been very informative and has taught me many aspects of knowledge.

Why English Is Important? (Entry 11)

          Language is important in our daily lives. Without it, communication would be difficult and people will be only used hand gestures to make contact with other people. From birth, we are assigned to the native language out parents and society has learned and to be learn by us. As we grew, we learn to talk in the certain language and adapt the language in our daily lives. In the world right now, the third most spoken language is English. Even in our country right now, it is common for a person to know two languages.

          It is important to learn and understand English because it has become a medium and basic language of every software and technology in the world. English may not be the most spoken language in the world, but it is the official language in a large number of countries. In this upcoming world, we must keep up with the technology to become better and to keep up, we must understand how it works. Almost all the explanation behind all this is in English.

          English also the dominant business language and it has become a requirement for people speak English if they want to enter the global class working and research from all around the world. Even in the global market of today, English is used as a medium. In order to communicate with the rest of the world in terms of business, English is very important.

          Last but not least, nowadays, many of the top films, books and even music are published in English. If we cannot understand the language of these entertainment, how can we enjoy and understand it. It is important for us to understand and explore the world of entertainment outside our language to understand cultural differences and to better our own way of life. There is no benefit in staying ignorant in our own comfort zone. To understand the world, we must explore other's language and understand their way of living.

My Idol (Entry 10)

Bill Gates

          Everyone has a person that they look up to, admire and hope one day you could follow the person's steps and way of life. For me, the person I admire is Bill Gates. He is an American inventor, computer programmer, author, entrepreneur and a philanthropist. He is the CEO of the software company "Microsoft". He is best known as an entrepreneur in personal computer and one of the wealthiest people in the world. He is a big influence in the computer industry because he was the inventor of Microsoft.

          He is my idol because he is one of the smartest man in the world, but yet he still is open to learning new things and creating a better future for the world. His inventions have changed the world significantly, but he is humble and willing to share with other people of his knowledge. Till today he still made contact to students all over the world to give them perspective of how to be successful like him without anything to return.

          He is also a very generous man. In 2000, he and his wife started a foundation called The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that supports philanthropic initiatives in the areas of global health and learning in the United States and around the world. This foundation supports scientific research to help people with poverty and extreme living conditions to get access to education and information technology. He has donated various large sums of money to this foundation to help people around the world.

          He is my idol mainly because even though he is one of the wealthiest people in the world, money doesn't change a person's view of life. His passion for knowledge amazes me and I too hope that I could achieve such level of knowledge. Even though he has failed in the past, but he never quit learning. He once said "It's fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure". That is to never be afraid of failure and to keep learning.

White Rose:Una Rosa Blanca (Entry 9)

          Reading is the key to knowledge. While reading, though not always informational creates a more creative imagination and bring peace and joy to the mind. My favorite book of all time is a book called White Rose:Una Rosa Blanca written by Amy Ephron. I read the book when I was 18 and instantly fell in love with the plot and interesting stories inside it.

          Based on a true story, this book revolves around a girl name Evangelina Cisneros and her struggles to be free from the Spanish regime in Cuba in the late 1890s. When her father was arrested for being active to oust the Spanish, she pleads herself to a Spanish general who had fallen in love with her. But when she declines the general's advances, she herself is thrown into jail as trying to do revolutionary activities. Reports of her imprisonment reached the New York papers and became a feminism cause by many society women there. William Hearst, among the New York's newspaper editor seizes the opportunity to reveal the stories in the Spanish regime and send his best reporter, Karl Decker to Cuba to pretend of interviewing her when in fact he is trying to save Evangelina from the prison and back to America. During the process of interviewing and escaping, they fell in love. Back in America, Decker's wife became increasingly suspicious of her husband's absence. After a dangerous escape, Evangelina finally arrives in New York, where they are held as heroes and she can finally tell her part of life under a cruel Spanish regime in Cuba to the world. In the end, Evangelina and Decker sort out their feelings for each other and face the reality of their own worlds.

          This book is a part romance and a part spy thriller love story. I cherished this book because it reveals to us the raw effect of war on casual civilians like Evangelina and her family who is wrongly prosecuted for simply disagreeing with the regime. They faced a cruel fate and life and struggle just to survive in just the name or war. Her spirit to survive despite all that has happened to her and her family, amaze me and make me feel as long as there's hope, people will always fight for justice and the right to live. Upon meeting Karl Decker, it is understandable for her to fall in love as the man is endangering his life to bring her free. Even though he is married, they drew closer. To me that shows in the brink of death and danger, humans stills needs compassion, hope and reassurance of safety of another person no matter how strong you are. They both trusted each other with their life while escaping and bonded through the process. What makes the book more interesting is when they actually got back to New York, Evangelina and Decker are forced to come back to reality of safety and the future that has been laid out for them. They can never be together and to accept that fact, even though you care so much of that person takes a lot of strength and courage. In the end, Evangelina got to tell the world about the cruelty she and the people of Cuba has suffered and aware the people of the world how much the country needs their help.

          This book is almost perfect in all perspectives given. It inspires the imagination and capture the heart. It also felt real and reality is sometimes not as perfect as we think. For me if I have to give a rate, it will be definitely a 10. 

If I Was A Boy (Entry 8)

           If I were a boy, not much would be indifference. I will still be a good person to others and the way I treat other people would still be the same. My self confidence would be the same. I am exactly the same person except with different genders. I guess if I were a boy, I would take the chance to be rough, play rough and do and go wherever i want without being judged or be disturbed. It has always been a dream of mine to go alone bareback backpacking in the whole world, but as a girl, there are limitation on places that I could go because I'm afraid of my security. There are places in the world that subjectivity girls as a mere object, tools and have no utter respect to. Even though there are beautiful places in the world, the people there make me scared to go to these places. If I were a boy, nobody would care to disturb me.

          If I were a boy, I would actually try to make a change in the world. As a girl, my voice is limited by stereotypes. Society thinks that girls are too sensitive and boy's voice is more heard. I wouldn't waste the power to be heard, to set rules and to make people listen to you. I would use it to change the world. A phrase that I always kept in my heart is "If you wanna change the world, start by changing yourself.

           If I were a boy, I would own many suits It makes you look shard, masculine and increase your self confidence. I would wear them every day if I could. Suits just doesn't look as good as on a girl. It is built to perfection in a man's body. The suit has been just a perfect clothing for a man. With a vest tucked inside and a perfect tie, I feel you can change the world in a suit.

          If I really had a chance to turn into a boy, I wouldn't be. Because I appreciate my body just the way it is. The imperfection of being a person is what makes us truly human and I'm proud of that.

Argumentative Writing (Entry 7)

Do violent video games cause behavior problems?

          Video games are often frowned upon by parents as time-wasters, and worse, some education experts think that all video games corrupt the brain. Many video games are being put as responsible by the media and some parents as the cause of a child became violent or lack of social skills. Some parents even believe that those video games had led their children to became anti-social and put most of the responsibility of the child's emotional breaks on the video games. But nowadays, many video games have been proven to actually teach children social and guide them with life skills that they would often use in the future. 

          When your child play video games, it actually enhance their brain with critical thinking. In many video games, to get to the higher level, abstract and strategic skills are needed. Your child is challenged to solve problems in the games and have to use creative skills to pass. As example in the game Scribblenauts, the player is required to enter words that will form into an object according to the meaning of the word to pass the level. This process enhance your child's ability to spell and create new things by combining words. It progressively needs your child to be more creative as the level gets higher.

          Video games also helps your child manages multitasking and responds well on challenges, frustration and goals of the games. In most of video games, there is a multiplayer setting, which gives your child an opportunity to play with various different people at the same time. This would introduce your child the concept of team working, management and create individual skills to contribute to the team. Nowadays, there's many simulation games created that allow your child to experience first hand how to manage and handle situation such as an Airplane Stimulation game.

          Althought video games are giving positive influence to the players, there are some negative effect that could happen if the process of playing is being abused and obsessed with. Like all things, extreme could bring harm to your child. Extreme playing could make your child socially isolated. He may spend less time in other important activities such as doing recreation, reading and doing homework. This why it is important to control the amount of time your child is spending on a video game. Explain the child how much joy he is missing if he continues to enjoy only one thing for a very long time. It is important for them to know that life is about cherishing the time given by experiencing the best of both real world and video games world. 

          Some video games actually do give bad influence to your child by teaching them the wrong values of life. Some violent video games rewards violence, vengeance and aggression and are encourage to do it to pass levels. Negotiation and other non violent solution are often not given as an option. Women as often portrayed as weak characters and could actually affect the self esteem of your child. It is important for a parent to ensure these stereotypical and violent games does not get to your child for them to play. There are other more interesting games with more challenging plots and positive values out there for you as parents to unveil to your child.

          Last but not least, video games has its positive and negative sides but it is up to you as parents to ensure that only the positive side of video games are affecting your child. The violence and aggression video games exposure to your child could be control if you have the will to do it. Not all video games are bad. Some have proven to help child's with speech impediment and even dyslexia. Take time to know the importance of video games instead of blaming all of them on the cause of your child being negative. You can make a difference on how video games affect your children.

Recipes For Health (Entry 6)

          Staying healthy is a one of the most important part of our life. To be healthy is not just about physical but emotional and mentally as well. As Mahatma Ghandi once said; "It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver." Health cannot be bought and only can be sought after.

          The most important part in staying healthy is to be mentally healthy. This can be achieve in many ways such as keeping your mind limber and active. Read more books and take time to think about things. Challenge your mind by doing puzzles and strategy games. Most importantly, do good to other people. By doing good, you will also feel good and by improving the lives of others you will also improve your own mental state because you will know that you have done good to someone else. Keep a positive thinking will also keep your mind healthy.

          To be healthy means we have to become physically healthy. To have a healthy body can improve our lives in so many ways. Such ways to improve physical health is eating various balanced diet. We need to get all the nutrition that our body needs instead on focusing on junk food and unbalanced diet. Avoid doing extreme diet, that is not eating because it is actually harmful to our body. Instead, eat more fruits and vegetables because they are packed with not only vitamins and minerals, but also water and fiber, making them take longer to digest and keeping you full longer.

           Last but not least, you also need to be emotionally healthy. You need to start understanding your emotions and facing problems with a positive attitude. To be emotionally healthy also means to deal with your stress. Have a healthy relationship with other people such as your friends and your families. Most importantly, pursue your passion in anything. Even as a hobby, it can change a big portion of your life to be happier and healthier.

Persuasive Writing (Entry 5)

          Adopting a pet from the animal shelter or rescue groups can have more advantages than buying from the animal store. First of all, you will be rescuing the pet and giving it a family of its own. 3 to 4 million dogs and cats are killed every year because shelters are too full and there aren’t enough adoptive homes. By adopting one, you will inspire others to rescue these animals from getting killed and you yourself would be saving a life.

          Animal shelters or rescue groups actually nurtured and train the pets before giving them to you so many of them are house trained and have some socializing training. This is important for a pet to get comfortable with the new environment. You will also save time if you are too busy to train your pet yourself. Some of the animals in the animal shelters were also actually lost pets or unwanted pets from their previous owner so all they need is a new owner.

          Other than that, you will also receive a healthy pet. Most pets from the animal shelters and rescue groups are spayed or neutered and also vaccinate. This is very important in maintaining the health and happiness of your pet. It is also an important step in preventing pet overpopulation. Most breeders and pet stores does not spay and neuter their animal before selling them to you so this may contribute to the overpopulation and euthanasia problem. Some of them do not even care about the pet until the moment they were sold.

         You will also have a large selection in picking a pet. An animal shelter and rescue group often have hundreds of pets at a time to choose. You will have a wide range of what animal do you want. The animal shelters and rescue group also most often have lots of animals at a young age to be picked as a pet.

         Last but not least, you will save money. It is more inexpensive to adopt than buying at a pet store. This is because animal shelter and rescue groups had already vaccinated and spayed your pet for you and ensuring that they're healthy so you don't have to do it. A pet store would often charge for a pet multiple times more than what they actually cared for the pet before you bought them.

         Please consider adopting an animal rather than buying them. If you remember all of the advantages of adopting a pet from the pound, you might find the pet of your dreams. The pet will become a part of your family and your life will be happier because you have save a life.

Vocabulary Building (Entry 4)

WORD	MEANING	SENTENCES
Purchasing	A business or organization attempting to acquire goods or services to accomplish the goals of its enterprise.	Most organizations use a three-way check as the foundation of their purchasing programs.
Approval	Formal permission.	They are referring specifically to budgetary approval.
Submit	To start or urge with deference, suggest or propose.	They kept the brooch for a year and a half, hoping someone would submit a claim.
Previous	Existing or occurring before in time or order.	She looked tired after her exertions of the previous evening.
Distribute	To disperse through a space or over an area, spread, scatter.	We have no plans to further distribute this particular program.
Adjournment	An act or period of adjourning or being adjourned to (to end something for a period of time).	The chairperson has adjourned the meeting.
Agenda	A list or outline of things to be considered or done.	The committee sets the agenda for the several years of research.
National	Or or relating to a nation; common to or characteristic of a whole nation.	His test score was higher than the national average.
Regular	Happening over and over again at the same time or in the same way; occurring everyday, week, months, etc.	We made regular use of the swimming pool.
Unanimously	Having the agreement and consent of all.	The judges made a unanimous decision.
Minutes	A period of time equal to sixty seconds or a sixtieth of an hour.	We waited for twenty minutes.
Project	A proposed or planned undertaking.	The novel undermines its own stated project of telling a story.
Order	A state in which everything is in its correct or appropriate place.	She tried to put her shattered thoughts into some semblance of order.
Upgrading	Raise (something) to a higher standard, in particular improve (equipment or machinery) by adding or replacing components.	The cost of upgrading each workstation is around RM 500.

My School (Entry 3)

My school in the city.

          I studied at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Seri Ampang. My school is located in a very busy city. It is located near a mall, The Ipoh Parade. I used to go to school very early in the morning riding the school bus so I won't get stuck in morning traffic jams. I often see construction works around my school as the city is still in developing to be a thriving city.

          The area of my school is often noisy because of the traffic jams and construction works around my school. Sometimes I hear honking and at peak hours, I hear police traffic whistle being blown to control the traffic. It is also noisy because there were a lot of people walking towards the mall.

          My school is a slightly big school. We have a field that is beautifully green and cared by all students. Even though we studied in a busy city, the school rarely is spotted by garbage. All students are required to take care of the school to avoid pollution from entering the school. It was necessary and we all took care of our school very seriously. i feel very proud of my school for being able to stay very clean and beautiful, even though we are in a chaotic and busy city.

          Because of the traffic jams that happens to peak hours, I often smell smoke from cars using the road. The construction also gave a distinctive smell on the school. Outside the school are a couple of restaurant selling various cuisines. After school, I often went to the restaurant to get food with my friends. The food from the restaurants smelled nice from the school so we often went there.

Dialog Between Me And A Stranger (Entry 2)

One day in Melaka.

Tourist: Excuse me, miss? Do you have time to help me?

Me: Yes, of course. What do you need?

Tourist: I'm currently touring Melaka and I'm wondering if you know the way to the famous Jonker Street. I heard there's a lot of good food sold there.

Me: Yes, I do know the way to Jonker Street. It's quite near, you can reach it by foot in less than 10 minutes. They do sell various good food there. Most of them are Melaka delicacy and are very delicious. They usually sell them on small stalls, but you can also find some at nearby restaurants.

Tourist: Do you mind telling how to get there from here? I don't have a map with me right now and I'm travelling by foot.

Me: Yeah, sure. Did you see any roundabout before you came to this building in front of you?

Tourist: Yes I noticed it when I was walking to here earlier.

Me: Well from here, go to the roundabout and take the right turn. You'll notice that the road is crossing a river. There's a River Cruise there, if you're interested in going on later.

Tourist: That sounds lovely, I would check it out later someday.

Me: After the roundabout, just walk straight until you see a junction on your right. Go right then straight until you see the Cheng Ho Museum and then turn left. After that, just go straight up until you see the Cheng Hoon Temple on your left. After the temple, turn left. You will see Jonker Street after going straight. It is usually not much to see during the day. It gets much busier during the night.

Tourist: Thank you so much for your help. I hope you have a nice day.

Me: You're welcome. May you have a nice day too in Melaka.

My Biography (Entry 1)

Me at Langkawi

          I was born as Nor Amirah Imilia Binti Azlan Samudin. I was born on 12 June 1991 and I am 23 years old. I am the third child of 5 siblings in my family and was born and raised in Ipoh, Perak. I am the second daughter in my family and am being supported by my single mother, Zaidah Bt Ghazali. I have one older brother, one older sister and two younger sisters. My mother works as a dentist’s nurse in a government clinic. My motivation in life and to succeed has always been for my family. My goal in life has always been to make my family’s life better and to make a difference in the world.

          My education started as an English Preschool at Tadika Pelangi at Batu Gajah, Perak. I moved to SRK Seri Ampang for my primary school at the age of 7 and briefly studied at SK Selabak, Teluk Intan at the age of 8. By the age of 9, I moved back to SRK Seri Ampang until I finished my UPSR with the result of 5A’s. After UPSR, I applied to MRSM and was accepted in MRSM Pontian Johor as my secondary school and stayed there for a year and a half. Because of the very long distance at a very young age, I transferred to MRSM Lenggong, Perak in 2005 and finished my PMR with the result of 8A’s. With my good results, I applied for MRSM Taiping, one of the top MRSM in the country at my time and studied for two years until SPM and scored 5A’s and 4C’s. During my school years I am very active in many aspects and most noticeable in Taekwondo. I had represented my school in various occasions and won most of it. I was also the Head of the Bulletin Department in the school’s magazine in 2007 and a part of the Student Council. Studying in boarding school as prestigious as MRSM has taught me many lessons in life and has prepared me in many aspects of my life. It taught me to be disciplined, mature and focus on what’s important in life. They also taught me how knowledge is most important part of a person’s life. It is the most powerful weapon that a person could carry throughout their life.

          After SPM I took a Diploma in Interior Architecture in UiTM Seri Iskandar on 2009 on my mother’s request and graduated in 2012 with a CGPA of 2.78. I have worked in the interior design industry for 3 months as an interior designer for the company Azam Hias Sdn Bhd in Ipoh and decided I want to find my way in Computer System and Networking as my future career instead as it is my true passion. I've been always intrigued by technologies and its importance in society. My study plan in this path is to take diploma for 3 years and continue in degree for another 2 years and a half and continue till masters for another 1 or 2 years. My passion is to learn and to absorb as much knowledge that I can understand. Nowadays, technology and system has been an increasing demand and importance in our daily life. Software and technology are proven important and pays well as it is listed among the most demanded and well-paid jobs in Malaysia.

          As I plucked my courage to finally take a step in reaching my passion in technology, I hope once again, I will achieve greatness by applying for my Diploma in Computer System and Networking at KPTM Batu Pahat, Johor. I can achieve greatness as long as I set my mind on it.