Wednesday, August 26th, 2015

Um Hi? This is what I call an awkward introduction.

Anyway! Whats below this paragraph is a reflective journal my, reflective journal.
Its supposed to tell you anything that happened during a session of Extensive English Lesson
(though nothing serious had ever happened in that session. No offense maam). This is my
first time writing a reflective journal, and Im warning you, there WILL be some grammar
errors. So, lets start this journal, shall we?
Its the beginning of the semester, and classes werent that scary back then. There
have been some assignments we have to do, but most of them are done in class (which means
no homework for us. yay). Ive had a tough day trying to understand economics on the first
period. My mind was so blank back then, all I could think is the smell of my blanket and that
soft pillow I left at home. If the teacher, Mr. Bambang, hadnt been funny all the time, I swear
I could snore in his class. As soon as he left our class, the bell rang. Im trying to keep my
mind from drifting away from my brain, because I know I will need it in the next period.
Nope, its not for math, its not for physics. Its for Indonesian lesson.
I literally suck at this lesson. You may think Im a loser that couldnt understand my
own natural born language. But trust me, Indonesian in high school is way more dreadful
than what youve ever learned. Plus, my class got a special treatment from Maam Ika, a
strict Indonesian teacher, and by strict, I mean a bit of a killer. She could teach us very well,
and what she said is not that hard to understand. But hey, still remember about those
assignments at school I was talking about? Yeah, 80% of them are HERS. I think I could take
everyones paper, pile it up in front of me, and no one would ever notice that Im actually
taking a bath (no. Im not that crazy to try it, yet). We had computer lesson afterwards, and
the whole class have to do a small presentation to describe parts of a computer. After another
break time and another session of computer lesson, Maam Vian enters our class
Today, we will talk about word formation, she said. My first reaction towards her
words is: What?
So, Word formation is. She continued to explain. Again, I was like Wait wait
wait, what did she just said? I lost my focus after the break time, like it just went through my
brain onto thin air.

I looked at the face of my friends. Great, they seemed to understand what shes
saying I said. She keeps babbling about compounding, clipping, blending and other stuff
that Ive never heard before. Damn.. I think Singlish would be easier for me to learn, that
thought practically came up in my mind after seeing J-Lo, a friend of mine wholl be
transferred to Singapore. Then, like being struck by thunder, I remember something.
Singlish? That isnt a regular word isnt it? What is it from? Singapore-English? I got it! I
understand what Maam Vian was saying all along!
Its not easy for everyone to say Singapore-English in everyday conversations, even
though it sounds formal. Thus, someone blend those words together, making it easier to be
said and to be used in small talks and chats. Not only blending, you could actually make other
words easier to be said by simply removing some parts of it. For example, remove the
nasium in gymnasium, and youll get a simpler way to say it.
By adding a prefix or a suffix in a word, you could also change its meaning or making
it easier for everyone to understand. This explains the use of mal- in malfunction and some
other difficult words I didnt understand before. We were given assignments to do the
exercise in the text book. Its quite easy after I understand what word formation is. In case of
emergency, Maam Vian will be there to answer your questions too.
The clock turned to 12.45, showing the end of Extensive English session. We said
good bye to Maam Vian and she went to the teachers office.
This is quite good. I actually understand what she said. There wont be anything to
ruin my good mood right now thats what I think.
Then, the class door opens and Maam Ika, our Indonesian teacher, came into our
classroom, again. I almost forgot that we have a session with her before we went home from
school.
Okay class, today Ill be handing a new assignment for you, Said Maam Ika.
I was wrong.

Gabriel Clarence

XM / 20