Reflective Journal-Week 2

WEEK 2
Date: 17th of July 2007

Due to a bad case of tonsillitis, I was absent from class as I was on Medical leave. From what Emma had told me, we were all assigned to prepare a journal by the end of the 6th week (This journal!) as well as a group presentation on Culture. I had missed out in a handout with a rather catchy and I’m sure was an interesting topic, Marriage.


WEEK 2
Date: 19th of July 2007
Location: Bilik Meranti

I’m finally back on my feet. And feeling rather out of place since I had missed the previous class, I prayed hard it wasn’t something ‘too’ important! We were given handouts. On the piece a paper, there were bold words printed on it, “Know your dictionary.” I knew I was about to learn something interesting today as up until today, even if I do know how to look up for the meanings of words, I DO NOT know the correct way of using a dictionary.

The front page consisted of an extract of a dictionary of where the meaning block was shown. By looking at the word and its numerous meanings, we had to try to answer some question by providing meaning of the meaning block. This is how I learnt how to analyze the meaning of a word to make sure that it can be used in suitable situations. It’s not just a matter of picking and choosing which meaning you prefer but more of the appropriacy of the word, its collocation and the context of the word.

I found this task rather challenging although it did not dampen my spirits in improving my vocabulary. When time was up, we discussed the meanings and how suitable these words were for different situation and how these meanings could possibly mean different things. Wow!

The second exercise was somewhat the same, although we also had to find the right definitions for the words and apply the right words to fits definitions which have been given. Sounds complicated? Well in simpler terms, it was basically an exercise where we had to fill in the blanks with appropriate words which best fit the definitions already given.