a bit on PPSMI

For those of you who don't know what is this PPSMI all about and why is it such a big issue...Basically PPSMI is learning Maths and Science in English...The Gov started PPSMI in the year 2003 and now they plan to abolish the PPSMI in the year 2012. That's what the commotion is all about!

My batch was the lab-rats..we learnt Maths and Science in Bahasa Melayu during our primary school years and in English during our Secondary school years.
The change was a bit surprising la, the sudden change of medium(language)...no doubt that Maths and Science subjects were suddenly more easy as in lower standards than before. I mean it's in a new language mar, so the Government had to start from scratch and lower the standards. OK, but that was for a while only lar(the first few years), then later on, the level went back quite high and therefore making Science and Maths the way it was suppose to be(back to the standard it was before).
So, really there's not much difference in the medium used lar...for the city and civilised students who have a good command of English.
However for those who barely pass English, this PPSMI is a horrible nightmare. Imagine if someone really love maths or science but have to learn it in a total foreign language. He/she doesn't even have the basic of that foreign language and now they have to struggle to penetrate the barrier of language just to learn. This hindrance might destroy their interest and make them lose hope.

Rights, now on a different situation but the same issue.
I believe that learning should be in the language you can understand...isn't that logic? LOL.
In school when my muslim friends talk about their faith...I can see that they are not really sure of what is in their Quran... The reason is the language Barrier! Their Quran is in Arab, and their command of Arabic is not so good. Therefore only those who have a good command in Bahasa Arab can explore the Quran and maybe understand it's contents.
So in a way, my dear Muslim friends are living their ancestor's faith.
It's a no wonder Jesus said to the Samaritan lady "You worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know"
Blindly following their ancestor's religion with no understanding of whom or what or why they do what they do or worship. So they are NOT living their OWN faith, they are actually living their ancestral faith.

Corrupted Bible? Yeah, that also implies that Translation is a sin...Is it? Then why is there a variety of Languages? How about the glory that our Malaysian history textbook is so proud of?
"Pendidikan zaman bani Abbasiyyah juga dikenali sebagai Zaman kegemilangan dlm bidang ilmu dan keintelektualan-> sumber ilmu pada masa ini berasal drp 2 sumber iaitu al-Quran dan hadis dan satu sumber lagi ilmu-ilmu dari Greek, Parsi dan India. Khalifah Al-Makmum merupakan seorang khalifah yang sangat cintakan ilmu pengetahuan, beliau telah mengambil inisiatif mengumpul kitab-kitab dari wilayah-wilayah Islam seperti Mesir, Afrika, Syria dan sebagainya. Kitab-kitab yang bermutu telah diterjemahkan ke bahasa Arab.
Kota Baghdad terkenal sbg pusat kegiatan ilmiah, sama ada dari aspek perkembangan ilmu, penterjemahan dan penulisan"
"Zaman bani Umaiyah->Bahasa Arab dijadikan bahasa ilmu dan pentadbiran. Perkembangan tersebut menyumbang kepada perkembangan pelbagai bidang ilmu lain, di samping perkembangan pesat dalam bidang penterjemahan."

So, it's ok for them to translate other languages and it wouldn't be corrupted...but if other nations translate their holy heaven language, it would be corrupted...diubahsuaikan mengikut agenda tersendiri? Come on, think about it for a moment or maybe an hour or so...

How did English become the world's current language of education? It's because there are many reference books, textbooks and English is seen everywhere, everything is easily sourced and easy access...all thanks to what? TRANSLATION la!

When you learn something in the language you understand, you absorb more...