What is the level of English in Malaysia? Maybe you would say that some people have good English, while others may understand English. What about your child's English level? Can they speak but not write? Or the other way around? Or both? The reports from the China Daily once again mentions the level of English in our country. Here are two conversations that reflects the Malaysias's English standard.

Waiter: "Are you a vegetarian?"

Student: "No, I’m Malaysian."

In addition to being a laughing stock among all the people, the dialogue between the waiter and the student have showed us how bad our English standard is.

A politician from UMNO, Datuk Omar, is the one who shared the dialogue above. The student is a Malay studying at the Royal Military Academy. He performed well in the TOEFL test scores but was unable to speak English at the American restaurant. This is indeed a puzzling thing. Presumably there are people like this next to you, or you are one of them. Obviously, the English test scores are good, but you can't comprehend English well.

Datuk Omar also stated that many Malay students are unable to communicate well in English after graduating, and he is well aware of the importance of English. He also says that some can write in English but unable to speak English. While others can speak English, while writing is not a problem. It is said that when learning English, one should not start writing. However, the traditional teaching mode now teaches children how to answer and express themselves in a memorization manner. It does not really allow students to grasp the English application ability. Memorizing has many limits, the combination of each letter is remembered, and the answer is then written in the examination paper, which is then forgotten soon after.

How can this type of learning help children have a good level of English? The ability to grasp language can be divided into four types -  Listening, speaking, reading and writing are the most important aspect. When we are prepared to absorb a certain knowledge or information, we naturally begin listening. When listening to a large amount of English, vocabulary will be stronger, and then naturally, they will be able to talk, which is, output. At the same time, when the vocabulary absorbed is sufficient, you can start reading and learn more about meaning of the words, grammar, and expression through reading. After the above "listening, speaking, and reading" will all be established, English writing is no longer a problem.

Everything has its own steps. Like a game, the difficulty will gradually increase as you progress. Therefore, the order of “listening, speaking, reading and writing” is the only way children can learn English. Parents must not make any mistakes.