TESL Degree in UM FAQs

Assalamualaikum.

I've been getting a lot of messages especially when it's the UPU season or interview season for degree. Haha. I guess everyone searched for 'TESL in UM' or something, and they'd end up on my blog. I'm writing this post to answer some FAQs that I received. Here's the post on my Interview at UM

Please note that whatever I went through was in 2014, and the system might have changed.

Q: What are the qualifications to enter TESL Degree in UM?
A: Well, first of all you need at least a 3.00 CGPA during your foundation, or matriculation, etc. Actually you can refer here.

Q: Is there an interview? Perhaps an exam or test?
A: Based on my experience, we only had to undergo an interview. It depends on which interviewers you will get. During my interview, I was asked to teach anything for like a minute or so. Just prepare something to teach. Hahah. Then, yeah, just be yourself and be confident. If you really want to be an English teacher or something along those lines, it will show through.

Q: What are the courses you have to take?
A: Some of the courses I took were about grammar, listening and speaking, reading, basic philosophy, literature (poems, short stories, drama), and many more. So basically you learn a little bit about the topics and you will learn how to teach them. There are also courses that involve curriculum and assessment. Basically preparing you to become a teacher. However, the recent intake, 2016/2017 TESL students have a totally different syllabus. So, my experience isn't what you're going to face. I'm not entirely sure what exactly is the recent syllabus but perhaps you can stalk someone somewhere hahahah, sorry.

Q: What are the chances of me getting accepted into this course?
A: I honestly can't say because it all depends on the administration. But let me just tell you that the batch above me has like 30-ish (?) students, while my batch only has 20 of us. But, the batches below have over 30 students. So, yeah, I don't know, just try your best and you might be one of the chosen ones.

Q: How does it feel like being in TESL?
A: It's so much fun! Hahahah. All the people here are happening and we can go crazy at times. We're pretty much the noisiest of all. Plus because there's not many of us, we're really close to each other and we just know each other. Unlike other courses where there are like 100 of them in one lecture, then divided into small tutorial groups. We see each other almost everyday and it's always the same faces hahahah.

Q: Besides TESL, what other courses do I have to take?
A: There are some compulsory university courses that I took which are Kemahiran Maklumat where you have to learn how to use the library and how to search for valid and reliable articles and such. Then there's Tamadun Islam dan Tamadun Asia where you learn about..... the tamadun hahaha. And then Jalinan Masyarakat where you have to do social engagement projects. Besides that where is also co-curricular where it's actually a course you have to take for one semester. Some of the courses are dikir barat, teater, keroncong, seni lukis, event management, tarian tradisional and so many more. But you only have to choose one. Other than that, there's elective courses where you are required to complete 3 credit hours of it. These courses are from outside of your faculty. So since you may be from the faculty of education, you need to take courses from let's say, science, business, islamic, etc. I took 2 science courses in two semesters, making it 4 credit hours. Because all the 3-credit hour courses are not my liking. Haha. It depends on the lecturer but my lecturers taught us very basic about their respective courses.


So I guess that's all for now? That's all I can remember being asked about. Good luck to those wanting to pursue TESL Degree in UM!! You're not going to regret it, I'm sure. But please do note, these are all based on my experience from 2014-2017. Things may have changed, the syllabus and such. So, yeah. All the best!

xoxo,
Zue.

First post of 2017

Happy New Year! Assalamualaikum.

It's the last day of the semester for my friends and I as we have one exam to sit for. And then, off we go, heading home for a while, others will come back in a couple weeks time to handle college projects.

Anyway, it's my fifth semester and man, time flew so fast! I have three more semesters and then I'll receive my degree certificate. What comes next? Probably I'll try to achieve master's degree. However, it's still in consideration since I haven't even finished my degree yet.

I had a sudden thought where I feel like I have matured. Haha! Yeah but I do feel so. I compared myself when I was in high school and now, I feel like I am more independent and I can manage my own time, money, responsibilities. I guess these are the changes a person is bound to go through as they grow older. I truly understand the responsibility of..... living? I don't know. It's just that I start studying more and understanding the importance of studying, why I am doing it, how do I do it. Honestly, back in high school, I just listened to the teachers, copy whatever that's written on the whiteboard, try to memorize everything and vomit out (is there a better word?) everything for the exams. But this time, I take my time and try to understand what the lecturers are trying to teach us. I write down anything that is mentioned in class, I write notes after class, and I just feel so good. But I still have the habit of trying to memorize (read: understand) the notes for examinations. Although I must say that I am glad that I still remember some things that are taught throughout my degree years.

Speaking about studies, this semester I decided to take an elective course on human nervous system. The elective course is compulsory though but all the subjects were hard or boring, so my friends didn't take any, but they will in the future. Me being me, I decided to take one this semester, and of all subjects, I chose a science related subject. Haha! Most of my friends would cringe just by hearing the course name. I, on the other hand, do find it hard but I guess these elective courses that are compulsory is actually helping us understand about things outside of our comfort zone. Lucky me, the human nervous system course isn't really that bad at all! The lecturer delivers the message clearly and he relates it to celebrities. Plus, if you attend all the classes, you can understand more and everything will be at ease. I'm glad that I obtained excellent marks for my ongoing assessment. However, for the examination, well, I can't say much. Haha! Let the results tell everything.

Oh, I have totally missed the joy of blogging! I still yet to learn how to organize it properly though. But I'm fine writing like this because my thoughts flow freely and.... yeah. K I'm stuck now. Oh, I didn't mention, did I??? I am in the college action committee once again. Haha! This time as the secretary. It's not an easy job, I tell you. But I had fun for this one semester. I get bitter and firm sometimes so, I don't know what do my friends feel about that. I look forward to the activities that will happen in the next semester! Ooh, especially MAB. Can't wait to see how it goes. Oh wait, there's also Karviter and FESENI. Ohmyy. During my first year, I joined Karviter and Boria. In my second year, I decided to join Akartari which is a team that represents the college for Malay traditional dance and creative dancing. I joined for the creative dancing and oh boy, people said that I lost some weight! Haha. I felt more energized and flexible back then, though. After the competition, I got fat again. Anyway, this year, I am not joining anything. I don't know why. I love dancing but I just think that it might take away the time I have for other things. So, I won't be joining for now. We'll see how things go.

By the way, I have a paper at 8.30am and it's now 2.00am. Haha! I guess this is what you call the last paper syndrome. Lately I find it hard to sleep early, maybe because my body is used to sleeping so late. But I wake up early too! Haih. This semester as well, I have learnt that it is hard for me to sleep when the lights are on or when there's noise. Even the tiniest noise could disturb my process of falling asleep. Unless I get really tired and sleepy, I fail to doze off with the presence of light and sound. It bothers me so much. OR, maybe, like I said, it's because of my biological clock. But the odd thing is, I wake up early, do normal activities, and even though I get slightly tired, light and sound are just a big no. Oh, this is also the reason why I am typing away here. ~_~ Plus, I have not really fully studied for the paper. Haha.

Blegh. Let's talk about something else. Hm. I'll be flying home soon! I have been away from home for 5 months and 2 weeks. It's a long time, I tell you. Although I do get to meet my family here every now and then, it's not the same. Being at home and at my comfort zone, doing nothing, that's home. Being able to cook, sleep in, not bother about where and when to eat. There's also tv! Air conditioner! Oh man. But honestly, being able to see my family every morning is still the one thing I look forward to. Doing laundry. Feeding the stray cats. Washing the dishes. Vacuuming and mopping the floor. I miss doing all these things. Haha. But that's life. One day I'd have to do those things every single day anyway. So I guess I should just enjoy life as it is now.

Oooh. I need to mention that I am obsessed with plan with me videos. I even have my own journal! It's just a normal notebook but I printed some printable stickers and cut them, and stick in my journal. It makes me so happy. I even bought some stickers to decorate and remind me of events and such. It had made me more productive and I am able to record all the memories I have when I look back on it. I even inserted solat tracker and week's expenditure. These are the main things I really need to keep a track on. I look forward to planning for the future! Hehe. I mean, for the near future, I just love listing things down and then crossing them off. It's just so satisfying.

Oh, I shall continue studying now. Thanks for reading all the way through, if you did. Do not hesitate to ask any questions. Plus, you can always contact me through Twitter.

xoxo,

Zue.