"He is medium eating"

Once, I had the experience in teaching standard 4 students English. I had encounter one funny incident in my class. I still remember on that day I was teaching on constructing simple sentences. After about more than half an hour explaining and giving examples, I gave them some exercises to identify their understanding. I asked them to construct simple sentences using the three main components in sentence structure which are subject, verb/ verb-to-be, and predicate based on the picture given. After a while, I called their name randomly to read the sentences to the class. So here's the incident began!

Me: Okay, now for the last one, I want student X to read your sentence.

Student X: He is medium eating in the kitchen....

Me: -__-"

It was so hilarious until I nearly can't control myself to burst into laugh! Hahahaha.... But as a teacher I can't laugh when my student do such mistake. So I just act professionally and told the boy that the sentence was wrong. Then he asked why? I asked him back;

Me: What are you trying to say about the sentence?

Student X: Saya nak cakap yang dia sedang makan di dapur. What is the wrong? (-__-")

Me: It is wrong when you put the word 'medium' in your sentence. The term 'is eating' already describe the action of the boy is eating in the kitchen. So no need to put 'medium' anymore. I already said just now, a sentence must consist of 3 main sentence structures, which are the subject or the doer, the verb or the action, and the predicat

e or the further explanation of the action. For example:

He / is eating / in the kitchen.

(subject) /(verb) /(predicate)

From the word 'he' we know the doer is a boy. The boy 'is eating' shows the action, and 'in the kitchen' tells us where the boy is eating. We can also add up the predicate, for instance if you want to say the boy is eating curry puff, so the sentence will be like this; 'He is eating curry puff in the kitchen.' This is the simplest way of constructing a sentence. You have to know this basic before you learn to make complex sentences in future. Do you understand?

Student X: Oooo....tapi saya tengok kamus sedang tu 'medium'...

Me: -___-" (again)

I admit that it is full of challenge teaching English to young students like that. It was very hard to get them understand as English is not their first language. Furthermore, they live in rural area which is so lacking of information and practice in English usage. Even the teachers here needs to teach English bilingually to make sure the students understand their learning. What I'm trying to convey here is English, the language itself has

become the boundary for the students to learn deeply about the grammar and the correct structure. If the teachers doesn't have a set of skills to cope with this matter, the incident of translating Malay words directly to English like what happened in my class will be the biggest problem in teaching profession. So, future teachers, you better get yourself ready!^_^

p/s: TESLians, are you prepared to be posted in rural area school?? Me, yes! hehehe=D