Parlez-vous francais?

You Should Learn French

C'est super! You appreciate the finer things in life... wine, art, cheese, love affairs. You are definitely a Parisian at heart. You just need your tongue to catch up...

What Language Should You Learn?

Yep, I learnt french when I was in my second year at the law faculty. Actually, my faculty didn't allow me to take anymore extra language. We are 'forced' to take "English for Law" and Arabic. I told the faculty that I've done Arabic since Form 1. I came from religious school. I wouldn't want to waste my time learning something that I already knew. Besides, learning Arabic would mean the whole class would begin from the very beginning. I would either slept in my Arabic class or started doodling or do my own things so that I won't fall from my chair.

I pleaded to the faculty to let me drop Arabic and let me sign up for other foreign language instead. Nope, they didn't allow me. Since there are only 55 of us (the 8th batch), nearly half of us came from religious school and the rest didn't have the chance to learn Arabic, we were considered too small a number to be segregated according to our Arabic language skill.

Among the reason I chose UKM Faculty of Law instead of IIUM was to get away from Arabic. Well, don't get me wrong. I love studying this language. I got straight A's from Arabic since form 1 - 3, even an A in my SRP (for the juniors, that was what it used to be called before PMR).

But, in Form 4, I was offered to further my studies at Kolej Islam Kelang (KIK), but I refused to go. Almost 1 and 1/2 class went off. The leftovers are those had bigger numbers in their aggregates except for me and 2 others (who also decided not to leave for KIK). My argument was simple: if I was good enough to be offered to KIK, meaning after this KIK would have a better name because all the good students would go there, why couldn't I stay and do the same for my current school. Which I did.

Three of us who decided to decline the offer became best students of our school.

Ooopss! I was digressing.

Coming back to the Arabic language issue. As soon as all the good students left, the teachers who taught us Arabic had this pre-conceived ideas that those who stayed are the 2nd class students. Studying Arabic wasn't as fun as it used to be. We often get scoldings, frustrated look from the teachers and I personally felt that the teachers already put it in their head that we were such a failure!

Whatmore could I say? That affected my Arabic. I didn't even get a credit (though I didn't fail) for that subject. After 2 years of suffering, I decided not to take any course that has Arabic in it. So, that rules out IIUM. Besides, I wanted to meet fresh faces. Going to IIUM would mean a gathering of most of the religious schools bunch once again - I surely didn't want to met more 'ustaz wannabes' with their 'holier-than-thou' attitude'.

So I left for UKM to read law.

Like it or not, Arabic was one of the compulsory subject till Second year. I sneaked out to learn French. I went to see the French lecturer. I told him that I want to sit in his class without taking any exam. I just wanted to opportunity to learn. And he was such a wonderful teacher, a true teacher to the bone, who loved to receive any students.

And so, I sat in his class, joining the rest and he never treated me differently just because I chose to audit his class. For one semester I had a wonderful time. But I could continue the next semester because the time-table clashed.

Parlez-vous francais? (Do you speak French?)

Oui, un peu. (Yes, a little).