The previous entry came about after someone commented that my daughter's Arabic is much better than her Malay. She gave me the impression that my daughter needed Malay tutoring more than Arabic. It struck a chord in me because here I am, trying to speak Malay to my children and the result, I would say rather depressing.

Below are 2 examples of the type of sentence that my daughter, who is in Pr 2, wrote recently.

Penuh sesak : Jalan raya itu penuh sesak kerana gajah tengah seberang jalan.

Lampu trafik rosak : Lampu trafik rosak sebab gajah pijak dia.

I don't understand her obsessions with elephants. But I came up with the conclusion that she is writing the way she speaks, that is ROJAK MALAY. The way I speak Malay, with little bits of English here and there. I figured that the best way for her to improve her Malay language is for me to speak proper Malay to her. But then again, why is it that her Arabic is so much better even though we don't speak the language at home? I am still wondering.