Too bad, 'playing' with my instinct when it comes to a situation like this isn't exactly my forte. Even then, I make lots of blunders too when choosing the exact words that are needed in my answer. And occasionally I missed the vital keyword needed for my answers.

I suppose if Band 4 is all that's required, Malaysian papers should suffice. That's not saying much though; I still maintain that Malaysian papers are of a poor quality and Band 4 in MUET is only just functional.

Agree with you. The star is sufficient enough for MUET.

Malaysians papers are not of poor quality, it just ain't as good as the British/American, and fair enough considering English is not the first language of Malaysian, but it is still good.

Not having the best quality doesn't equal poor. Just like being graded second among 100 and losing to the first place doesn't make you weak. You're still good you simply aren't the best.

And having a functional English is all one needs to survive. I don't see why a person needs to master a language to its maximum and to be on par with Americans/British to survive.

Language is about communication. Unless you pursue courses like English or Law which requires superb proficiency in the language or else I maintain one does not need American/British level English.

Just like Malaysian Chinese do not have the same grasp on Mandarin as those China Chinese, but Malaysian Chinese could still do business well with China. And Malaysian Indian with India Indians.

Malaysian newspaper is enough. Unless you intend to further your studies in English, then go for the Queens English.

This post has been edited by Just Visiting By: Oct 22 2014, 12:50 AM

I'm not strictly talking about the usage of English in Malaysian newspapers, but also the content found in them. A trained monkey can report the current news; it's really not that hard. What separates newspapers are things like the editorials, opinions and feature pieces. Because our country is so polemicized by racial issues and petty politics, it is only natural that our newspapers reflect so. As such, what they report isn't strictly their fault but as a consequence of our sociopolitical situation, there is an alarming lack of maturity and inquiry in most of the opinions/editorials in local papers. The bulk of what is written is about mostly nonsense/meaningless rage about what Ibrahim Ali recently said or what retarded policies are ministers are contemplating. Standardized English tests aren't entirely about the use of the language. As you may well realize, they also assess critical thinking and analytical skills, and it is very difficult to improve on the aforementioned skills if all we read are shallow and trivial articles.

And please, don't flatter yourself. We are hardly 'second among 100'. More like 70/100, if that. Our press independence is abysmal- mass media in Malaysia is nothing more than an Orwellian propaganda machine.

The guy above cannot even differentiate between an example and an application. I was merely pointing out an example that shows we do not need the best, and he thought I was stating Malaysia is second to best.

So much for arguing that Malaysians lack analytical skills.

Well, you can stick to your high standard requirement. It's your right.

To TS, just try your best for MUET. Start from the basic English and move on to the advanced. You'll survive well.

Again, do not attempt to memorise. It won't work.

This post has been edited by Just Visiting By: Oct 22 2014, 06:46 PM

But sadly, that's how most of us are ''programmed'' to do when it comes to taking any type of tests. We certainly lack adequate time in order to make sufficient preparations and specifically in this case, we are only days away from the MUET exam in November. But I reckon that's just the plain old excuse that we often point out to veil our faults.

P/S: Kudos to you again for being able to secure Band 5 in your first try. I know there are many students out there that are of your caliber if not better when it comes to this, but I can hardly even graze Band 4, let alone that this is my first try...

...wow, way to twist my words. I obviously did not literally take your example as meaning Malaysia is second best (hence the usage of quotation marks). Note, I said:

We are hardly 'second among 100'.

The phrase was meant to summarize your stand that Malaysia was good but just quite not excellent. If I took your statement literally, I would've stated something like:

Malaysia is not ranked second to best.

Context and phrasing matter too. In any case, think about what you've just written.



In the first paragraph, you talked about how Malaysian papers were good, but just not the best. And in the next paragraph, you gave an example about THE EXACT SAME THING- being good but not the best. Even if I DID take your example literally and thought Malaysia was ranked second, is that really my fault? You have constructed the premise of your argument in the first paragraph and followed it with an almost identical, validating example in the next. If you are going to be so defensive about people taking you literally, then stop making constructs that tease at that conclusion.

Either way, this will be my last response to this thread. We have veered off topic. Besides, I doubt any amount of writing will convince you that Malaysian papers are of poor quality instead of being 'still good, just not the best' as you seem to so strongly believe. And for the rest of the posters who agree with Just Visiting By, go ahead and prep for English tests by reading just local newspapers if you so choose, it's not my loss.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA good one OP

It's actually up to the individual.

Don't get too stressed up. It's just an English test.




This post has been edited by Just Visiting By: Oct 22 2014, 10:42 PM

I felt that you made it quite clear that it was just an example... And I could understand that you weren't referring to Malaysia at all..

I don't understand why he would have misunderstood what you've said.

He insists he didn't or else he said he would make it clear and write 'Malaysia is not ranked second to best'.

But then he told me 'not to flatter myself' and 'we are hardly second to best'.

I didn't even say we are so I didn't know why he wrote that.

I don't really know what he thought.

He told me "If you are going to be so defensive about people taking you literally, then stop making constructs that tease at that conclusion."

He claimed it was my fault but I think I made it quite clear there, he simply failed to distinguish between a fact and an example to a fact, where my fact is 'we do not need the best' and the example is '2nd is still good though not the first', illustrating that not only the first ranked is the best, and other ranking, whether 2nd, fourth, and even last, could still be good. For example, the last ranked group in an international competition is still a good group as it beats lots of groups to represent the nation.

Somehow he related the example to 'Malaysia ranking'. That made me wonder too.

It does not matter anymore.

He could have his opinions, and he has the right to voice it out, but he is giving consultation to TS, and I must insist his opinion is not for TS.

TS is not ready for foreign newspapers. He should go for local newspapers first, where the culture, writing styles, and opinions are rather familiar and local-friendly.

This post has been edited by Just Visiting By: Oct 22 2014, 11:50 PM