EVERY Sunday morning, a motley group of people in Kepala Batas, Penang gather to speak English at the Pakatan Harapan service centre in Bertam Perdana 2.

They talk to one another from 9am to 11am at the Amanah English Speaking Club started by Penang Amanah organising secretary Nasrul Hisyam Bokhari.

“The idea was to give the people the opportunity to practice conversing in English,” said Nasrul.

It may not be as hilarious as the 1980s British sitcom, Mind Your Language, although the participants are also encouraged to joke in English.

Mind Your Language had a multiracial cast, including UK-based Malaysian actress Lim Pik-Sen. It was set in an adult college in London, where a mixed and colourful group of foreign students learnt English as a foreign language.

But in this setting in Penang, the participants are local Malays.

“Malays are not bad in English. Many just lack the speaking skills.

“So those who take part in this community English club will force themselves to speak English,” Nasrul told The Malaysian Insight recently.

There is a WhatsApp chat group for the participants to text in English. The participants can also meet up on their own to practise speaking in English.

The new club has over 20 participants, mostly Form 6 students sitting for the Malaysian University English Test (MUET) for admission into local universities. The number is fast growing.

Every week, the participants learn a word, a thought and the grammar of the day. They take turns to speak on a given topic, give an impromptu speech and complete simple assignments.

Participants also take turns each week to play the role of an “emcee” who checks for speech disfluency or use of fillers like “uh”, and provide humour in English.

Form 6 student Saidatul Raihan Muhamad Rashid, 18, from Pokok Sena said she signed up so she would do better in the MUET exam.

The teenager who aspires to be an economist said she had rarely had the opportunity to speak English, even in school.

Shahidan Saaid, 43, who works at vocational college GiatMara is another participant.

“I can understand English without trouble, but I have not spoken the language since finishing school.

“We don’t speak English where I work. So this is the chance to start getting familiar with the language again,” Shahidan said.

The oldest participant Ramli Omar, a retiree who worked at the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute in Kepala Batas, said TV programmes in English were only helpful for learning to comprehend the language.

“For many, the challenge is expressing themselves in English. This club gives members the chance to learn to speak English better,” said the 65-year-old, who is already fluent in English.

“I studied in a Malay medium school when I was young. But when I started work, I had a Chinese boss. I spoke English with him.”

Ramli said proficiency in English was useful, citing how two of his grandchildren had grown up speaking English at home.

“My daughter speaks English to her husband, who is Indian. So the kids were better in English than Bahasa Melayu when they were small. It took them time to learn Malay in school.

“Being good in English has its advantage. They gain a lot of knowledge, reading articles in English on the \iInternet,” he said.

Another fluent English speaker in the group Mohd Shafiq Hasnawi, 31, a Master’s degree graduate in Environmental Conservation, said he joined the club to chat with others in English because it was free to participate.

Nasrul said the participants joined the club for three months before making way for new members.

“Those who have been with us for three months will be encouraged to join other clubs around Penang, where they can continue to practise speaking English,” he said.

There were plans to take the Amanah English Speaking Club statewide, he said, as there was demand for the programme in other areas such as Bayan Lepas on the island.

“I am getting the paperwork done to get the state government’s support to expand the project statewide. I recently spoke to the state Youth and Sports exco Soon Lip Chee on the matter.”

Nasrul said he would rope in backpackers from the Couch Surfing Club to serve as tutors when the programme was introduced statewide.

“We have many European backpackers in Penang. They are all multilingual. They can be of help,” said the Amanah man, who is also an avid backpacker. – October 14, 2018.