Presented at Celebration of Teaching

One of the five groups I've shared with!

Today, I had the pleasure of sharing a Reading Activity at the Celebration of Teaching at Teachers College, Columbia University. But, the most valuable part was the opportunity to rub shoulders with like-minded people & learn practical teaching activities from the other presenters. I also enjoyed the positive energy & good vibes at the event. I will most definitely take part in next year's CoT.

Well done, guys! Special thanks to Taiwanese TV teacher, Ping, for encouraging me to submit my presentation proposal!

The Reading Activity:

Here is the Reading Activity that I shared. I hope that it's useful to you!

Mother Language Day: Something Worth Bringing In From Bangladesh

I admit I don't know much about Bangladesh or their people. But, I've learned something about them recently which struck a cord deep inside my heart & I felt compelled to share it.

First, a little bit of background: Recently, there was an uproar in Malaysia over an MoU where 1.5 million Bangladeshi workers will be legally brought into Malaysia to meet local (low-wage) labour demands. A mere one day later, the government suspended the recruitment of foreign workers. Soon, there was an official explanation to the public.

Besides bringing in their people as workers, there is something else from Bangladesh that is much much more valuable... the Mother Language Day.

In memory of the students who gave their lives for the recognition of the Bengali language...

(Un)spoken: A Celebration of Mother Tongue Day

My wife & I shared Bahasa Malaysia with a multinational audience at Teachers College, Columbia University.
I found comic books from Lat in Columbia's library & distributed them for the audience to read!

Feb 21 is International Mother Languages Day. The International Comparative Education society at Teachers College, Columbia University organised an event where members of the Teachers College community & beyond could share their mother languages. When I saw the call for proposals, I jumped at the opportunity to present at the event & share my love for Malaysia & our language, Bahasa Malaysia.

Look at these treasures I found!

As I considered the endless possibilities for presenting, I wondered if the superginormous Bulter library of Columbia University had any Malaysian comic books. That would be fun; people would be able to flip through pictures & illustrations of Malaysia instead of hearing boring ol' me yap yap yap away. An easy online search revealed that there were 10 titles from Lat. Needless to say, I took all of them with me.