HOW TO BECOME A GOOD SINGER WITHOUT LESSONS

1.      Find your vocal range

Using a piano, females start at middle G and see if you can match it. For males, start 1 octave lower than middle G. go down until you hit your lowest note, then go up until you hit your highest. Find your range.

 

2.      Now that you know your voice range, go through every note and try to match it with a long even tone.

Make sure when holding out a note to not damage your vocal cords. Be sure to have a glass or bottle of water with you just in case.

 

3.      Find a song in your range

Study it about 10 minutes then sing it.  Just sing ‘Do, do, do or La, la, la’ a good one to start with is ‘Chopsticks’. If you don’t know to play sing it along an online video.

 

4.      Add any kind of melody to your voice.

Make it unique and your style. Before adding melody do not teach yourself how to sing vibrato.

 

5.      Repeat steps 3 and 4 for whatever song you like in your range.

Find the lyric make up your own song. 

HOW TO SPEAK ENGLISH

Part 1: Getting the basics down

·         Start simple such as hello, Hi, and how are you?

·         Practice conversations such as what are doing?

 

Part 2: Getting familiar with the grammar

·         Start with present tenses such as breakfast at 8am

·         Move to the past and future tenses. Such as I saw that movie last week.

 

Part 3: Maintaining progress

·         Label everything. Such as where is my blanket?

·         Keep an eye on your pronunciation. Stressed the first syllable by using ‘BED-room’, ‘BATH-room’.

·         Pick a dialect such as British English.

 

Part 4: Using your Resources

·         Get a good dictionary

·         Speak in English with native speakers

·         Use internet

·         Watch television, listen to song and read books.

·         Think in English

HOW TO LEARN ENGLISH

Part 1: Improving your spoken English

·         Speak little English every day.

·         Don’t wait until you ‘feel more comfortable’ speaking in English.

·         Find native English speaker who is willing to spend some time speaking English.

·         Work on your pronunciation.

·         Correct, clear pronunciation is essential.

·         Pay particular attention to any sound that you are unfamiliar.

·         Be aware that the pronunciation of certain English word.

·         Expand your vocabulary and use idiomatic phrases.

·         Learnt new phase every day and make it sentence.

·         Attend an English class or discussion group

 

Part 2: Improving your writing, Reading and Listening Skills

·         Listen to English radio.

·         Watch English movies and TV shows.

·         Read an English book, newspaper or magazine.

·           Keep diary in English

·         Find the English speaking pen-pal

 

Part 3: Committing To Your New Language

·         Stay motivated

·         Practice everyday

·         Train yourself to think in English

·         Make friends with English speakers

·         Don’t be afraid to make mistakes.

 

 

 

 

TIPS FOR TO SCORE IN MUET READING EXAMINATION

The weightage for this paper is 40 %.

1.     Read

-              Read everything but with a notepad in hand

-              Copy down words which you don’t

2.     Read quality materials

-              Read articles that are published by reliable sources such as: Reader’s Digest, TIME Magazine.

-              Articles used in the exams are usually from these types of source

-              Keep yourself updated on current issues by reading newspapers (Example: The STAR, New Straits Times, The Edge)
 

3.     Use your time wisely!

-              You only have 1.5 hours to answer 45 exam questions

-              ALWAYS read the question first, and underline the keywords

-              Make sure you don’t just skip through the text but scan for specific information
 

4.     Know your vocabulary

-              There will be 6 texts altogether in the exam paper, and the first one always has a non-linear stimuli (Example: graph, chart or diagram)

-              You will need the relevant vocabulary knowledge to describe the trend(s) shown in the given diagram(s)

-              This is also a useful practice for report writing as it deals with the same language functions
 

5.     DON’T ACT SMART!

-              For some questions, you will be asked to ‘infer’ or make intelligent assumptions based on the given evidences in the texts

-              For ‘True/False/Not Stated’ questions, NEVER use your own opinions to answer because what is logical to you may not be academically correct

-              My tip to you is that you should underline the evidence(s) in the texts

-              For ‘True’, you must be able to identify proof that shows that the statement is correct

-              You should also underline evidences that prove a statement to be wrong in order to choose ‘False’ as your answer

-              For ‘Not Stated’, you will find that it is almost impossible to underlineany evidence at all. Hence, these are the fundamental differences between the answer selections ‘True/False/Not Stated’
 

6.     Train your brain

-              Guessing the meaning of a vocabulary can be quite tricky especially when you don’t have the access to a dictionary or the internet (Google.com) during your exam. Hence, you need to train your brain to assess the root word

-              Focus on the prefix/suffix in order to identify the meaning

-              If you think the word is a positive, negative or neutral one – reconfirm again by looking at the context of the texts for clues to support your assumption

-              Review the answers and options given by eliminating the answer that is most unlikely to be correct before making a calculated guess

7.     Assess the writer’s intentions

-              The MUET level comprehension questions do not focus on content alone

-              Instead, the questions given require candidates to assess the writer’s:

Purpose

-              Example: to inform, discuss, argue, compare, persuade…etc.

Style of writing

-              Example: describing, comparing and contrasting, giving examples, explaining causes and effects, sequencing events…etc.

Tone

-              Example: supportive, opposing, indifferent, neutral, biased…etc.

8.    Assess the articles as a whole

-              Sometimes you may be asked to give a suitable title to an article

-              Or to summarize a specific paragraph

-              Or to come up with a suitable conclusion based on the options given. This clearly requires critical thinking skills or HOTS (Higher Order Thinking Skills) from you

9.     Keep practicing!

-              Essentially, nothing beats practice and more practice

-              Buy good quality reference books such as Longman or Oxford model tests/actual exam workbooks and try doing each reading paper 3 times

-              First attempt: do it as if you’re sitting for the real exam. Do not refer to any workbooks or dictionaries

-              Second attempt: allow yourself to refer to books, and discuss with your friends if you need to (and if you are doing it as a group) before marking both attempts

-              Note: Your 2^nd attempt should score better than your first.

-              Third attempt: Try doing the same set of exam paper again after 2-3 months to see if you are able to retain the knowledge of vocabulary and concepts which you have learned before.

10.  Grade yourself

-              Here’s a useful guide for you to follow when you attempt the exam questions so that you can know where you stand

-              You will need to score:

-              21/45 – Band 3

-              27/45 – Band 4

-              33/45 – Band 5

-              39/45 – Band 6

-              Reading is the MOST important MUET paper as it carries 40% or 120/300 marks

Why we need a water for our body???

Humans need to drink water to survive. Your body is approximately 60 percent water, your brain is 70 percent water, and your lungs are nearly 90 percent water. Each day, your body must replace 2.4 liters or about 2.5 quarts of water through ingested liquid and foods. Your body uses water in many ways. Water cushions and lubricates joints; nourishes and protects the brain, spinal cord and other tissues; keeps the body's temperature normal; and helps remove waste through perspiration, bowel movements and urination. Humans are composed mostly of water, which is not surprising when you consider that humans descended from single-cell organisms that originated in the oceans millions of years ago.

Water is more important for your body's survival than food. You can live without water for approximately one week, but you can survive without food for more than a month. Lack of water, or dehydration, reduces the amount of blood in your body, forcing your heart to pump harder in order to deliver oxygen-bearing cells to your muscles. In the early stages of dehydration, you can become dizzy, irritable and experience headaches. As dehydration progresses, you become clumsy and exhausted. Your eyesight fades. In the last stages of dehydration, you may feel nauseous and begin vomiting. Without water, you will enter a coma and die.

When you drink too much water, you can develop a condition known as hyponatremia, in which the excess water floods your body's cells, causing them to swell up. Your swollen brain cells then cause a wide range of symptoms, including a bad headache, nausea, cramps, mental confusion, convulsions, fatigue, coma and death. Hyponatremia has killed runners during marathons.

JUST DRINK OK!!! ITS GOOD FOR YOU

Ya Allah!!! I Have final exam: What should i do????

You can work so hard to study large quantities of information for an exam, but if you don’t prepare yourself mentally and physically before that exam, all that hard work can sadly go to waste. When it comes time to take your major exams, you really have to relate to yourself as a top class athlete. You need to eat the right foods, have the right mental attitude and let your body rest when it needs to leading up to your exams. These simple things can make all the difference to your mental clarity and performance. You may be thinking ‘this is common sense!’ but common sense isn’t so common. I see it all the time, university students drinking energy drinks like water, getting very little sleep and eating fatty convenience foods whilst cramming for their final exams. I have to admit, I’ve also done this and I don’t recommend it. It’s a recipe for disaster or at best, mediocre grades and a stressful, miserable time.

Here are my top 10 tips for taking exam:

Get a good nights sleep 

Studies have found that if you stay awake for 21 hours straight, you have the mental capacity of someone who is legally drunk (in terms of your ability to concentrate, memorise and recall information, etc). You can’t afford to stay awake all night studying for an exam because you just won’t be effective on the day of the exam. Make sure you get on average 8 hours of sleep a night.

Exercise for at least 30 minutes a day, everyday
I make myself to go to the gym for 1 hour each day during my exam period, but 30 minutes of walking, jogging, swimming, dancing, etc will be enough. Often students stop exercising when it comes exam time because they begin to think that they don’t have enough time (“I must spend every moment studying!”). Big mistake. Exercise helps us study more effectively for various reasons. Firstly, it’s a great way to relieve stress and anxiety. Secondly, it gets blood flowing to your brain (supplying oxygen, antioxidant and glucose) which can help you to think more clearly. Think of daily exercise as being an investment in your final marks.

Drink plenty of water
Often when we can’t think clearly and have a foggy memory, it’s because our brains need to be hydrated. While studying and taking your exams, make sure you take regular sips of water.

Remember, your teachers want you to do well
Years ago, I started thinking that my teachers and lecturers were out to get me and would mark me down wherever they got the chance. As a result of this thinking, I became too scared to write anything in one of my first tests for law! After receiving my terrible mark, my brother said to me “Remember sis, your teachers want you to do well. They will try to give you marks wherever they can. It’s in their interest to do so” Don’t worry about writing a perfect answer. If you’re unsure, still put it down (even if it’s in dot points). They may not give you any marks for it, but they won’t take marks off. Just remember, your teachers really are on your side (despite all evidence to the contrary).

Focus on what you do know rather than what you don’t know
Chances are there will always be something that you could have studied more thoroughly or don’t know so well come the day of the exam. By that stage, you can’t do much about that, so is there any point worrying about it? You are better off focusing on the fact that you now know so much more than you did before and a large number of the exam questions you’ll be able to answer.

Eat a low GI, nutritious breakfast
Studies have found that students who skip breakfast experience a 20-40% reduction in thinking skills (i.e. concentration, memory and alertness). You want to eat a low GI, nutritious breakfast to feel fuller for longer, stabilise your mood and give you plenty of energy for the day.

Avoid drinking caffeine (e.g. energy drinks, coke and coffee)
Caffeine is a stimulant drug. It gives you a rush and makes you feel good in the short term, but eventually it wears off and leaves you feeling cranky and wanting more. It’s also a diuretic, so it makes you urinate, which means you lose water, become thirsty and want to drink more soft drink. Studies have found that when we slurp on our cup of coffee or can of coke, we are actually inducing a state of stress. Caffeine drives the adrenal glands to produce stress hormones that in turn produce the “fight or flight” response. Why not consider gradually replacing your caffeinated beverages with good old, simple water? If you must drink something sweet, try drinking low GI apple juice with no added sugar.

Go straight home after the exam
How many times have you stayed back after an exam to talk to your friends about what you put for each questions? How many times have you felt anxious after doing so? Whilst it can be reassuring to know that you wrote the same answer as your friends, if you find out that you wrote something different and you have another 4 or 5 exams to take, this may throw you off your game. The exam is over. There’s nothing much you can do about it, so move on and focus on the next one.

Take a few deep breaths when you get stuck
If you come across a question you’re not sure how to answer in the exam, stop for a moment and take a few deep breathes (in for the count of 3 and out for the count of 3). If you are not sure how to answer it there and then, move on to another question. The worst thing you can do is start to panic, because as they say ‘stress makes you stupid’. You won’t be able to think clearly.

Dealing with writer’s cramp/elbow
I’m sure many of us are familiar with writers cramp/elbow. This can be due to holding your pen too tight. Loosen your grip or get a pen that you won’t have to press down so hard on the paper. The reality is, even with a good pen, your elbow will start to hurt at some point if you’re taking a 3 hour exam. When it does hurt, have a rest for a few moments (yes, you have time to do this!) and stretch it out on your desk.

I hope you have found these tips helpful. If you have some techniques or strategies that work for you when preparing for exams, please share them below.

AHLAN WASAHLAN RAMADHAN MUBARAK!!!!

Ramadan (Arabic: رمضان‎ Ramaḍān, IPA: [rɑmɑˈdˤɑːn];[variations] Persian: رَمَضان‎ Ramazān; Urdu: رَمْضان‎ Ramzān; Turkish: Ramazan) is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar; Muslims worldwide observe this as a month of fasting. This annual observance is regarded as one of the Five Pillars of Islam. The month lasts 29–30 days based on the visual sightings of the crescent moon, according to numerous biographical accounts compiled in the hadiths. The word Ramadan comes from the Arabic root ramiḍa or ar-ramaḍ, which means scorching heat or dryness. Fasting is fard ("obligatory") for adult Muslims, except those who are ill, traveling, pregnant, breastfeeding, diabetic or going through menstrual bleeding. Fasting the month of Ramadan was made obligatory (wājib) during the month of Sha'aban, in the second year after the Muslims migrated from Mecca to Medina.

While fasting from dawn until sunset, Muslims refrain from consuming food, drinking liquids, smoking, and engaging in sexual relations; in some interpretations they also refrain from swearing. Food and drink is served daily, before sunrise and after sunset.  According to Islam, the thawab (rewards) of fasting are many, but in this month they are believed to be multiplied. Fasting for Muslims during Ramadan typically includes the increased offering of salat (prayers) and recitation of the Quran.

Chapter 2, Revelation 185 of the Quran states:

The month of Ramadan is that in which was revealed the Quran; a guidance for mankind, and clear proofs of the guidance, and the criterion (of right and wrong). And whosoever of you is present, let him fast the month, and whosoever of you is sick or on a journey, a number of other days. Allah desires for you ease; He desires not hardship for you; and that you should complete the period, and that you should magnify Allah for having guided you, and that perhaps you may be thankful.

Ramadan is a time of spiritual reflection, improvement and increased devotion and worship. Muslims are expected to put more effort into following the teachings of Islam. The fast begins at dawn and ends at sunset. In addition to abstaining from eating and drinking, Muslims also increase restraint, such as abstaining from sexual relations and generally sinful speech and behavior. The act of fasting is said to redirect the heart away from worldly activities, its purpose being to cleanse the soul by freeing it from harmful impurities. Ramadan also teaches Muslims how to better practice self-discipline, self-control, sacrifice, and empathy for those who are less fortunate; thus encouraging actions of generosity and compulsory charity (zakat).

It becomes compulsory for Muslims to start fasting when they reach puberty, so long as they are healthy and sane, and have no disabilities or illnesses. Many children endeavor to complete as many fasts as possible as practice for later life.

Exemptions to fasting are travel, menstruation, severe illness, pregnancy, and breast-feeding. However, many Muslims with medical conditions insist on fasting to satisfy their spiritual needs, although it is not recommended by the hadith. Professionals should closely monitor individuals who decide to persist with fasting. Those who were unable to fast still must make up the days missed later.