INFORMAL LETTER: DEPRESSION

                                                                                     Siti Hazimah Binti Kamaruzaman

                                                                                     JK 16 Batu 3, Jalan Tampin,

                                                                                     72000, Kuala Pilah,

                                                                                     Negeri Sembilan.

                                                                 

                                                                                     17 August 2011.

Dear Seri,

       I am sorry only now I can reply your letter. I had read your letter. Seri, you had a big problem my dear friend. I feel sorry for you. I only can give you an advice and encourage you. So, you can face it effectively. In your letter, you said you always sad and moody right? It is okay to be moody once in a while. You also said you have lack of interest in life activities, loss of weight, loss of appetite and loss of sleep right? Do you know that are the primary symptoms of depression. My friend, you need to help yourself before anybody help you. You do not have to worry my friend. This is because depression is a medical condition that is treatable.  

       Seri, for your information the physical and emotional problems in depressed people can upset their day-to-day activities, careers, interest and personal relationship. They are also highly prone to suicidal tendencies and often talk to death when they had faced it for a long time. Sometimes, depression is universal but in serious cases genetics and family history play a role. As we know there are studies that show women are more prone to depression than men. Scientifically, depression is believed to be caused by an imbalance in the brain chemical called neurotransmitter.

       I have suggestion for you to handle it my dear. You just take it easy okay. First, you must practice to exercise everyday or at least three times a week. Exercising is a Time-tested method to beat stress. Scientifically, while exercising, endorphins are produced which is good antidote for depression. Exercising also enhances your self esteem. For your information, moderate activity is known to lower stress and produce sleep. So, you must try to moderate your activity. With that you will get enough sleep and rest needed by your body. Lastly, you can think positively and efficiently the way you can do to handle your problem.

       Besides that, to handle your depression, you can keep pets. Keeping pets one of the most effective ways to handle depression. By keep pets, you can counter loneliness and depression. Seri, to encounter your problem, you must be a social person. In my opinion, depressed people are always not lonely but lonely people tend to be depressed. You must ensure you network with people and stay in touch with friends and family.

       Seri, this is my last suggestion for you. If you had tried several ways and you still cannot handle it and your problem becomes worse, this is the last way I suggested. Now, if you search internet, there is one pace maker for depression treatment. That is Vagus or nerve stimulation. It cans resistant depression. From internet, I know that this device sends electrical impulses to the brain and stimulates the Vagus nerve. This produces the feel-good chemical and eases the patient’s depression.

     Seri, I hope my suggestion can help you settle your problem. I hope you will settle it soon and start new life happily. That’s my entire letter today. I hope you will write to me soon. Lastly, you must forget and take the lesson from the past and turn over a new leaf.

Yours Sincerely,

SITI HAZIMAH BT KAMARUZAMAN

http://www.esp-world.info/Articles_26/Original/Difficulties%20in%20learning%20english%20as%20a%20second%20language.pdf

HOW TO LEARN ENGLISH, A FOREIGN LANGUAGE, EFFECTIVELY

          We Malaysians find it hard to learn English, the second language in our country and the international language. However, there are only some of us who can communicate well in this language.

           What are the effective ways to learn this foreign language? First, read more to improve your reading skills. Reading many articles in English may improve your proficiency of reading. If it is too difficult for you to do so, just read the articles of the event which you are interested in from the newspaper or magazines.

          Speak in the language as often as you can. Perhaps, there will be peccadilloes in your conversation and thus invoke laughter. Do not be afraid, the more you speak the more mistakes you make, the more you will learn.

          In fact, there is an interesting way of learning. If you enjoy English movies, listen to the conversations of the characters and copy down the speeches into your notebook. Then, try to read them the way the actors do in the films. If you are able to catch what your English teacher says, it is not wrong to note down her speeches and practice it on your own. You may make minor modifications and utilize it in your daily conversations. Nevertheless, avoid using any of slang words, such as, ‘loco’, ‘phat’, and ‘sus’. Furthermore, you are not advised to use translation forms of idiomatical sayings of other languages in your essays.

          Listening to English songs is a way to master your listening skill of this language. But, please bear in mind that you should, somehow, do understand what the lyrics mean.

          Is there any other secret way to excel in English within a very short period? There is. According to a famous author of love-stories, Chong Su Han from Hong Kong, the finest way of learning a foreign language, is to learn from the person whom you admire most. It is because you will pay 100 percent attention to every word she utters. Her words will remain in your mind for a long time. Well, the way Miss Chong has recommended is true. I have tried before and it was how I started learning English. With nine month, from an extremely limited English user, I was drilled to become a normal English users who can speak and write, by learning from the girl I swooned over. Anyway, the person whom you admire has to be good in English, otherwise you ought to give up is method out of frustration.

            In conclusion, listening, speaking, writing and reading have to be synchronized in the process of mastering the language. Write letters in this second language, you will realize your writing skill has improved, eventually. Rome was no build in one day, please be patient, if you really put in effort in improving your language skills, you will become an excellent English user.

            The belief that those who come from non-English speaking family will remain in competent-users of this language until the end of the day, is not true. Trust yourself, nothing in this word is impossible to achieve. Finally, my advised to everyone learn English and improve your language-skills before it is too late, otherwise you will be left behind.

   THE POWER OF TIME

          Time. What is time? It’s only a word but it can control a world. Control our life. Control everything. Time is the one who taught us the meaning of life. Time is precious. Time can tells us about past, present or future. Time is very value to people.  Everyone have to appreciate it and know how to handle it perfectly. Fail to handle it will affect people.

          In this modern world, anybody who complains that he or she has nothing to do is simply downright lazy. There are books to read, film and video tapes to watch, music to listen and games to play. In fact, I find that I have not enough time to do all the things I want to do. Therefore, a lot of things are left undone. If only time is a transferable commodity, may be those who have too much time can pass over to me. There are many activities which can be done in limited time. As a university student, classes take up more than daylight hours. I need to slog late into the night to complete the assignment. Very rarely lecturers not give homework.

         When evening comes, sports and games come alive. Everywhere young people and a good number of older ones, indulging in some of exercise. Be it simply kicking a beat-up football or cycling does not matter very much. What matters is doing them. The doers know that time is precious and they spend it joyfully in the things they love to do. The no doers prefer to sit inside the coconut shells and wonder why there are nothings to do. For these unhappy people I suggest that they could at least be spectators. Even if they just watch sports and games, it is also a good way of spending time. It is a form of entertainment and recreation. If for nothing else, at least they know that they are among living human beings, not dead ones.

          Besides that, an average housewife has tons of chores to do. When I look at my mother, I realize that the amount of work she has to perform each day is enormous. She gets up at dawn and works right through the day cleaning, cooking and washing. When the cleaning, cooking and washing is done, there is more to do. Besides this back-breaking work, she has to go to market to buy food for her ever-hungry children and then look after their general well being. Anybody who finds that he or she has too much time can help their mother in her housework. Then they will realize the preciousness of time and how some people simply squander it away. Then, they will learn to appreciate the toils of a loving mother and how she works for nothing in return.

           I suppose most people who find that they have too much time on their hands are people who do not find interest in life itself. Their attitudes need correcting. If they look at life with pessimism and then feel depressed about it, obviously things are not going to look interesting. On the other hands, if they look at life optimism and feel thankful that they are alive, the likelihood will be that they will go out to do the things they love and enjoy every moment or minute of it.

          Of course life itself is filled with obstacles. If one allows such barriers to prevent one from living then one might as well be dead. The tricks are to look beyond these obstacles and beyond the black clouds of depression. The sun shines for people who can do this. Life is never dull. There is plenty to do. Time is always precious. Time is always powerful. We as human being should always spend our time wisely even if it is only one minute. As we know the power of the time, it would never be there for eternity. As we know it wasn’t that hard to appreciate every single lad and lass.

pollution

http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/p/pollution.htm

POLLUTION

          Pollution is getting worse day by day. We must do something to this. We see all kinds of pollution like air pollution, water pollution, land pollution and even sound solution. We hear all about them on the television and radio. We also read all about them in the newspapers. Even with this much of attention, the amount of pollution is still on the rise.

          There are a lot of causes for air pollution. Fumes from factories and vehicles are the main causes of air pollution. The fumes contain poisonous gas like carbon monoxides. Open-air burning can also cause air pollution. The ash after burning can dirty the air. Water pollution is often caused by oils spills, toxic waste and the use of pesticides like DDT. All these can pollute our precious river and seas. Illegal logging can destroy our green forest and cause erosion which takes away our soil.

            Because of all this, all the living planets in this world are suffering. Because of these pollutions, people’s health is affected. Pollution causes diseases like asthma, bronchitis and many more. Pollution also endangers the lives of land and aquatic animal species. Pollution kills a lot of animals and puts them at the edge of extinction. It also destroys the environment.

            We should start reducing pollution right away. We should not throw rubbish into the rivers. We should also recycle all the recyclables products like aluminums tins, paper and plastics. As students, we can join the Environment Club in our schools. This club usually organized many activities in improving the condition of the environment.

            The government should penalize factories which dispose their toxic waste in rivers or seas. The government should also build a toxic reneutralising plant so that the factory owners can send their toxic waste to proper treatment plans. The government should also be stricter with people who openly burn and litter everywhere. The government should also stop the indiscriminate cutting down the trees.

            Pollution is not caused by only one person but because of all. So everybody should cooperate to solve this pollution problem.

HOW TO KEEP THE ENVIRONMENT CLEAN

            As the world climate has change drastically, many people point their fingers as their government and still take government responsibilities for granted. It is notable that the environment nowadays is retrogressing, yet not many people realize it’s unthinkable repercussions. The ice surface in The North Pole is melting due to global warming which is caused by the greenhouse gases which trap heat inside the atmosphere of the earth. Greenpeace reports that melting ice will give way to rising sea level which in turn will inundate low-lying areas like Bangladesh, the coast of Florida and the Nile Delta. Man in every corner of the world is  urged to keep the environment clean. There are several ways to alleviate impoverishment.

            Firstly, we keep the air clean. But the truth is out there, when you are walking down the street, you can hardly breathe without a gas mask. The government has in its armoury many laws to check air pollution, but from all accounts it is an unphill nettle. One of the worst culprits is open burning, particularly in remote areas. In the agriculture sector, fire remains the cheapest for land clearing and for getting rid of unwanted trees and foliage. This discharge of pollutions is compounded by emissions from factories, motor vehicles and a long list of activities. The scince, Technologies and Environment ministry had decided that all open burning must stop immediately. There must be strict enforcement for the measure to be more effective. Those who burn their household garbage or garden refuse may be lucky to receive a compound fine, ranging from RM5000 to RM200 000. but, they may end up spending up to five years behind bars if they are prosecuted. In this case, the public can assists by reporting any open burning to the authorities. The government can put  a control on the fumes emitted by factories, and make it compulsory for all factories owners to have their own air filter fixed. Trees, which are known as carbon dioxide absorbers, also give out oxygen that man needs. Therefore, tree planting campaign is worth a tree.

            Secondly, the land that we are living, on must be kept clean too. Customers should avoid using plastics bags and try to use biodegradable materials. We must learn to recycle the rubbish we throw every day. For example, the waste paper can be recycled, turned into a roll of whole new paper. Besides, we earn money as waste paper is  hot item among recycling industries. Glass, bottles and aluminium cans are returned to factories to be re-used after proper sterilization. Periodic “gotong-royong” campaign should be carried out in every resident area. In addiotion to this, public must educated no to litter everywhere and be thought the importance of cleanliness.

            Finally, for the sake of our next generation, even the next few generations, we must strive at iur best and make every endeavour to protect our Mother earth. Environment is everyone’s matter. Let’s pull together and make it a better place to live.