English language: an obstacle to local languages?

 Nowadays, the English language is very essential to present ourselves in front of the world. It is a common language that connects people worldwide regardless of their respective local languages. However, local languages are just as important. Preserving our own culture, hence the local languages is equally important in this modernizing era.

 People who support local languages and stand up to preserve them must be, and indeed are, fluent English speakers themselves. They cannot represent their language in international conferences if their English is not up to the point. English is a language that gives a chance to people to communicate with the rest of the world, gain knowledge about various things, create an impact in the world and stand up as an individual. Such an opportunity must be given to everyone and no one must be deprived of it.

 However, the survival of local languages is no less important. Our local language is our identity and we should never let it fade away. In my opinion, there shouldn't be even a debate on which one's more important. They are equally important and both these arguments support each other in a way. Local languages play an important role in education, in fact even English language education. English plays a crucial role in preserving our culture and tradition. Local languages are never an obstacle to English learning, rather they support each other's goals. 

Therefore, I would like to conclude that English is a right that must be given to people and is an important element in representing our culture and tradition. Similarly, local languages must be preserved and are not an obstacle but an asset when it comes to learning English.

Word count : 280

A Day without Technology

 Holidays is a very important part of the year. That is when we set our stressful life aside and enjoy being free from our work or school. If I could create a new holiday, it would be “No Technology day”. There is a day of “National day of unplugging” celebrated in a very few countries but they’re not executed effectively. In this essay, I’ll be listing out how and why such a holiday must be given. 

Nowadays, people are too much into electronic devices which affects their mental and physical health in some way or the other. So to celebrate this day, people should avoid using phones, laptops, televisions, or any kind of electronic gadgets. Moreover, people should avoid using cars or motorbikes to prevent pollution. Instead, they can go to places on foot or by bicycle. 

On this day, every one can meet people offline, and hang out with them at a park or some other peaceful place. They can go on a walk, jog or just play some outdoor games. 

One of the activities I would like to suggest is going to a library to read books. In these busy days, we have almost forbidden our habit of reading books or at least newspapers. Therefore, this day will be a day when people can catch up with their hobby of reading books. 

To conclude, I would like to say that on this day, we'll give up on using Technology and do all kinds of outdoor or indoor activities.

Word count : 245

Some people think that teenagers should concentrate on all subjects at school. Others believe that teenagers should focus on the subject they are best at or they are most interested in. To what extent do you agree?

The issue of whether teenagers should concentrate on all subjects at school or just the one they are best at has always been argued. Though there are valid reasons for both sides of the argument, In my opinion, Teenagers should concentrate on all the subjects at school but may lay more emphasis on the subject they are best at.

On one hand, Learning a variety of subjects may be too frustrating for teenagers and they’ll not be able to efficiently manage all the subjects, altering their academic performance. From this point of view, focusing on the subject they are good at or interested in may help them achieve in that specific stream and would help them shape their career. 

On the other hand, Teenagers may anxiously choose a subject under peer pressure, hence concentrating on a subject would not let them switch their area of interest in the future. Topics that are introduced in the teenage years are included after extensive research by academic professionals, and each of them has its importance in grooming an adolescent career. It strengthens the basic knowledge of a child, as a result, children realize their area of interest. Moreover, studying a wide variety of subjects would also help students in their time management and multitasking which could help them in their future life. 

So to conclude, I’d like to say that, during their teenage years, widening their knowledge by focusing on all subjects at school, plus multitasking, would help them being an all-rounder, however, they must emphasize the subject that’s eventually going to shape their career or in other words, the subject they are interested in.

Word count : 272

UN Day 2022 at SMH

The United Nations was created on October 24, 1945. Since then, October 24th has been commemoratively celebrated as the UN day. This year (2022) the theme of the UN day is “End racism, Build peace”.

UN day was celebrated in Sekolah Mutiara Harappan and held in the JHS building. There were 7 booths each representing a country. They were decorated by Grade 7, 8, and 9 students of SMH. The countries represented were India, South Korea, Europe, South Africa, Mexico, Japan, and Indonesia. India showcased its festival of Diwali and other unique characteristics of India like its variety of spices, variety of jewelry, religious veneration items, and many more. The students and the supervising teacher all wore Indian costumes which were unique and beautiful. 

South Korea's booth was very innovative, presenting their Animè characters, and books and they even had Korean costumes and rented them for some time to interested people. Moreover, they had a way through which people could find their Korean name with the help of their bday, which is pretty fun for people. On the other hand, South Africa had its special tea and a snack for sale.  Mexico, Japan, and Indonesia represented their country in their way. All the booths together demonstrated the diversity of cultures in the world. 

I would like to recommend that if there were many food stalls, It'd be better for students to have some allotted time for them to be allowed to cook.  Moreover, if more countries were represented, It'd have been great to see so many cultures. 

Word count : 257

The first car appeared on British roads in 1888. By the year 2000 there may be as many as 29 million vehicles on British roads. Alternative forms of transport should be encouraged and international laws introduced to control car ownership and use. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Ever since the first car appeared on British roads in 1888, the use of cars has been rapidly increasing. Whether, the alternative forms of transport should be encouraged and international laws introduced to control car ownership use, or shouldn't be, has been a debatable argument. In my opinion, the use of alternative forms of transport and introduction of international laws to control car's usage must be initiated. 

The use of cars in such a large scale causes a lot of air pollution, through the toxic gases released by the cars, and noise pollution, through unnecessary honking. Moreover, it also leads to depletion of non-renewable resources such as petrol or diesel. Apart from these environmental factors, it also causes traffic congestion, leading to delay even in emergency situations. This is because people use their own cars to travel anywhere regardless of how less the passengers are. 

On the other hand, the reasons why people might choose not to reduce the consumption of cars could be because of how easier and faster it is to travel using their personal vehicle. Moreover, cars are comfortable, since it provides a desirable environment, and are easily accessible, since cars can be used to start your journey from the very start of your location to your exact destination. 

However, these "comforting" factors aren't a major concern. Moreover, my argument is not to completely stop using cars but to reduce them as much as possible. 

Alternative forms of transport could be encouraged using international laws or even people themselves could take the initiative to control car ownership and use. Two-wheelers could be used to travel short distances and public transport could be used for longer distances. Pooling cars could also be a great idea to reduce the unnecessary use of cars. 

Word count : 294