Welcome to HLS English class - the best place to learn English in Kuantan, Malaysia. English class for children and adults conducted in a fun and creative way. Learn English with Horne Learning Services. English speaking and conversation, reading, writing and listening training based in Kuantan. This is what we do . . .
Showing posts with label English. Show all posts
Showing posts with label English. Show all posts

Tuesday, 16 September 2025

HLS Newsletter September 2025

Hi, and welcome to the HLS website!

Over the last few months we have had some really enjoyable classes. Let's start with the Last-One-Standing Spelling Test.

Students were required to spell words of increasing length and difficulty as they made their way through rounds. Spell it correct, you stay in, spell it wrong and you're out. We had one or two intense battles along the way! Here are the winners from each class:













Next, we enjoyed our annual Merdeka class in August. Children talked about why they love Malaysia, and then had an activity to test whether they knew what is made in Malaysia and what is not. The food at the end of the class is always a big draw during both Merdeka and Halloween classes.





At HLS, we give our students plenty of opportunities to speak English. This is especially true during Presentations classes. Students prepare a presentation at home on a certain given topic, and then deliver their presentation in class. It presents a wonderful opportunity for public speaking practise and a chance to build confidence in speaking English.







Mr. Duncan enjoys creating new things which he can use in his classes. Over the years, he has been working on drawing a map. It ended up being 36 A4 pages in size! He pasted it to the classroom wall and prepared comprehension questions about it for the students to answer. This included giving directions, following instructions, and extracting information. Our students loved the map and were sad when it came down the following week!







For the first time at HLS, we held a Trading Class. Students brought an object from home that they were willing to trade. They had the chance to advertise their item to the class, then attempt to make a trade with someone else. We saw a lot of trades happen and there was a lot of fun all around!





We welcomed back some former students over the past few months who dropped in to visit and catch up with Mr. Duncan. These are always very special moments for us. We love our students and keep an interest in them after they leave our classes and continue with their studies and life.

Oscar and Hui Xin are legends of HLS, having spent several years in our classes. We are so thankful for their love and support of HLS, and for the deep friendship we enjoy


Falisya was our student for several years before she moved to boarding school. We miss her so much and it was a treat to see her again as she accompanied her sister Farra to class



Yan Chloe was a student of HLS many years ago when she was younger. She is now studying at college in KL but came back to visit during her semester break. So great to see her again! Beside her is her younger sister Vernice




We also said goodbye to Uzma & Attar who have been studying with us for the last few years. They are moving abroad with their family and we wish them all the best!


We also said goodbye to Ding Chok Onn and Ding Chok Han after many years attending HLS classes. This is their farewell speech!



That's a wrap for the HLS Newsletter for now. Thank you to all parents and students who are enrolled in our classes. We are grateful for your support and look forward to continuing to teach all of our students as we approach the last few months of 2025.




Wednesday, 19 March 2025

HLS Newsletter, March 2025

 CNY WEEK

During the week of 10th - 15th February, 2025, HLS English Classes Kuantan held classes on the theme of Chinese New Year. Students dressed in their CNY clothes or associated colours and engaged in some fun activities including snakes, fireworks and 'ang pao.'

The Friday night English class during CNY week




LISTENING COMPREHENSION

Also in February, we watched three of the videos I compiled from my trip to England last December/January. The children enjoyed watching the videos and then answering some questions I prepared based on topics discussed in the videos. Below are the videos:











MARCH 2025 CLASSES

In March, we have continued our speaking focus by having students regularly engage in speaking English, whether in conversations with the teacher or each other, in presenting their written work, or in a Show & Tell class (upcoming next week).

This week students will be reading a short story provided by the teacher and answering several questions to test their understanding of the text, and their ability to think creatively and write good English.


We wish our Muslim students and friends a very happy and uplifting fasting month, and also look forward to April at HLS, with continued speaking opportunities for our students.

Take care,

Mr. Duncan

Monday, 15 November 2021

Online classes end; in-person lessons resume

Half a year of online classes finally came to an end in the last quarter of 2021. From October 2021 HLS resumed in-person classes with an influx of new students joining throughout October and November.

We enjoyed the online classes despite the difficulties. There were some highlights that wouldn't have happened in normal class settings. For example, we held an online Masterchef Competition, a Merdeka modelling contest, and a Talent Show.




We were so excited to see the wealth of talent among our students! It's a pretty long video (above) but hope you'll enjoy it.


We received loads of fantastic entries for the HLS Masterchef competition too. It was really hard to choose a top ten; we ended up with over a dozen best clips!





To celebrate Malaysia's Independence Day (Hari Merdeka), we organised an online merdeka photo contest and awarded the best entries, some of which you can see below:

Mr. Duncan joined in the fun!


Geanne

Summer



Adrian



Namilan



Yaw Chean



Regine and Raeden



Rithani



Farouq, Falisya & Farra



Jing Tung


We then spent an afternoon driving around Kuantan to hand out prizes to all of the Merdeka Photo Contest winners. It was lovely to see our students face to face in the middle of a lengthy virtual class scenario.

Adrian



Caelynn & Cayori



Xin Yue



Lily


There were some good moments during the online classes, but we are now really happy to resume our in-person classes once more. Welcome back to Horne Learning Services!





Wednesday, 4 December 2019

Guild Exam Awards 2019



At Guild Awards Ceremony with examiner from Australia, Helen Little, and my students Choi Yan and Abby, who both scored the highest marks in Malaysia for their English Communication exam categories


I travelled to KL for the latest Guild Exam Awards Ceremony, which was held on 24th November, 2019. The venue was The Gardens Mall. It was terribly exciting to be there with our students and to see them be awarded for excelling in their English Communication exams. 

Helen Little was the lady who examined them in 2017 and 2018, so it was great to see her once more and celebrate the moment with her.

I also received an award for Horne Learning Services for our continued partnership with Guild Exam over the years.






























Sunday, 31 July 2016

English Class Presentations 3 - 25th - 30th July, 2016

English Class Presentations 3 was another success at Horne Learning Services, where we focus on building confidence to speak the English language. Opportunities like this are rare and we want to give our students these chances to practise public speaking and presentation skills.

On this occasion, we gave our students seven topics to choose from. They were:

1. The Benefit of Sports
2. My favourite Machine
3. Food in Malaysia
4. Music
5. Family Life and Activities
6. Special Possessions
7. Write a story of 200 words and read to the class

Here are some of the highlights from the week:

Classroom layout for English Class Presentations 3 at Horne Learning Services

Sharmayne demonstrated how to use her hoverboard for English Class Presentations 3 at Horne Learning Services

Justin entertained us with his saxophone during English Class Presentations 3 at Horne Learning Services

Farouq giving his well-prepared presentation at English Class Presentations 3 at Horne Learning Services

Ariff loading his nerf gun during English Class Presentations 3 at Horne Learning Services

Jing Rong showed his robotics skills for English Class Presentations 3 at Horne Learning Services

Eugene Tan's analysis of nerf guns during English Class Presentations 3 at Horne Learning Services

Isaac inviting a fellow student to try out his ukelele during English Class Presentations 3 at Horne Learning Services

Abby in full costume during English Class Presentations 3 at Horne Learning Services

Mr. Duncan writes notes about each student's performance for English Class Presentations 3 at Horne Learning Services

Yong Chuan showed his collection of Rubik's Cubes for English Class Presentations 3 at Horne Learning Services

Kennard told us all about his hamster for English Class Presentations 3 at Horne Learning Services