2025 Events at HLS

 🗓️📌 2025 EVENTS @ HLS 📌🗓️

📌 We will be holding some special events in 2025 at HLS. I know you love these kind of classes. This is a taster so that you can think about preparing in advance:

1. CNY CLASS 🧧🐍

(February 2025)

(We will have some fun activities based on CNY and snakes. Students will be invited to dress in their best traditional Chinese or New Year clothes for the occasion!)

2.  SHOW & TELL CLASSES 🧸🎀🪀

(March & November 2025)

(Students can bring any object from home to show the class and talk about it)

3. PRESENTATIONS CLASSES 🧑🏻‍💻👩🏻‍💻🗣️

(January, May & July 2025)

(Students have the opportunity to practise their presentation and public speaking skills in our Presentations Classes)

4. SINGAPORE CLASS 🏙️🚇

(June 2025)

(Students will enjoy the first themed class of the year by getting to know all about Singapore with some fun activities!)

5. LAST-ONE-STANDING SPELLING TEST 👩🏻‍🎓📖🗣️

(August 2025)

(Students will be able to test their spelling skills in this fun and competitive spelling competition. Start practising your spelling now to see if you can become the champion!)

6. MERDEKA CLASS 👘🕌

(August 2025)

(Come dressed in your finest Malaysia traditional clothes for some local fun. Bring along food for a potluck and celebrate our country together - Malaysia Boleh!)

7. TALENT SHOW 🎤💃🏻🎭

(September 2025)

(The annual HLS Talent Show is held in September. You are invited to come and share your talent with the class. This could include singing, dancing, sports, playing musical instruments, art, etc. You can dress up in appropriate clothing to match your talent performance and bring along whatever you need)

8.  HALLOWEEN CLASS! 👻🎃🕸️

(October 2025)

(Every October, the HLS Halloween class is held. It’s easily our students’ favourite class of the year! All students are invited to dress up in Halloween costume, which you may need to buy / prepare well in advance. The classroom will be transformed with Halloween-style decorations for an unforgettable experience!)

9. BUSINESS CLASS 👨🏻‍💼👩🏻‍💼📈💵

(November 2025)

(How does the business world work? How do companies know if they are making profits or losses? Students will enjoy this business-themed class, and can come dressed in smart clothes like businessmen and businesswomen!)

10.  CHRISTMAS CLASS 🎄🎁🎅🏻

(December 2025)

(In December, we hold our annual Christmas class where you will enjoy fun exercises and games about all things Christmas. Think Santa Claus, snowman, candy, gifts and Christmas trees, and that’s what the class will be about! You are also invited to dress up in Christmas costume or clothes that are red, white or green for a little extra fun!)

📝 Make a note of these events and I’ll explain in more detail when we get closer to them!

November and school holidays are fast approaching

November is almost here, which also means the long school holidays are upon us. We will soon be planning the schedule for November 2013 which will include "Movie Week", a student favourite, and "Games Week." Games Week includes games such as Scrabble, Pictionary, Boggle and Connect 4 among others.

Posing with students in our Tuesday morning class

We like to unwind a little with our students during the school holiday by planning some fun exercises and just going a little easier.

Two of my students on Tuesday night performing a dance routine at the end of a recent class

We wish a "Happy Holidays" to our students and hope you enjoy our November classes starting next week!

July Week 4 at Horne Learning Services

So we are having an interesting week 4 of July at Horne Learning Services. First of all students are speaking to the class on the following question: 

"If you had three wishes, what would you wish for?"

It's only Wednesday but we've already had some entertaining answers and one very genuine, sincere and emotional response.

I'm also passing out a short questionnaire to our students to get some feedback from them about our English classes and their teacher. It's great, and sometimes funny, to hear what they think. I appreciate their blunt honesty at times, too!

Finally we are taking class photos this week, with an example of the Tuesday night class, above.

At the end of the week we'll look through all of the completed questionnaires and see what improvements we can make to enhance our English classes further.

Happy Chinese New Year, and updates

It's the 5th week of January and we are having some days free of classes, some replacements from previous weeks and some replacements for future days in February which clash with Chinese New Year.

Yes, it's a strange week and I'm glad to have a great boss who keeps me on track!

We wish a Happy New Year to all of our Chinese students and their parents, and all former students and their parents. Hoping you have a plentiful celebration and a prosperous year ahead!

We are looking forward to continue improving and teaching English during 2013, with new exercises and topics for speaking and writing activities. We have already had a very interesting time speaking about aliens last week.

By way of announcement, we are opening up a new class, which will be held on Wednesday at 4-6pm. There are 12 spaces available on a first-come, first-served basis. This class is due to start in March 2013.

We are off for a short stay at a hotel in Kuantan tomorrow. I hope that you will have an increased desire to study English and make the necessary changes for improvement this year, beginning right NOW!

Essay writing - a pain in the posterior?

Essay writing is generally viewed by students in Malaysia as a pain, and most probably because it involves a lot of creative thinking and lots of writing!

Our key point #1 "Think in English" applies to essay writing very much. Along with a good command of English and understanding of grammar skills, creativity is what is needed in essay writing.

On the second week of each month, our classes write essays. Form 1-5 students (age 13-17) will be expected to write an essay of over 200 words while Standard 1-6 students (age 7-12) will write an answer to a question of between 70-100 words.

The task is getting students' minds stimulated to think creatively and come up with more than one idea on a certain subject. Then they need to be able to explain all of those ideas in greater detail. That's the challenge.

When writing essays, most especially for students in Form 1-5, I have devised a criteria which I believe makes up a great essay.

#1 - PLAN

Every great essay begins with a plan. Typically in answering an essay question, one should think of 3 main points (or 4 or 5, as the question may request), and then come up with 3 sub-points to further describe each main point. This should be brief. This plan provides the frame for the entire essay.

#2 - CORRECT GRAMMAR

Using correct English grammar is vital in writing a great essay. Good sentence structure, correct use of tense and spelling makes an essay easy to read with good flow.

#3 - VOCABULARY

Possessing a wide vocabulary is an important part of writing a great essay. Nobody wants to read a couple of pages littered with the same words, repeated again and again and again throughout the essay. Instead, a student should demonstrate a knowledge of synonyms (words which have similar meanings to each other), and how to use them appropriately.

#4 - PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

In essays where general issues or topics are discussed, a student can really bring his essay to life by writing about his own personal experiences related to the question. This will set his essay apart from the others and make it more interesting to read. It will be his own essay, and not merely a copy or one which is full of cliches (often-repeated phrases or words).

#5 - OPINION

A truly great essay should also include the writer's opinion on whatever subject or issue is raised in the question. Like point #4, this will further personalise the essay and make it more unique.

In our classes, we strive to emphasise these five important points students may follow in writing great essays.

Essays don't need to be a pain in the posterior when they are planned with creative thinking, good grammar and vocabulary, and include personal experiences and opinions.

What do you think? Do you enjoy essay writing? What is the biggest challenge in writing essays?

Monday night class

Here's our Monday night class as of yesterday. During week 4 of September we are having a number of activities including: word game, writing sentences, speaking, creative writing, a grammar check and wordsearch. Looking forward to the rest of the week!

English Online Distance Learning

Horne Learning Services offers an Online Distance Learning (ODL) program to anyone around Malaysia and overseas. Learning English is a top priority for most people, but sometimes finding good quality English classes is tough. Sometimes the distance is too far or the fees exorbitant. Our ODL program wipes away those obstacles and gives you the chance to learn English with us wherever you may be!

English class photo

Here is a photo of our English class with the Vistana Hotel staff in Kuantan. We taught the second lesson of a 12-class course last night.