English was the predominant second language in my household whilst growing up, thanks to my father. He insisted we become proficient in at least two languages so he created an environment that helped us immerse ourselves in the language daily. He had a library chock full of books in Bahasa Malaysia and English and urged all five of us, his children, to read so that we build our vocabulary. I remember, we would often sit around the table and have wonderful discussions in English with him about school, our ambitions, dreams and books that we’ve read that week. My father also encouraged us to keep a journal and record our life experiences to improve our writing skills. This immersion process of learning, definitely made us proficient users of English to this day.

I am now a freelance English teacher and communication skills trainer. My formal journey as a teacher of English began when, after high school, I received a full scholarship from the Malaysian government to study English in Canada to become an English teacher. I was there for more than five years. I returned to Malaysia in 1986 with a degree in English and to complete a Diploma in Education, specialising in TESL at a local university.

As an English teacher and a second language learner, I could relate to the challenges of acquiring the skills of English Language proficiency in second language learners. I often try to bring in my own immersion process of acquiring the language during my childhood in my teaching sessions as well as using teaching methods that are interactive to generate interest and motivate my students. After more than thirty years teaching in schools, language centres and universities in Malaysia, I’ve had the gratification of teaching learners from all walks of life and ages, all with their own needs to speak or improve their English Language skills. I’ve taught learners from the ages of five to their 50’s, from young children to teenagers, university students, adults, professionals and students who come from countries such as the Middle-East, Japan, Korea and Russia. Subjects I’ve taught are English, Communication Skills, IELTS Business English and bespoke training programmes.

Having lived in Canada, England and Australia, I now reside in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia with my husband, Nic, who is an Australian. He is an award-winning photojournalist for a newspaper in Australia and now he runs and develops his own website on Seremban which is garnering much interest from the locals here and overseas. Apart from myself, Nic will also be actively involved in the immersion language programme that we will conduct. We both enjoy travelling and exploring so we look forward to introducing Seremban and Malaysia to our future students.

We live in Seremban, the capital of Negeri Sembilan.

Seremban is conveniently located 40minutes’s south from the capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, and is easily accessible by car, bus or train and will be awarded city status sometime in 2019-20 as the population escalates towards 1 million people.

Historically, Negeri Sembilan is considered to be heavily influenced over the centuries by the Minangkabau people who derive from Sumatra and Indonesia. Like most towns in Malaysia the population is predominantly Malays, Chinese and Indians but as Seremban lies close to the old port of Melaka it also has a vibrant Portuguese community making the area a wonderful melange of people from across the globe; a community and town with old mosques, churches and temples sitting side by side.

The city centre has wonderful lake parks as does the newer developed areas for people to exercise, meditate or just have lunch.

Seremban is close to beautiful sandy beaches in Port Dickson as well as luscious rainforests and river systems both near the sea and in the more mountainous areas.

Not only does Seremban offer natural beaches, mountains, rivers, modern shopping centers and facilities, once you leave town you will see many quaint villages or kampungs with homes built in the wooden Minangkabau stilt style in the rural areas. On a drive you can buy some fresh fruit taken straight from the jungle or purchase BBQ’d duck, fresh honey and vegetables from the many roadside stalls flanking the roadside.

Seremban and its surrounds offer a lot of interesting excursions which we can facilitate.

On the natural side of the attraction list there are forests both near the sea and inland near the Titiwangsa Range, mountains you can climb, both long and short walks. One of the longer walks takes you to the wreckage of an old WW2 bomber that crashed in the range days after the war had ended. The shorter walks will take you to ponds and water falls.

There is also a newly discovered cave nearby that is undergoing excavation from Malaysia’s top archaeologist and can be visited along with abseiling.

There are hot spring pools as well as cool river pools. Some visitors have made the cool river ponds by placing stones in the streams, in forests less than 20 minutes from Seremban. Here you can laze about, cool off, and watch nature at work.

The coast at Port Dickson (PD) have wonderful sandy beaches and there are also turtle conservation tours and a night observatory in PD to view the stars.

An old Portuguese lighthouse sits at Tanjung Tuan in PD where Raptor birds migrate every year during Jan-Mar, truly a sight to behold as hundreds of birds fly thousands of km’s home.

There are many colourful temples, mosques and churches, some dating back to the 1800’s as well as many megalith areas which are old stone structures from even earlier times.

In Seremban town there are also some very old shopfronts and streets that make for interesting walks as well as night markets.

KL is less than 40 minutes away so it is also possible to visit various places, like Batu Caves and KL towers, should our guest request to do so and there is the wonderful old Dutch/Portugese town of Melaka which is only 40 minutes south from here and it is also a must- see location with its beautiful red washed walls and cafes on river bridges.

There are many large air conditioned shopping centres both here and in KL as well as swimming pools, golf ranges, synthetic ice rink, and there is a massive wet market (meat, fruit, veggies) in the middle of town

Like most Malaysian cities the population of Seremban is a mixture of Malays, Chinese and Indians, all of which has created a wonderful foodie culture that is incredible – the town is full of great food choices and an experience in itself. As well as the inherently local food styles there is good quality Korean, Japanese and Western food available.

Malaysians like to eat out so it is not unusual to see Seremban families dining late in the evening at roadside stalls and restaurants so this too is an event in itself.

All the options above are available for excursions.

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