“Sorry, can you repeat that? I could not get what you said,” I told the guy in red shirt.He had that disgusted look on his face, and turned to another person next to me.I was dumbfounded. Was not being able to converse or understand a particular dialect a crime? Was I the one to blame for what had happened? Could it have been easier had he repeated his sentence in standard Malay? Just like what Niella experienced in his composition “Barriers”, I lost “the train of thought in my conversation”. Even though I master Malay language by heart, this does not mean that I know how to converse in different dialects.  There and then, I promised to myself that before I left the training, I would have mastered the Kelantan dialect as skillfully as I could. It might sound immature, but I was aware that there was one way to overcome the obstacle in understanding a language – learn it. , I approached my Kelantanese roommate and somehow we broke the ice. When he discovered that I am a Sarawakian, he was so animated that he wanted me to teach him how to converse in Sarawak language.

“You can speak in Sarawak language? Wow! That’s fabulous! I have been dreaming to go to Sarawak – since my girlfriend is a Sarawakian – and now that you are here, can you teach me how to talk in that language? I can buy you Hotlink reload coupons every week, if you want to,” Faiz, the Kelantanese, said in excitement.“Erm… I don’t mind teaching you Sarawak language, as long as you agree to do me a favor. It would be nice if you can teach me Kelantanese language as well,” I offered in a very nice tone.Without any qualms, Faiz instantly agreed. Since then, we worked closely with each other. Every time I encountered an unfamiliar term in Kelantan dialect, he would explain it to me. However, it was not the same when I had to teach him Sarawak language; since I was the onlySarawakian, I would allocate certain time in the evening to teach him some words in Sarawak language. Sometimes, I even had special lessons during lunchtime, which caused ripples of laughter among us.

           Learning a distinct language was never easy. Even though Kelantanese language is derived from Malay, when you compare the dialects from respective states, it is as if Kelantanese language is another different language. I still remember how I stumbled while talking to the Kelantanese, and they laughed at me. Whenever I was in this kind of situation, I quickly regained my thought and remembered one word – perseverance. With definite perseverance, I was sure to master the language in spite of people’s perception towards me. Deep in my heart, I knew that I had to practice until I mastered it.Who cared about my hardship, anyway?