UIA Foundation Starter Pack / Bachelor of English Language

In the name of Allah SWT, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,

Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.

Eceh mentang dak2 UIA en hahaa salam tu pun I copied from sidi that shows how lazy I am

Holla! My name’s Mayamin binti Taufik from Batch 30, Arifathonah, Budiman 2. If you know me then I am surprised and well, good job son you hella ok so I’m currently in Centre for Foundation Studies, International Islamic University Malaysia, located somewhere in Petaling Jaya. Woah WHAT I thought UIA’s in Gombak?! you say, hands slamming on the table as your eyes widen in shock. Yes child sit down ok apparently UIA has its own foundation campuses, one here and the other in Gambang. Those in Gambang are the ones taking medicine, pharmacy and dentistry (basically the nerds--*gets hit by brick by sidi) and the rest are here with me in Petaling Jaya.


And since you’re reading this you probably have a course you wanna take in UIA so good good so I’ll just be giving you the starter pack

And you don’t need to get so confused since this is a local university not unlike the amazing people like sidi spoyler soker butane and everyone else with their shiny scholarships and IBs trust me I read what they wrote and I still don’t get it but haha its cuz im already here but you need to understand them!!! Ok!!! So go read!!!



Ok I have lot to talk about UIA is weird man ok let’s see if I can go through most of them

We’ll look first into the stuff UIA does to you fresh meats

WOAH!!! YOU GOT INTO UIA!!! CONGRATS! What now?? You heard UIA has a wacky system that’s different from most local universities welp you’re right mister



Orientation week here is called Ta’aruf Week and yo you are going to laugh at your friends when they whine about their orientation week (“we didn’t sleep” “the seniors are crazy”) because Ta’aruf Week in UIA is like, super relaxing. Like I’m not even kidding I think I slept through most of it, either in my room or in the hall because haha who listens to all the stuff they’re talking about am I right (actually no you have to pay attention at least a little if you have no idea how CGPAs work like me /no shame) If I were you I would use all the free time in this week to venture inside the campus to check where the heck is SMAWP Annex building Central Spine yea you’re gonna need to go there later for classes so don’t get lost child



Ah yes I’m pretty sure you heard about those exams UIA fresh meats take during Ta’aruf Week yes child the rumours are true you need to take them in order to survive

EPT (English Placement Test): Yaas your English needs to be assessed in order for UIA to decide if you need classes or not. Well, it is an international university so of course English is hella important for basically everything that happens in this institution. But don’t worry you just need to answer on paper there’s no speaking test (thank GOD). There’s multiple choice questions for reading comprehension (basically reading and make suRE YOU DON’T SLEEP I SURE DID) and an essay based on a graph and another essay based on whatever the question wants. Yo my advice would be don’t spend too much time on those reading comprehension, chances are you’re gonna fall asleep and yo if you do that who’s gonna write the essays?

Hahah so to pass this EPT (exempted, they call it) is kinda different for each courses like for me I’m taking BEN (will rant about that later!!! Promise!!!) so I need to get at least 6.5 to get exempted (don’t worry if you don’t understand what that means, I didn’t too but you’ll get it) but like I don’t know I think the ones taking engineering would need like just 6 I guess it’s different yea. Getting exempted is important because it means you don’t have to take English classes if you do then it’ll just make a huge dent on your already busy timetable and you have to take the exam in finals and OH THERE’S A SPEAKING TEST IN THIS ONE BRUH. If you pass you either advance in the next level or get exempted yis. Oh wow I babbled so much moving on!!!



APT (Arabic Placement Test): IF THIS IS THE THING THAT MAKES YOU DOUBT YOUR DECISION WHETHER TO ENTER UIA OR NOT THEN DON’T because if you can’t answer a thing you can just write your name and matric card number and there’s this question that asks you if you have any Arabic background. Just answer no and 30 minutes later you’re allowed to exit the hall like a boss (and of course, you’ll be attending Arabic classes and you would start from the bottom, Level 1, haha, n00b /me too) It’s the same with EPT the level of passing is different for each courses ok



Also, EPT and APT determines how long you’ll be doing your foundation wow I almost forgot to explain this woops so yes again it’s different for every course for an example I’m taking BEN, I got exempted for EPT and I’m in Level 1 for APT. My foundation duration is one year. For this other person who’s also taking BEN, they got Level 6 for EPT and Level 1 for APT so they’re going to stick around for one and a half years. It varies but the longest you can stay here is two years, don’t worry child (unless you flunk anything you BETTER NOT)

Oh, and if you think like “o no!!! my Arabic sucks!!! Im gonna get such low marks for finals!!! My CGPA!!!” don’t worry because APT and EPT marks are not included in CGPA they just want to know if you pass or not that’s it ok calm down child



TENT (Tilawah Entrance Test): So have you been reading the al-Quran recently? Your tajwid still good? No? WELL YOU BETTER GET YOURSELF TOGETHER ok no kidding kidding it’s simple really, you just sit there and read a passage of the verses and make sure you look all cool and calm doing it ok. And it depends on who’s assessing you because some of them might ask you to recite some surahs. In other words, hafazan. Don’t worry I screwed up too you can just say sorry and say you don’t know and laugh idk that’s what I did

FKT (Fundamental Knowledge Test): I swear this is the last test ok don’t look so spooked here’s a cup of tea ok anyway this is like basic fardhu ain. Multiple choices questions. Although I think there were a lot of questions regarding the menstrual cycle so uhuk boys be prepared I hope you remember what you learned in biology

So if they find out you’re bad at Tilawah, you go to tilawah classes but no Fardhu Ain classes. Same goes to FKT. But if you’re just damn good in both you’ll get into Study Circle. Idk what they do there but I guess they’re like usrah sessions



Other than that, enjoy sleeping through Ta’aruf Week ok

Before I talk about my course which no one knows about, here are some vital things to know in UIA:

Matric Card: No matter how ugly you look, keep it with you in all times. UIA likes to do random inspections so imagine going to class after waking up late and there’s this lecturer smiling at you in the hallways and asking for your matric card if you don’t have it chances are you’re gonna get fined and did I tell you whatever crime you do in UIA you’ll get fined RM50 bucks ya no kidding

Tuesdays: You’re allowed to go out from campus from 5-8 PM because on Tuesdays we have Pasar Malam yeah awesome woohoo

Wednesdays: Sisters have to wear white tudung, it’s compulsory. For brothers, you gotta wear dress shirts and ties and all but I don’t think all of them follow this hm

Other than that, you’ll probably learn in Ta’aruf week. I’m too lazy and you’re probably skipping it to get to the parts you actually want to know and read (you whistle innocently, sweating nervously)



Lifestyle and Environment

I think you’re gonna be safe here in UIA. Idk, it’s like SAMURA. Most of us are aware of ikhtilat. There’s gonna be people giving you salam. After azan you can see everyone (no matter where they are what they are doing) reciting dua. Of course, sometimes you see brothers and sisters sitting together in a table at the cafeteria but I think that’s it?? So you’re in good hands child. If you can handle SAMURA, you can handle UIA just fine.



BEN – Bachelor of English Language

Ah, yes. The course no one knows about. The course people keep misunderstand (“Are you taking TESL??” “Get out”). I’m the only person in Batch 30 to take this course, can you believe it.

Do you hate maths?? Do you want to run away from science?? Do you have passion in English?? Do you think you’re not just gonna end up as an English teacher if you learn English?? Then check BEN out!

“English Programme (Foundaton)

The University offers the following Programmes at the Centre for Foundation Studies, leading to bachelor degrees in the following areas of study:

· Bachelor of Human Sciences (English Language and Literature) (Hons)

Programme Description

The objective of the Foundation Programme is to prepare candidates for admission into bachelor degree programmes in the University”



Look at this. I can’t believe this is on the official UIA page. Look. They misspelled Foundation. Look at the descriptions. It’s like they’re not even trying. I’m so done.

So let ME tell you about BEN!!! /fire burning in eyes

So first of all, this is not TESL. TESL is under the Ministry of Education, basically you learn how to teach people English. In BEN, the scope is wider.

But let me clarify first: In foundation, you’re not going to learn English stuff. (you go “whaaaat” and I go “I know riiiiight”)

You see, before my intake, my BEN seniors learn Grammar, Linguistics, Drama, Poetry, etcetera. Here we are the 2014/2015 intake ready to learn more English!!!! Then BAM those subjects got banished from the face of Earth

So what do we learn now? We learn what Human Science students learn. Basically everything. HA! And they say being an English student was easy. Last semester I took Introduction to Law can you imagine like I did not sign up for this and next semester I’m learning Statistics, Business, Research like yoooooo I want to write essays not hold a calculator again

BUT DON’T LET THIS DISCOURAGE YOU FROM TAKING BEN IF YOU LOVE ENGLISH PLEASE DO JOIN US

In your degree in UIA Gombak, there’s three choices for BEN students. You can either go to TESL (and automatically be put under the Ministry of Education’s care), Linguistics (you learn about the more technical parts of English) and Literature (YOOO IM JOINING THIS IM JUST GONNA WRITE POETRY AND SLEEP FOREVER MAN so basically this one is ya poetry drama and all that jazz)

They changed our subjects because they want us to see what other things you can learn like who knows you might end up liking Law and change courses (grabs your leg “NO don’t gooo”).

Pros in BEN

-The lecturers are hella im serious get ready to party with them

-bruh you won’t be learning all those science maths stuff yeah give me a high five (you: I am a male) ok

-I cant think of anything else but its cool here ok

Cons in BEN

-“ceh BEN tu course westernized speaking doplopat jam” excuse me this is an English speaking campus

-“jadik cikgu ke” well I could if I want to. Or you know, I can be anywhere else.

-cant think of anything else but idk if you like English whats there to hate, right





It’s 2.27 AM at first I told sidi like “im not sure if I wanna write this……..” and look at what ive done ah the things I do for you people



So basically I’m the person to consult if you wanna cross out science and maths from UPU and take language courses and enter UIA!! Don’t let anyone discourage you!!! Language is super important too ok!!! Every course matters!!! You matter!!!

Good luck on your journey, chosen one!





(whatsapp or text, calls wont be entertained because im too lazy to use my voice)

E-mail: mayamintr@yahoo.com

(BUT WHO USES E-MAIL TO COMMUNICATE THESE DAYS AMIRITE)



Twitter: @fantckingfastic