HlaMin

Author: Hla Min (Lifelong Learner)

  • National Foreign Language Center

    NFLC

    There is a National Foreign Language Center (NLFC) at the University of Maryland (College Park).
    It used to provide free (or limited) access to Federal employees and eligible educators to study languages (e.g. French, Chinese, Arabic).

    For a number of years, it chose from among the languages used by minorities to add introductory level courses to its library.
    One year NFLC decided to develop Listening and Reading Comprehension for basic Burmese.
    It sent request to professors, scholars and Burmese associations to help with the project.

    I was accepted to be the Language Advisor for the Burmese project.
    The Listening Comprehension consists of broadcasts (e.g. Win Pe Lwai Eik).
    The Reading Comprehension consists of short articles (e.g. Ayotha Pyinnya Wun U Po Kyar).

    Specific fonts and browsers were needed to read the script for the Listening and Reading Comprehension.
    English translations were provided. My task was to ensure the quality (e.g. correctness of the translation).
    Exercises were provided.

    As a contributor to the project, I had access to LangNet.
    NFLC no longer offers free access. Individuals and groups can subscribe to its courses for nominal fees.

  • Parts of Speech

    by Hla Min

    Updated : May 2025

    English

    In our younger days, we were taught that there are eight parts of speech in the English language.

    A Noun is a name of a person, place, thing, or concept.
    A noun may be classified as Proper noun, Common noun, Collective noun or Abstract noun.

    A Verb usually describes an action or a process.
    A verb may be Transitive or Intransitive.

    Instead of repeating a noun several times, we may use Pronouns.
    A pronoun stands for a Noun.
    Grammar books will give classification such as Person and Number of a Pronoun.
    When we speak, the first person is the one who speaks; the second person is the one being spoken to, and the third person is some other being referenced.
    If there is only one person, we say it is singular. If there is more than one, we say it is plural.
    In English, the term “You” may be both singular and plural.

    There are Modifiers.
    An Adjective usually modifies a Noun or Pronoun.
    An Adverb usually modifies a Verb.

    There are Connectors.
    A Conjunction (such as And or But) connects two parts of a Sentence (which is constructed using the parts of speech, and makes “complete sense”.)
    A Preposition adds information such as position (e.g. in, on, upon, under) and time (e.g. before, after).

    There are words to express Mood (e.g. surprise).
    They are also called Exclamation or an Interjection.

    Notes

    There are two techniques :
    Synthesis (combining the parts of speech)
    and
    Analysis (breaking down into the parts of speech).

    Pali language has only four parts of speech.

  • U Pe Maung Tin

    Sayagyi U Pe Maung Tin was Professor of Pali and Burmese. He proposed to have Burmese as a separate department. His students include

    • ICS U Sein Tin (Theikpan Maung Wa)
    • U Thein Han (Zawgyi)
    • U Wun (Minthuwun) 

    Myanmar Sar Mi Thar Su had unveiled Sayagyi’s bust in the RU Main Campus.

    He also served Principal of Rangoon College.

    Two Sermons

    U Tha Win requested Sayagyi to translate into English the two sermons that Buddha gave to his five disciples at the Deer Sanctuary.

    • Dhammacakkapavattna Sutta is the first sermon delivered to the five disciples.
    • Anatta Lekhanna Sutta is the follow up sermon given to the five disciples.

    Note : Hemanwunta Sutta given to a celestial is considered as Buddha’s second sermon.

    Saya U Aung Zaw (UCC) sent me an early version of the book. It has three columns :

    • Pali
    • Burmese
    • English (translated by Sayagyi).

    Dr. Kyaw Tint (Science Scholar for Physics) has an old worn-out copy of the book. He had typed a few verses and posted on his time line. Hope some reader has a good copy that is easy to scan.

  • Qualifiers

    To differentiate people with the same name, qualifiers — prefixes and suffixes — are used.

    Some in the government service has a serial number as the suffix. e.g. U Maung Maung (6)

    One singer called himself “Twante Thein Tan”. Another had a bigger name “Myanmar Pyay Thein Tan.”

    U Zaw Min (EP70) decided to have a career change and a name change after he arrived in the USA. He is now known as Zaw Min Nawaday or Zaw Nawaday.

    Some did not know why Saya U Thein Aung (Met72) was called “Myodaw Thein Aung”. They were not aware of the Zat Mintha.

    One wonders if having long names would resolve the name conflict. e.g. Cartoon character named Khin Maung Thet Cho Oo.
    What happens if a name is too long to spell or pronounce?

    • My boss was named Surapol Dasananda, but most called him “Dr. Das”.
    • My colleague was named Suttipong Kanakakorn, but most called him “Nick”.

    Some have several qualifiers e.g. Mingun Sayadaw & Tipitaka Sayadaw

  • Character Codes

    A character in a specified language can be coded as a string of bits (binary digits).

    In the early days, English was the primary language used for communications in most parts of the world. The English alphabet consists of 26 letters. 5-bits (which can represent 32 symbols) are need to represent (a) upper case characters (b) lower case characters.

    5-bit, 6-bit, 7-bit and 8-bit character codes were developed and used. Some early standards include (a) 7-bit ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) (b) 8-bit EBCDIC (Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code).

    With the wide spread use of computer technology, Character sets for the various languages were developed. Some languages (notably Chinese) require long bit strings.

    Fixed length coding gave way to Variable length coding. The most used characters in a language are represented as one byte and the lesser used characters are represented as two or more bytes.

    Unicode aims to have standard character codes for the languages. There are formal and informal institutions to help develop, propose and approve new Unicode character sets.

    UTF is a Unicode Transformation Format to transform Unicode characters to fit the specified length (e.g. UTF-8, UTF-16).

    Standards may be (a) De Jure (set by law) (b) De Facto (set by common usage). Standards must be followed for Compliance.

    Recommendations, which should be followed, can cause variations in the implementations.

  • BE Intake of 1964

    Three Intakes

    In November 1964, there were three intakes under the New Education System :

    • 1st BE (Class of 70) : corresponds to I.Sc.(A) in the Old System
      The controversial ILA (Intelligence Level Aggregate) was used for admission
      400+ students (probably 450) joined.
      Zaw Min (Nawaday) was admitted as Roll Number One.
    • 2nd BE (Class of 69) : corresponds to I.Sc.(B) in the Old System
      Total Marks were used for admission
      300+ students (probably 325) joined.
      Hla Min was admitted as Roll Number One.
    • 3rd BE (Class of 68) : corresponds to First Year Engineering in the Old System
      About 200 joined 3rd BE.

    Update

    • Some students left before graduation.
    • Some took Sabbatical and took slightly longer to graduate.
    • Most are now retired or semi-retired.
    • Sad to not that several have passed away.
    • Recent GBNF from the Class of 68 include U Saw Win, U Zaw Win (Cyril) and Sayama Daw Mya Mya Than.
    • U Aung Min (M69) and team provide updates for the Class of 69.
      As of September 2021, the GBNF list has 113 members.
    Thein Maung (M69, GBNF)
    • U Ohn Khine (M70) and team provide updates for the Class of 70.
      As of September 2021, the GBNF list has 111 members.
    U Wara (Win Paing, ChE70, GBNF)

  • U Pe Maung Tin

    U Pe Maung Tin
    • Pali and Burmese Scholar.
    • Proposed to have a separate Burmese Department.
    • First native Principal of Rangoon College.
    • Executive Committee member of Burma Research Society.
    • The Myanmar Sar Community honored Sayagyi with a bust in December 2019.
      Daw Tin Tin Myaing (Brenda, Sayagyi’s daughter) attended the ceremony.
      Met her at the Winner Inn.
      Sad to learn that her spouse succumbed to COVID-19 in UK in 2020.
    • In our middle school we had to study “Myanmar Thadda / Burmese Grammar” written by Sayagyi.
    • Sayagyi translated two early Sermons :
      Dhammacakkapavatana Sutta and Anatta Lekkhana Suttana into English.
      The three-language edition of the Suttas was published by U Tha Win.
    • Saya’s early students include
      ICS U Sein Tin (Theikpan Maung Wa)
      U Thein Han (Zawgyi)
      U Wun (Minthuwun)

  • Saya U Moe Aung’s Letter

    March 2011

    Dear Ko Hla Min,

    Thanks to Saya U Soe Paing for his great endeavour in visiting the UCL (Universities’ Central Library) numerous times to gather and record invaluable information relating to RIT (and BOC college of Engineering as well). And thanks to you for archiving all through your emails and keeping all RITians gelled together.

    Only when Saya U Soe Paing mentioned Engineering Students’ Magazines, I happen to recall one Engineering Students’ Magazine in which I was part of it. That was in Academic Year 1960-1961. I was still an Electrical Engineering Student at that time (2nd year, or, by the present calling, 4th year). At Rangoon University (Main University) they had a University Students’ Union (in Burmese, Thud Meg-ga is translated as Union), and we had correspondingly an Engineering Students’ Union as well at our Faculty of Engineering at Leik-Khone (Dome), Prome Road.

    At that time I met one Ko Hla Tin (Civil) who was my senior and several years older than me, staying at Prome Hall which was adjacent to Leik Khone, only separated by a fence. He was an avid poet (pen name Kay-tu Win Tint, from Taunggoo) and I used to visit his room at Prome Hall to talk about poems and literature during lunch or break times. I also met one senior (can’t recall his name, I think Ko Sein Hlaing) who was the Secretary of the Students’ Union. After some lively discussions, we decided to issue an Engineering Students’ Union Annual Magazine and they made me the Chief Editor. The Magazine consisted of two sections, Burmese and English, of which Saya U Aung Khin (Mech) was the English Editor.

    I still have the 1960-61 issue neatly tucked in a cupboard in Yangon.

    Now I remember that Ko Sein Hlaing (EE?) is still in Yangon, helping to look after his grand children, but not in good health. Ko Sein Hlaing’s daughter was my daughter’s very close friend since their childhood days. We met once in Singapore about 12 years back.

    Dear Ko Hla Min, this is the time to reminisce and be happy about the good old days and try to fly back with whatever time machine we could get hold of. Time really flies and we should realize that our days are numbered.

    Moe Aung

  • Examination Systems

    Intermediate College

    • During a period, students at the University of Rangoon [and Mandalay] attended Intermediate (A) classes for a year, but they did not have to take the examination.
    • They then attended Intermediate (B) classes for a year. They then take the examination for both courses.

    Compart System

    • There used to be two examinations for a class.
      The students have two chances to pass.
    • The first examination was usually held in March.
      Those who pass all subjects are eligible to apply for stipends and grants.
    • Those who pass at least three subjects have to take the remaining subjects in the second examination, which was usually held in June.

    Saya U Ba Toke

    • Saya was born in December, 1920.
    • He attended Mandalay University.
    • He joined the Students’ Strike Camp, and missed the first examination held in March.
    • The strike ended, and Saya took all the subjects in the second examination and passed.
    • He wanted to attend the Faculty of Engineering in Rangoon, but he needed a stipend. He could not get the stipend because he did not take the first examination.
    • Saya’s teachers persuaded him to take Mathematics Honors in Mandalay.

    Dr. Tint Lwin

    • He took the Pure Science option for I.Sc.
    • He attended engineering classes for a while, but he changed his mind to study Medicine.
    • He took the classes needed to study medicine (e.g. Biology) and the supplementary exams.
    • Finally, he was admitted to the MBBS classes.
    • During his university days, he was a University Goalkeeper. He played with Collegian Nay Win, Tun Kyi and Kenneth Shein.
    • After retirement, he moved to the USA.

  • Education Systems

    • A US professor was startled when a Burmese student proudly claimed that he had all-round Ds (for distinctions) back in Burma. In USA schools, “D” means grade 1 (lowest), and “A” means grade 4 (highest).
    • In the initial stages of the new education system, a student must have at least 75% attendance; otherwise one cannot take the examinations.
    • Getting a grade 1 in any subject means failing the whole examination.
    • To pass the examination, each paper must have at least a grade 2, and the average grade must be at least 2.5.
    • Some professors are not keen on making too many moderation.
      Some students got penalized for “not taking minor subjects seriously”.
    • In ’64, there were three intakes.
    • About 500 students were admitted to the first ever 1st B.E. Also, their admission was based not on total marks, but on the controversial ILA (Intelligence Level Aggregate), using the “distribution curve” for each subject.
    • About 320 students were admitted to the first ever 2nd B.E.
    • About 200 students were admitted to the first ever 3rd. B.E.
      Saya U Myo Myint Sein (A) would say that Saya Sai Yee Laik (A 68) stood “first and last in his class”.
    • In the “newer” education system, a student needs 5 years to get a B.E.
      One gets an AGTI after the first two years, and a B.Tech after another two years.
    • The terms “old” and “new” are relative.
    • We took the last ever 7th std Government exam in 1960.
    • The “new” system had 8th std Government exam.
    • We took the first ever High School Final /HSF only (9th std Government exam) in March ’62 with the security forces patrolling the city.
      The exam results were annulled, and we were asked to take another exam a few months later.
    • In the “old” system, the students take the HSF & Matriculation combined exam.
    • We took the first ever Matriculation only (10th std Government exam) in May ’63.
    • Consequently, those who were one year senior to us in High School graduated two (or even 2.5) years ahead of us.
    • In an “old, old” system [following second world war], anyone who is confident can [take “jump promotions’ and] take the HSF & Matriculation exam.
    • When Rangoon University reopened in 1946, three siblings Dr. Pe Nyun, Dr. Pe Thein and their sister — joined entered the University together.
    • The “old” Rangoon University allowed “compartmental” system.
      One needs to re-sit only the subjects that one failed (in the first exam – usually in March) in the “supplementary” exam – usually in June.
      Note however that those who apply for scholarships/stipends must pass all subjects in the first exam.
    • Sayagyi U Ba Toke did not take the first exam because he was in a college strike camp.
      He was the sole student to take and pass all subjects in the supplementary exam, but without access to scholarship/stipend and with persuasion from the Mathematics teachers, he struck off the choice of becoming an engineer.
      For details, read the book by Saya Dr. Khin Maung Swe (“Maung Thinchar”, GBNF).