Let's Speak...!

Indonesian about English (Part 2)

2008-04-16T09:55:00.004+07:00

“UNBELIEVABLE...! THIS IS CRAZY…!”

Puji came out from his room.
“Ada Apa?” He asked.
“Ga ada apa-apa kok..” I said.

I didn’t tell him because I know he would not understand. He is a good friend of mine, but he doesn’t have interest in English at all. Puji went back to his room and I continued reading the emails from my small team.

The first email was coming from the team in Jogja.
They have completed the research and they got fact which was shocking and led me to scream those words above…!

They conducted research in 5 Universities in Jogja, 5 Senior High Schools, and English Teachers both in Junior High School and Senior High School.

For Universities, they held the research for 100 students who have graduated and another 100 students are still studying. The same numbers also applied for Senior High School. But for English Teacher, the team can only get 50 participants.

The team conducted a deep interview with participants and asked them to make a short essay in English.

These are the Facts:

1. 91.5% of those graduated students CAN NOT SPEAK ENGLISH WELL.
2. 98% of those Senior High School students CAN NOT SPEAK ENGLISH WELL.
3. 81% of those English Teachers CAN NOT SPEAK ENGLISH WELL.

Can you see that??
The city which is called as "Kota Pendidikan"??
Oh… My God!!!

I still can not make conclusion, because I have not received the report from other cities.
But I have a figure now. I hope I will find the answer for my Big Question:

“Why can’t Indonesian speak English after that long study and that much money spent?”

I believe, next posting will be more challenging!!!
I can't hardly wait...

Indonesian about English (Part 1)

2008-01-28T14:28:00.000+07:00

What’s up English learners???
Why can’t you speak English after that long study and that much money spent?
Those questions keep coming to my mind!

Finally, I and my little team who care this situation conducted a small research. The research is aimed to find out and to answer both questions above. We did a qualitative research by asking the student’s opinion about English language and their ability to speak it. Due to some limitations, we choose only 4 major Cities in Indonesia, they are: Jakarta, Medan, Semarang, and Jogjakarta.

Although only 4 cities, but I believe for this kind of research, those cities can represent Indonesia, because English Language is more developed in big cities than those in small cities.

We classify the object research as:

Senior High School Student
University Student
English Teacher (Junior and Senior High School teacher)

Number of participant is about 100 people for each object and they were asked the same questions and tasks.

Curious to know the result?

Hold on… You will find it in next Posting!

Another Failed Learner!

2008-01-28T09:48:00.000+07:00

Last week, I met my cousin who sits at the 5^th semester in a State University and he studies Management. He proudly showed me his final English test result. I saw ‘A’ when I stole at glance to his paper. Wow… what an excellent result!

Then, I tried to open a little conversation in English…
The 1^st half minute was going smoothly, he answered my question well. I didn’t wonder because it was only the opening like:
“Who is your lecture’s name?”
“Is he a good lecture?

But, when I came to question which asked him to explain something, like:
“Can you tell me a little about management?”
his face was blushing! He knew the answer for sure, but he didn’t know how to speak it! Gosh..! That simple question should be easy for him! But he could not explain it in English…
Poor him…

What's wrong with him?
He is a clever one, he studies English since he was 10 years old, and now he is 20 years old..
Wow, he has been studying English for 10 years, he has spent many things to study English, his parent has spent a lot of money, but look what he's got??
He got nothing but certificates... He can not Speak English!!!

Any of you have the same experience??

Can You?

2008-01-28T08:08:00.000+07:00

“Gue ga percaya!” ( I don’t Believe it!) a beautiful girl cried.
She is standing in front of the mirror, looking her face closely…

“Jadi, apa artinya nilai Bahasa Inggrisku yang selalu bagus kalau aku tak bisa berbicara bahasa Inggris???” (What does my good English mark for if I can’t Speak??)

Oh… She is complaining her poor English Speaking ability…

What happen??
She has just lost an opportunity to get a good job! The company she applied needs someone who can Speak English… Not Certificates!!!

Then, She remembers how she used to get excellent result in English test at school.
She remembers how good she memorized all the pattern of “the 16^th tenses”, and all theory of English structure.

She is holding a number of English Certificates which were received from her school and some English Language Institution she ever attended. She looks at those papers… desperately!

“I DON’T NEED THESE PAPERS… I NEED TO SPEAK…!!!” She screamed.

Uh… this is not the first story I’ve ever heard. A huge number of English learners have the same problem. They have a good/excellent test result from school or English Institution, but they are very poor in Speaking! THEY CAN NOT SPEAK ENGLISH WELL!

Look at around you!!!
How many people can Speak English well?
What about YOU?

Join me…!

Let’s Speak English!