Ada Apa dengan Bahasa Inggris?

Ada Apa dengan Bahasa Inggris?
By. Syahruddin hajja*

Kenapa ya sudah lama belajar bahasa inggris tetapi belum bisa-bisa? Saya yakin pertanyaan inilah yang tiada henti hentinya mengugah perasaan anda, padahal sudah berapa lama belajar baik formal (di sekolah sejak SD sampai Perguruan tinggi) maupun nonformal (kursus).
Adakah hal yang salah untuk selama ini kita pelajari tentang bahasa inggris tersebut? Tentu jawabannya YA. Lalu apanya yang salah? Rasanya sistem dan metode pembelajaran dan pengajaran bahasa inggris yang statusnya masih bahasa asing di negara kita masih kakuh dan monotong. Cobalah kita menengok pengajaran dan pembelajaran bahasa asing di kelas yang metodenya yang kakuh alias sangat teoritis dan tidak diimbagi dengan praktis sehingga yang terjadi adalah gurunya yang aktif bukan siswa (teacher center bukan student center).
Sehingga tokoh dan praktisi pendidikan sangat prihatin dan cemas melihat kondisi sistem pengajaran dan pembelajaran di negara kita yang tidak membuahkan hasil alias mutunya masih dibawah rata-rata. Kenapa demikian? Karena sistem yang membentuk karakter siswa belajar hanya karena mendapatkan nilai (score) bukan diarahkan untuk memberi pemahaman yang mendalam bahwa belajar untuk apa dan mau dikemanakan, jadi siswa berlomba belajar dengan berbagai cara untuk mendapatkan nilai yang baik namun diabaikan subtansinya, sehingga setelah ujiannya berlalu maka berlalu jua ilmunya.
Maka tidak salah jika Hanan Juhanul mengatakan bahwa zaman ini adalah zaman kecemasan (age of anxiety). Coba kita lihat sekarang ini semua sektor serba mencemaskan baik politik, ekonomi, budaya, maupun pendidikan. Sehingga masyarakat merasa terisolasi dari kehidupan nyata.
Oleh karena itu, pakar pendidikan melihat bahwa selama ini metode yang diaplikasikan adalah Pedagogy (teacher center) sehingga hasilnya siswa bagaikan bank yang selalu di imput akhirnya siswa hanya bisa mendengar, diam dan tidak kreatif. Atas dasar itulah muncul ide yang cemerlang untuk melawan kekakuan tersebut dengan lahirnya metode pengajaran yang dianggap efektif yaitu Anregogy (student center) tentu saja siswa yang aktif sehingga guru hanya sebagai wasit, mereka hanya memberian petunjuk dan koreksi.
Jadi metode itu mestinya dilakukan dalam pengajaran dan pembelajaran bahasa inggris, sehinnga menelorkan siswa yang komunikatif dan kreatif dalam berbahasa inggris. Karena tidak bisa dipungkiri bahwa bahasa harus dilatih dan didukung oleh lingkungan. (it must be spoken and supported by environment). Semoga tulisan yang pendek ini dibaca sebagai referensi. Saran dan kritiknya sangat diharapkan.

DO YOU WANT TO LEARN ENGLISH EASILY?

Learning English is not difficult as we think, however we just need to focus and willing. H. Douglas Brown stated that there are five ways to learn English effectively, i. e:
Way of live
If we learn English in a native speakers place as mother tongue, so we can be much faster to master it because of surrounding by English, starting getting up to sleeping again or in other hand we need environment. In this case English is a part of life. Thus, what should be done to learn English easily in Indonesia? We must become it a part of life, meaning, we have to try to use it every where by reading, listening, and speaking. Of course we need some vocabularies in order to make sentences. It should be known as usual we see every day. Because we usually have much more already understood the vocabulary that’s rarely seen than usual we see. For example: if you ask question to students, what to say “Buaya” in English? Suddenly to answered “crocodile”. But, what to say “cecak” in English? Of course they answer nothing. It means. We need to focus how to know daily vocabularies. No way to stop trying and trying, trial and error.
Total commitment
If we are eager English to part of life, we have to own commitment in order to involve English in our life by physic, mentality, and emotion Physic, we can try to listen, read, write, and train English pronunciation more and more. Mentality or intellectual, we can try to think in English every use it. For example, to understand English is not word to word or try to recognize some synonym expressions: how’re you? How’s keeping on? How’s life? (Not one expression only). And, the most important is to involve our selves by emotional in English. We need to own high motivation to learn English, and we need to seek “positive thing” to be enjoyable or something that gives us motivation to master English. It can give beyond expectation energy to have spirit in learning English.
Trying
Learning English is like learning to go by bicycle or drive car. We cannot read and understand only, but we have to try to use it. We should realize that English is not our mother tongue. In the trial learning, getting mistaken is usual. However, how to learn of mistake to be good English
Beyond class activities
If we learn English formally (in the class or in the course), we just have limited time, i. e: four hours a week, six hours a week, or eight hours a week. So how to learn English effectively is to create occasion learning besides the school. Perhaps we can discuss to our friends, to visit website that offers freely, or to mail in English each other
Strategies
If we have commitment, braveness to try, to become English as part of our life, so it’s much better to have strategy to support learning process exactly. Any person likes to use “cue-card” is small card that writes of expression of English, and this card is used any time. Even though any person likes to practice in communication way. So we can ask a couple questions, listen, improve pronunciation, and enrich vocabulary.

how to have english well?

It can be difficult to learn English as foreign language – unless you have right tutor or place. Most times, learners who want to learn English, they want to learn it quickly. In order to help you do this, you should read on for some tips on learning English quickly and easily as well.

Choose the Right Vocabulary

One of the most essensial things to keep in mind when you’re learning the English as foreign language is to focus your attention on understanding a good variety of English vocabulary words. The better your vocabulary, the better you’ll be at using conversational English in speaking. You’ll sound much more fluent too when your vocabulary is going well. You don’t always need to use words that mean exactly what you want to say – understanding what you need to say is much more important.

Proper Grammar

This is very similar to vocabulary. The rules of grammar are not that hard to be learned and if you practice certain things, such as the proper tenses of verbs, you’ll can express yourself much more clearly. When speaking English, using correct grammar is one of the most essential elements in sounding fluent. During a conversation, you need to understand when to use adjectives, nouns, and pronouns. To practice, make a list of each type of some words and write out different grammatically-correct phrases, as well as the spellings for common words.

Proper Pronunciation

when you understand the proper grammar and vocabulary of the English language, there’s still another thing to learn. Pronunciation is vital to communicate effectively. It doesn’t mean that you need to speak as though you’re a native speakers, but using the correct sounds and emphasis is important thing in communicating what you want to say.

Phonetic charts can be great learning tools because they show you how to move your mouth. The sounds that normally give people the most difficult time are the sounds that are not used in your own native language. It can be very helpful to look at a dictionary for help in pronouncing different words. Stress and intonation are also important when speaking a word – listen to native speakers in conversation and you’ll quickly pick up on the nuances of pronunciation.

Some Advice

If you’re a beginner to learn the English language, don't worry ! please try to find some lessons that are interesting and easy for you to get through. A beginning English is the most helpful for lots of students, as you’ll hear other students learning to speak English as well – there’s a lot to learn from listening to how others speak.

There are some great English programs have been available online or through mail-order. One of the best available is englishclub.com. some people have used this program to have English in the first place, and to improve their skills as well.

Another great source of learning can be the public library system. You can find an excellent assortment of books and videos that you can check out to learn English at your own pace. However, it can be difficult to learn if you don’t have someone to carry on a conversation with. If you know someone who’s fluent, ask them to help you practice your conversation skills and see what suggestions they have to help you improve your English.

"learn English, tired but happy" if you need to consult of your problem in learning-teaching English as foreign language, just contact me on my personal mail:syahr72@gmail.com