Advanced Learner's Dictionaries

Of course none of you have not been familiar with a dictionary. It is hard to believe that anyone of you has not possessed one. This kind of book like all of you know it contains a comprehensive list of words which is arranged alphabetically. Actually there are numerous kinds of dictionary. The first one that you owned when you were younger might be a beginner's dictionary. This dictionary only lists basic words that most children need to know. Another kind of dictionary is a picture dictionary. Usually this dictionary is coupled with pictures in the hope that the pictures can describe more clearly on a word sought. Next is a thematic dictionary. This dictionary usually contains words which are specific to a theme. The most common examples of the dictionary are: The Medical Dictionary, The Business Dictionary, The Law Dictionary, The Biology Dictionary and whatnots.

There are more kinds of dictionary than we can ever remember, but the most interesting kind of dictionary is advanced learner's dictionary. Why interesting? Because according to my personal opinion, no other kinds of Dictionary would help you improving your English skill both at vocabulary and grammar. Of course, it doesn't mean that I downplay other kinds of dictionary in improving one's linguistic skill, but if you are a serious learner of English you will find the dictionary useful and attractive at once, and it is freaking worth having.

In the market, you will readily find various advanced learner's dictionaries from various publishers. Amongst them which are very renowned including those from Oxford, Cambridge, Longman and Merriam-Webster's. Don't get mistaken, this dictionary may not be the vastest dictionary in terms of vocabulary, but it has rich features that an average dictionary may not have. The definition used to describe a word is built on the most 2,000-3,000 basic words, so students will not struggle to find another word that he does not understand in a definition of a word he intends to understand. Another helpful feature is the comprehensive examples of sentences in which a word is applied. This feature, of course, will help student understand the all shades of meaning in a word better, thus he can apply it in the actual use more confidently.

the vast collection of phrasal verbs and idioms contained in this dictionary, of course, will enlighten students in mastering phrases which are not to be translated literally word after word. The pictures together with pieces of information that come with them are superb auxiliary tools to make a learner better understand a word relating to an object that is usually difficult to imagine.

Those are only a few out of many features from an advanced learner's dictionary that will make your time of English learning more effective as well as more enjoyable! ;)

English Native Speaking Teacher or Indonesian Teacher?

This time, on this post I would not write something about a piece of English grammar but I would write an article of choosing a teacher between an English native speaking teacher and an Indonesian teacher instead. This article, hopefully, will help enlightening the students coming from Indonesia and other non-English speaking countries, especially those who are still confused of choosing the right teacher, so you will come up with a wise and reasonable decision.

Actually either a native English speaking teacher or an Indonesian teacher has its own downsides and upsides. A native English speaking teacher may have a better coverage of vocabulary, especially that of current slang vocabulary, but a native English speaker mostly does not have a good command of Bahasa Indonesia (our native language). That, to some extent, would hamper the transfer of knowledge to the students especially the beginners and the intermediate students. But perhaps the advanced students will get more benefits if they learn from a native English speaking teacher, that's correct! But if you are a beginner or an intermediate student I believe you will benefit more from an Indonesian teacher. Why's that? That's because a novice at English needs more than just vocabulary to improve his or her English. The grammatical section for the beginners is more effectively explained in our own language, something that usually cannot be done by a native English speaking teacher!

Another downside of contracting native English speaking teachers is that the skyrocketing fees! Usually native English speakers ask for fees a few times higher than their Indonesian peers do! But those higher fees, unfortunately, are not necessarily attributable to better quality of teaching. However, some professional first-rate experienced long-standing native English teachers can offer superior teaching methods and drills for advanced students particularly if they speak Bahasa Indonesia as well.

But of course, to be fair and square, I would like to expose the downsides of Indonesian teachers too (in teaching English). They usually have less coverage of vocabulary especially that of slangs, idioms and phrasal verbs. An Indonesian teacher also usually has poorer understanding of the sense of the language. For example, there are some Indonesian teachers who say 'Good Morning' at 2 AM when he or she is about to leave somebody. The correct phrase should be 'Good Night'. He says 'Good Morning' because in Indonesia after midnight, no matter whether he first sees someone or he is about to leave someone, one will say 'Selamat Pagi' or literally translated as 'Good Morning'.

That is all for the brief explanation on how to choose the right teacher between a native English speaker or an Indonesian teacher. From the above explanation you can easily understand the advantages and the drawbacks of each. In a nutshell, choose your own right teacher according to your needs and, last but not least, your budget! ;)

Interrogative Sentences with 'Yes' or 'No' Answer

An interrogative sentence is a sentence that asks somebody about something. This article will show you how to construct an interrogative sentence with 'yes' or 'no' answer. An interrogative sentence is always ended with a question mark. Constructing an interrogative sentence is not difficult, as it is shown in the following section:

I. Present Tense:

Positive Sentence (P.S.) : - He goes to the shopping mall every week.

Interrogative Sentence (I.S.) - Does he go to the shopping mall every week? Yes, he does. (Yes answer) No, he doesn't. (No answer)

P.S. - I know where he had gone last night.

I. S. - Do you know where he had gone last night? Yes, I do. (Yes answer) No, I don't (No Answer)

P.S. - She is a nurse.

I.S. - Is she a nurse? Yes, she is. (Yes answer) No, she isn't (No answer)

II. Present Continous Tense

P.S. : - She is making up her bed.

I.S. : - Is she making up her bed? Yes, she is. (Yes answer) No, she isn't (No answer)

P.S. : - I am trying to understand this difficult lesson.

I.S. : - Are you trying to understand this difficult lesson? Yes, I am (Yes answer) No, I am not (No answer).

III. Past Tense

P.S. : - I ate spaghetti for lunch yesterday.

I.S. : - Did you eat spaghetti for lunch yesterday? Yes, I did (Yes answer) No, I did not (No answer)

P.S. : He farted yesterday in the meeting.

I.S. : Did he fart yesterday in the meeting? Yes, he did (Yes answer). No, he didn't (No answer).

IV. Past Continous Tense

P.S. : I was preparing dinner when she called me.

I.S. : Were you preparing dinner when she called you? Yes, I was (Yes answer). No, I wasn't (No answer).

P.S. : We were heading for Tokyo when I realised that I left my laptop at home.

I.S. : Were you all heading for Tokyo when you realised that he left your laptop in your home? Yes, we were (Yes answer). No, we weren't (No answer).

V. Future Tense

P.S. : I will buy a new car as soon as I receive my paycheck next month.

I.S. : Will you buy a new car as soon as you receive your paycheck next month? Yes I will (Yes answer) No, I won't (No answer).

P.S. : We shall go to Bali in the next vacation.

I.S. : Will you all go to Bali in the next vacation? Yes, we will (Yes answer) No, we won't (No answer).

Positive and Negative Sentences

Positive sentences are the sentences that give us information. Negative sentences also give us information. The difference between those two is that the negative sentences give us information in negated sentences. The difference between them will be shown in the following section:

I. Present Tense:

Positive Sentence (P.S.) : Ali eats an apple.

Negative Sentence (N.S.) : Ali does not eat an apple.

P.S. : I want to go to the market.

N.S. : I do not want to go to the market.

P.S. : He is a teacher.

N.S. : He is not a teacher.

II. Present Continous Tense:

P.S. : I am writing a letter.

N.S. : I am not writing a letter.

P.S. : They are swimming in a dirty swimming pool.

N.S. : They are not swimming in a dirty swimming pool.

III. Past Tense:

P.S. : He saw her in the market yesterday.

N.S. : He did not see her in the market yesterday.

P.S. : I was once a teacher.

N.S. : I was not once a teacher.

P.S. : I stayed with my grandma last year.

N.S. : I did not stay with my grandma last year.

IV. Past Continous Tense:

P.S. : When we arrived at her house, she was still sleeping.

N.S. : When we arrived at her house, she was not sleeping anymore.

P.S. : When the Japanese bombers bombed the city from the air, the allied forces were trying to shoot down those bombers.

N.S. : When the Japanese bombers bombed the city from the air, the allied forces were not trying to shoot down those bombers.

V. Future Tense:

P.S. : I will win the match tomorrow.

N.S. : I will not win the match tomorrow.

P.S. : They are going to understand our plan sooner or later.

N.S. : They are not going to understand our plan sooner or later.

"With", "Like", "As Well As"

"With", "like", and "as well as" are prepositions that if words joined to a singular subject by these prepositions, they always take a singular verb.

Examples:

Peter, with his friends, is in the class.

The boy, like the father, has curly hair.

Emma, as well as Anna, is playing with dolls.

The singular verbs in the examples above are in red.

But beware of the following example: Peter and his friends are in the class.

If preposition "and" is used, a plural verb is applied.

"Either", "Neither" and "Too"

Let's examine the following examples:

Either John or Mary has a camera.

It menas that "one of them (John or Mary) has a camera" but it can't be both having cameras.

Neither John or Mary has a camera.

It means that "no one of them has any cameras" or both of them don't have any cameras.

John has a camera, Mary does too.

It means that John and Mary have two cameras, each camera belongs to each one of them.

The last example (John has a camera, Mary does too) can be substituted by: "Both John and Mary have cameras".

Agreement Between Subjects and Verbs

Examine these following sentences:

• The banana is ripe.
• The girl is angry.
• The man has money.
• She does not know where he is.
• My brother likes sweets.

• The bananas are ripe.
• The girls are angry.
• The men have money.
• They do not know where he is.
• My brother and my sister like sweets.

From the two sets of examples above you see that verbs (in bold) agree with their subjects in number. Singular subjects take singular verbs. Plural subjects take plural verbs. Usually singular verbs take "-s" ending. Some verbs especially those that end with "-o" like "to do" and "to go" or those that end with "-tch" or "-th" take "-es" ending for the singular form. Examples are:

• to sit - sits
• to drink - drinks
• to eat - eats
• to catch - catches
• to watch - watches
• to go - goes
• to do - does
• to move - moves

A care must be taken for the verb "to be" and "to have" because they take their singular forms in quite different ways from the regular verbs. "to have" becomes "has" and "to be" is a little tricky to get both the singular and plural forms:

"To be" becomes:

• I am (singular)
• You are (singular)
• He is (singular)
• She is (singular)
• It is (singular)
• We are (plural)
• You are (plural)
• They are (plural)