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)

Adjective and Possessive Pronouns

Adjective pronouns or sometimes they are called adjective determiners are pronouns that describe belongings. Adjective pronouns in English are my, your, his, her, our, your (plural) and their.
The following instances describe the use of the adjective pronouns:

He's just borrowed my book (bukuku).
I don't need your money (uangmu).
I don't know his name (namanya, nama seorang laki-laki).
I think it is her car (mobilnya, mobil seorang wanita).
Do you think he knows the way to our house? (rumah kita).
Those are your books on the table! (buku kalian).
Their school is located near ours! (sekolah mereka).

Possessive pronouns also describe belongings but they stand there without the nouns. In English, possessive pronouns are mine, yours, his, hers, ours, yours (plural) and theirs.
Here are some examples of the possessive pronouns:

That is my computer. That computer is mine (milikku).
I saw you park your car in the corner over there. Is that car yours over there? (milikmu).
I know he placed his milk in the fridge. That's why I did not take it because I know the milk is his. (milik dia seorang laki-laki).
She's just bought a new car. The shiny car over there, it is hers! (milik dia seorang perempuan).
I love this house. I am going to buy it, soon the house will be ours! (milik kita).
These uniforms, they look like yours! (milik kalian)
I saw a lot of guitars in the hall, perhaps the guitars are theirs. (milik mereka).

Subjective and Objective Pronouns

A subjective pronoun is a pronoun that is used as the subject in a sentence. In English, subjective pronouns are:

I (saya)
You (kamu)
He (dia, laki-laki)
She (dia, perempuan)
We (kami atau kita)
You (kalian)
They (mereka)

For Examples (The subjective pronouns are in blue):

I live in Bandung, Indonesia.
You come from Medan in Sumatra.
He knows what to do.
She has a lot of money.
We will help you if you need us.
You all have to go now.
They are good fellows.

An objective pronoun is a pronoun that is used as an object in a sentence. In English, objective pronouns are:

me (saya)
you (kamu)
him (dia, laki-laki)
her (dia, perempuan)
us (kami)
you (kamu)
them (mereka)

For examples (The objective pronouns are in red whilst the subjective pronouns are in blue):

She knows that she loves me.
I will meet you later in the afternoon.
Do you know her?
Please don't tell him if I want to make a surprise for him.
Who is going to join us in the party?
OK, we will meet you all again tomorrow.
We will never be like them the movie stars you see on TV.

Plural Nouns

In English, to make a plural noun is usually to add 's' or 'es' at the end of the singular noun. For example:

a car - cars
a cow - cows
a window - windows
a PC - PCs
a tomato - tomatoes
a mosquito - mosquitoes
et cetera...

But some nouns need special care if to make their plural forms in that their plural forms don't end with 's' or 'es'.

a child - children
an ox - oxen
a mouse - mice (Beware: if it is the computer device instead of the animal: a mouse - mouses)
a louse - lice
a sheep - sheep
a man - men
a woman - women
a policeman - policemen
a foot - feet
a goose - geese
et cetera...

Some nouns of Latin, Greek and other foreign origins also take special care:

an alumnus - alumni
a radius - radii
a matrix - matrices
a château - châteaux
a fulcrum - fulcra
a cactus - cacti
a stadium - stadia
a formula - formulae
a cello - celli
a paparazzo - paparazzi
et cetera...

Proper Nouns

Proper noun is a specific name given to something or somebody. The easiest way to tell whether a noun is a proper noun or not is that a proper noun ALWAYS begins with a capital letter.

Examples are:

Mars, Indonesia, Harry, Amir, Jakarta, New York, Africa, Hong Kong, etc.

It is easy to identify a proper noun, isn't it? Can you tell 20 other proper nouns you know?

Countable and Uncountable Nouns

Countable nouns or count nouns denote things that can be counted. The examples of countable noun are: a cow, a cat, a house, a car, a rocket, an aeroplane, etc. Count nouns have plural forms. The plural forms of the previous examples are: cows, cats, houses, cars, rockets and aeroplanes.

Uncountable nouns or noncount nouns denote things that cannot be counted. The things may be able to be measured but they cannot be counted. The examples of the noncount nouns are: milk, coffee, tea, sugar, rice, flour, etc. Uncountable nouns do not have plural forms.

Now, as an excercise, can you name five other countable nouns and five other uncountable nouns?

Denifinte and Indefinite Articles

What is a definite article? A definite article is a determiner that restricts or particularises a noun. In English there is only one definite article that is 'the'. 'The' is mostly used when we refer to a thing which is only one and nothing more but one! The examples for the usage of the definite article in this case are: "the sun" (we have only one sun..... you can't find another sun elsewhere in your life!), "the moon", "the earth", etc...

A definite article is also used when we refer to a thing that has already been mentioned before! The following example will explain the usage:
"There is a book on the table"
"Can you give me the book, please?"

A definite article is also used to show the superlative degree of an adjective. Check the following examples:
"They three are smart students but Arif is the smartest amongst the three"
"Amongst the countries in ASEAN, Indonesia is the biggest country by area and by population".

Now, what is an indefinite article? An indefinite article is a determiner that expresses nonspecificity of a noun. There are a lot indefinite articles in English that are "a", "an", and "some" to say three of them. "a" and "an" are used for singular nouns whilst "some" are used for plural nouns. "a" is used for a noun that starts with consonant sounds while "an" is used for a noun that starts with vowel sounds.

The examples for the usage of "a" and "an" are:
"a balloon"
"a cat"
"a car"
"a piano"
"a computer"
"a university" etc...

"an apple"
"an orange"
"an orangutan"
"an umbrella"
"an hour" etc...

The example for the "some" usage is given below in sentences:
"I remember there are some apples in the fridge. If I'm not mistaken there are three of them!"
"There are some students in the class. Maybe there are about ten of them in it!"

Noun (kata benda)

A noun is a word that is used to name a person, place, thing, quality, etc. And it can function as the subject or the object in a sentence.

The following are the representatives of nouns:

a chair ( sebuah kursi )
a table ( sebuah meja)
an apple (sebuah apel)
an orangutan (seekor orangutan)
a policeman (seorang polisi)
hair (rambut)
the sun (matahari)
Indonesia (Indonesia)
Great Britain (Britania Raya)
Jakarta (Jakarta)
Singapore (Singapura)
Mars (Planet Mars)
Barrack Obama (Barrack Obama, presiden Amerika Serikat saat ini)

Exercise:

Use your Indonesian-English dictionary to find out the English nouns of the following Indonesian nouns:

1. Sebuah Mobil
2. Sebuah Sepeda Motor
3. Sebuah Televisi Warna
4. Sebuah jeruk
5. Seorang petugas pos
6. Seorang pemadam kebakaran
7. Seekor unta
8. Amerika Serikat
9. Perancis
10. Kota Meksiko