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.