ENGLISH IS EASY AS A PIE

 ENGLISH IS EASY AS A PIE

by Achmad Sulton

                                                                     An English Teacher of State Senior High School 4 Malang

      Before you read this essay, you may answer some questions based on your experiences in studying English. How many years have you studied English?, How do you get it through?, What is the result of your study? and How many vocabularies do you master till now?. Those questions usually stuck in your mind. You feel that you got nothing in learning English, consider that you are difficult in developing your ability. Then you become so lazy to study. These problems have been faced by the students. As the example you got English in Elementary School in the fourth grade then you continued to Yunior High School next you are in the second year of Senior High School. You have learned it for seven years. Can you imagine how many words that you have mastered?. Of course, you have more but you got nothing. You forget them easily because you never use them. So you become desperate in Studying English.

      In this essay, you will find how you figure out your difficulties in learning English. As we know The teaching of English in Indonesia, particularly in Senior High School, aims to enable the students to use English for communication. To achieve this goal, the teaching of English is directed to develop  the students’ competency in listening, speaking, reading and writing. In particularly, being able to speak English is important. This is because the ability to use the language in daily communication is the indicator that someone has mastered the language (Ur, 1996:120, Larsen-Freeman, 1986:133). That is why, to most people, mastering the art of speaking is the single most important aspect of learning a second or foreign language, and success is measured in terms of the ability to carry out a conversation in the language (Nunan, 1991:39). Here is some tips to unravel your problems.

1. Start to listen some words in English.

In this case, there are many ways for you to be a good listener. First, Try to start listening someone or your teacher when he/she speaks English in the class. Second, If your hobby is listening the music. It will become your media to study English. You will be easier to understand how to pronounce the English words. Third, If you have a television or radio at home, you may go to the English Chanel. As the result, more listening the English words, more comprehensive the English pronunciation.

2. Try to find more difficult words through your hobby

If you have hobby to read the poem, you will try to understand words by words through translating it. You will get many new vocabularies. Then you can list them in the note book and use for communication.

3. Reading is a good way for adding some vocabularies.

One way to enlarge your vocabularies is reading. You may start with the easy reading. It means try to read some books that related with your wants. If you feel bore to read, you may move to read the others. You may create exciting situation that It can be avoid from fatigue. If you find some difficult words, you may give a sign and try to look for the meaning or synonym. More reading, more knowing the vocabularies you don’t know before.

4. Speaking is as tool of learning for you in reminding the new words

If you want your vocabularies staying in your mind longer, you may utilize it in your daily communication. If you confuse some words that you will use, you may mix with Indonesian. You may write Indonesian words in your note book and try to discover the English as soon as possible. If you are shy to speak English, It will become your obstacle to study it. So you have to brave in communication.

5.    Don’t be afraid to speak

Sometimes the students feel shame to speak. They are afraid to make some mistakes so they seldom to speak English. This phenomena has been faced by students now. The result of this, they turn passive in English. Meanwhile, The brave in speaking will bring them to be a  good English learner. “Never speak better than English”. It is a good motivation motto for you in speaking.

6. Write a passage will add vocabulary of language

According to Oxford Dictionary, 2000 ;” Writing is produce something in written form so that people can read, perform, or use it”. It is clearly stated that writing is a production of our learning about something. If you read a book and you know what the book tells you about, you can share your ideas through writing. You may compose a text by using your own words. Don’t be worry for your composition because you can study grammar step by step to produce a perfect composition.

      Based on the tips above, It is really true that English is easy as a pie. The easy and simple ways that you can do every where and every time. It means that some ways above become the examples for the learners in improving their English. If there is a will, there is a way.

Vocabulary list

Grade (n)         : Class

Master(v)        : know very well

Consider (v)    : Think

Desperate(adj) : Having little hope and ready to do anything without caring about danger to yourself  

                          and others.

Obstacle (n)     : Interfere

Compose(v)     : Write

Unravel(v)       : Solve

Fatigue(Adj)   : Bore

Utilize(v)         : Use

Type of the text above is Analytical Exposition