Sometimes it’s known as an “annual review”, sometimes it’s called a “performance review”. Whatever the name it’s given, it is a structured conversation between boss and subordinate about how the subordinate does his or her job. It’s a really important conversation, because it gives a poorly performing employee a chance to improve, and it confirms to high-achievers that they are well regarded for what they do. Above all, it lets the employee know exactly where they stand in the organisation’s estimation.

Annual reviews have part of standard business practice for so long that it is really surprising how seldom they are done well, and how often they are not done at all.

Part of the problem is that the appraisal requires both parties to take time out of what is often a busy and stressful working life to think about the subordinate’s performance. Then they must find time to prepare for the interview, carry it out, write-up the substance of what was said, and check the document to make sure it reflects the memories of both parties. Small wonder that reviews are often postponed, forgotten, or done in an ill-prepared rush. And the more subordinates a manager has, the more likely that that the whole review process will be a wasted opportunity.

Another big part of the appraisal problem is that managers are often not trained at all in how to carry out reviews. It is all too easy for a manager to hold back on criticism, for fear of provoking conflict. Or even to be too critical and confrontational for fear of seeming weak. It’s quite hard to achieve the middle ground of giving constructive criticism that enables an employee to see what they have been doing wrong, and how they can do it better.

So how can we do better appraisals? If you’re a manager, this brief article won’t solve all your problems, but maybe the tips that follow will give you something to think about.

Tip 1 Think well ahead of time about each appraisal you have to do. Don’t leave the thinking to the 30 minutes before the appraisee comes to see you! Make notes by all means, but don’t write the appraisal report before you’ve had the meeting! It’s meant to be two-way conversation, after all.

Tip 2 When you need to be critical, be specific. Don’t make general remarks without having several concrete examples of the behaviour you want to criticise. Make your criticisms in a neutral, unemotional way, and don’t get caught up in any emotion displayed by the appraisee. Suggest ways of helping the appraisee to make the behaviour changes you want to see.

Tip 3 Follow up on the appraisal. Make sure that you take any action you agree to do. Make sure that you monitor the appraisee to see that he or she changes their behaviour the way you suggest. When you see positive changes, reinforce them by praising the employee.

Tip 4 Appraisals may be a once-per-year event, but the comments made by a manager should never come as a complete surprise to the employee. It’s at the heart of good management practice that any leader should make sure that his or her subordinates are continuously aware of their manager’s scrutiny, and his or her evaluation of their work. The appraisal should only confirm what the subordinate already knew.

And finally, if your manager and you have different mother tongues, and your appraisal is going to be conducted in a language you didn’t grow up with, be very careful! Especially if the language to be used is English, remember that it’s a slippery language, full of shades of meaning.  Your appraisal is an important conversation, and you need to find and use the right words.

Fortunately, if you live in Jakarta, the AIM team has native English-speaking professionals who can help you prepare for your appraisal and make sure that you are fully familiar with the words you may need to use.

Learning lots of new vocabulary is central to becoming great at communicating in English but, as most of you are probably aware, it can also be a rather boring experience. This article explores ways to make learning new words a bit more fun, and will hopefully help you master the language faster.

Every person is unique, and people learn in different ways. Try some of the methods below, and stick to the ones which you find most fun or effective. Or use a variety of methods to help keep boredom away!

Before we begin, it’s worth noting that students can learn vocabulary in two ways:
1. “Incidentally”. This means learning either consciously or unconsciously, using ‘context clues’ when we are reading or listening to a language
2. “Direct Study”. This refers to deliberate attempts to learn new words.
This article will focus on direct study, which is by far the most effective of the two.

Which words to learn?

You can’t learn every word you hear or read every day. So, which ones are important?

• learn the words that are important to the subject you are studying, or the industry in which you’re working.
• learn those words that you keep reading or hearing again and again.
• don’t learn too many words that are uncommon or not useful.

Top 4 Learning methods:

1. Look, Cover, Guess, Check

This is how most children are taught to learn vocabulary. You could try to make it less tedious by using different colours. For example make up a page like this, using alternating coloured lines down the page to make sure each line stands out:
meja    =  table
kulkas  =  fridge
mobil   =  car
pohon   =  tree
Then cover up all of the English words with a piece of paper. Slide the paper down the page as you translate each word. Now repeat, but this time covering the Indonesian side of the page.

2. Sticky notes (Post-Its)

Find as many words or phrases as possible that you would like to learn. Write each one on a sticky note, and also try to draw a picture if you can (which helps to create visual associations in your brain). Stick your notes around your house or office, in places that you’ll see very regularly (on doors, near light-switches, on the telephone, next to your computer, or even on the cookie jar). Every time you see one of your notes, say it out loud. Every time. Then after a few days change all the notes. This can be an amazingly effective learning strategy for some people.

3. Flash Cards

A favourite among many language learners, these small blank coloured cards are sometimes held together on a ring. You write the English word on one side of each card, and the Indonesian word on the other. Make a pile of hundreds of words and phrases if you like. There are lots of ways of using the cards, including this strategy:

1. Make a pile of around fifteen cards, with the English words facing upwards
2. Pick up the first card and guess its Indonesian meaning.
3. Check if you are correct. If you get it right, put it in one pile (the correct pile). If you are wrong, put it back at the bottom of the main pile.
4. Keep going until all of your cards are in the ‘correct pile’.

This is a very positive way to learn words.  You are either correct, or you keep trying again until you are correct. You are never wrong!

4. Record Yourself

With audio recorders on almost every computer and mobile phone, this has become a very easy and convenient way of learning new vocabulary. Just record yourself saying the new English words, followed by the Indonesian meaning. You can use these like ‘audio flash cards’; press pause after each word to give yourself time to guess the meaning.

What you should know about the words you learn

Learning the meaning of a new word is only the first step. You should also think about:

• spelling
• pronunciation
• inflection (the different noun, verb, adjective and adverb forms of the word)
• collocation (i.e. what other words are often used with it)
• formal or informal (style and register)

Native speakers learn these things about words by listening to them and reading them over and over again. You should do the same!

One final Tip – Learn words at least twice!

If you sit down one day and learn ten new words, the chances are that you will have forgotten most of them after one week. That’s because the word was only stored in your short-term memory. Try re-learning the words after around a week. This should be faster than the first time around, and will mean the words are stored in your long-term memory and we be available for you to use for years to come.

Many students at Aim ask us “how can I improve my pronunciation quickly?”. As always, there’s no substitute for practice, practice, and more practice. This article will explore a few strategies that will ensure that your practice time is as productive as possible.

1. Imitate!

Listen to spoken English as often as possible. Watch  the mouth movements of people when they are speaking, and try to imitate them. Training the muscles in your mouth is the key to good pronunciation. There are lots of places where you can listen to people speaking English:

• Watch television (BBC, CNN, Australia Network, Star World etc). Watch the mouth movements of the speakers and try to copy what they are saying. Also pay attention to rhythm and intonation.
• Watch movies. If you have a choice, switch off the subtitles altogether, so you can focus on the actors’ mouth movements, rather than reading the text
• Download audio books, listen to them in your car, or read along with them at home. Listen to how words are pronounced and try to imitate.
• Use some of the fantastic free resources on the Internet, such as BBC Learning English. Here’s a link to some pronunciation videos, tips, quizzes and more: Click Here

2 Take it slow!

If you slow your speech down, you’ll have more time to make sure you get pronunciation and intonation right, so don’t rush. Remember, it’s all about speaking clearly, not quickly. If you speak too quickly, you might skip some words, or get the pronunciation and intonation wrong. Native speakers might have difficulty understanding what you are saying.
Once you’re confident that you’re getting the pronunciation right, then gradually start to speed up your speech.

3. Learn the phonetic alphabet, & use the dictionary

Every sound in the English language has a symbol. All of these symbols make up the ‘phonetic alphabet’. Once you have learned these symbols, learning pronunciation alone becomes much easier, as you’ll now be able to ‘read’ pronunciation, rather than relying on watching or listening to other people speak.All dictionary definitions (printed and online) include phonetic script, allowing you to quickly know how the word sounds.
Learning the phonetic alphabet is not easy, and may take a while, but the benefits to the development of students’ pronunciation are huge. Well worth the time invested.
To get you started, watch this brilliant introduction to the phonetic alphabet on the BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/pron/sounds/

4. Get to know your own pronunciation problems.

Keep a notebook with you at all times, and make a note of words you find difficult to pronounce. These might be words you hear, or words you say that people didn’t understand. When you have a list of all your problem words, ask someone who speaks the language well to say them. Then, imitate them. Even better, ask them to record the words on their handphone, so you can listen to them later. Many online dictionaries also now have a “listen” button next to word definitions, which allows you to hear someone saying the word.
One common pronunciation challenge for Indonesians is the ‘S’ and ‘ED’ endings of words. These sounds are very important, as they show that something is plural, or show when something happened (the tense). Make sure you practice these sounds, in particular.

5. Learn the ‘music’ of English.

Every language has its own ‘music’ – the rhythm, intonation and sentence stress patterns of the language. Advanced students of English learn to reproduce the music of English, and stay away from the ‘music’ of their native language when speaking English. So don’t just learn how to pronounce individual words. Listen to the music of the language and try to imitate what you hear.
It’s worth noting that there are hundreds of different English accents all around the world, each with slightly different intonation and sentence stress patterns. You aren’t expected to be able to imitate them all, but having an awareness of where a speaker is from can really help you piece together the ‘pronunciation puzzle’.

6. Read aloud in English for 20 minutes every day, and record yourself

This is all about developing stronger mouth muscles, and also recognising the mistakes you’re making. It takes weeks, maybe months, of daily practice to train your mouth to produce some of the more difficult sounds in English. Make sure the text you are reading is interesting!
Recording your reading can be very beneficial. Yes, we all hate to hear the sound of our own voice, but you’ll be surprised by how easy it is to spot the mistakes in your own pronunciation when you listen to a recording. Have that notebook at the ready to write down any mistakes you hear.

7. Be patient, and try to enjoy the process

Like many other aspects of learning English, you can’t expect amazing improvements in your pronunciation overnight. It’s a gradual process, there are no ‘short-cuts’, and it will need commitment, motivation and time from you.
This doesn’t mean that the process can’t be fun, though. Here at Aim, lessons on pronunciation are some of the most enjoyable and popular among teachers and students alike. There are now also thousands of fantastic interactive web pages to help with your pronunciation; much more fun than using dusty old books. At Aim, we know that people learn English much faster if they’re having fun.

Remember, you don’t need to try to ‘talk like a native speaker’. It’s perfectly fine to have an accent. The important thing is that you are speaking clearly, and that you are not preventing other people from understanding what you’re saying. Best of luck!

Careers don’t just happen, and success needs to be planned. That’s the message of this short piece.  Some people make their high-flying careers seem effortless, don’t they? But maybe they are just very good at concealing the hard work that’s going on beneath the surface? There’s a stark choice open to anyone with talent; you either drift along and see what happens, or you make a plan and aim for something. Let’s suppose that drifting is not what you want.

Tip one; make a plan.

That involves thinking about your personal objectives and working out what you need to do to achieve them.

The fundamental thing about planning is that it’s the process that counts. That’s true in business as well as in your personal plans. If you think through the things you want to achieve, and work out the steps you need to take, you will be well placed to react intelligently to whatever happens in reality.

Tip two; write your plan down.

Remember the old business motto- “if it’s not in writing it didn’t happen”. In this case, if you don’t write your personal plan down you’ll probably not take it seriously.

Tip three; don’t rely on others to do the planning for you.

Big companies often have “career planning” functions, which mould their people to meet their future needs.

If you decide to join a big company, make sure that your personal needs and their corporate ones are well matched. For example, if you want to travel the world but the company wants you to be a long term resident in your home country, you might want to think twice about joining them.  Don’t let short term pay, or the prestige of the company, pull you in a direction you’ll later regret.

Tip four; be honest with yourself.

This plan is between you and you! So make an honest assessment of your strengths and weaknesses. Then work out whether your strengths can be sufficient to get you where you want to go. Chances are, you’ll need to do something about your weaknesses.

Tip five; take action now.

All high flyers are action-oriented. They get a reputation for getting things done. Don’t be afraid of making quick decisions when you have to. It’s usually better to get something mostly right today than completely right next month.

But if you have the luxury of time, use it wisely. Don’t avoid the issue until the last minute, then make a quick decision!

Tip six; be prepared for the unexpected.

It’s a nearly universal law in planning that even the best of plans will not survive contact with the real world. Things will happen that you don’t anticipate. But look back to Tip one, above. If you have made a plan, and gone through the process properly, you will be able to assess quickly if the unexpected occurrence can be used to your benefit. You will be in a position to judge risk, and take action.

And finally, please remember that English is the international language of business, the media, and the academic world. You can “get by” with moderate English, but to “get on” you need to read it, write it and speak it well. The AIM team are here to help. Call them now for an assessment.

Here, we’ll talk about how English evolved in the USA, and what some of the obvious differences are between UK and US English.

Sometime attributed to Winston Churchill, the words in the caption refer to Britain and the USA. In the 250 years since the US became an independent nation, the way they use English has
changed and developed. And so has the usage in the UK.

Some things are obvious. Spelling for instance. The USA went through a partial spelling reform in the 19th century. Now colour is spelled with a “u” in Britain, Australia, New Zealand and India: but not in the USA, where they spell it “color”. And a British “surprise” is an American “surprize”. If you are writing a document on a PC, always choose the variant of English that will best suit your readers, and remember to set the spell-checker on the right one.

Differences in the way some words are used may be less obvious to the nonnative English reader. For example, in the UK the word “pavement” is the place at the side of a road where people walk. In the US “pavement” is the road surface, and “sidewalk” is where people move on foot. There are hundreds such differences. You just have to learn to avoid misunderstandings as you gain experience in using English.

Now, on to Australia

In writing there’s really nothing to distinguish the UK and Australia. Grammar, spellings and style are the same. But the spoken language- now that’s another story!

Australians use lots more shortened forms of nouns, and unique slang words than you would hear in the UK. A British “afternoon” would be an Aussie “arvo”.  A can of beer in the UK would be a “tinny” in Australia. And when UK students go off to University, an Aussie goes off to “Uni”. This last example has now migrated to the UK, probably through the medium of some popular TV series made in Australia, and sold to the UK. But there are hundreds more. Here’s a link to an Aussie website with a comprehensive list of real Australian slang. http://www.koalanet.com.au/australian-slang.html

To UK ears there’s something rather exciting about the Australian accent; it’s immediately recognisable, and much more interesting than the UK’s various regional accents. And Australians have a more direct style than you’ll hear in the UK.

If you are off to Australia, don’t worry about accents or the words they use- you’ll soon understand what’s going on, and you’ll most likely have a wonderful experience in a great country.

So we’ve looked at English in the US and Australia. Now for a rapidly emerging economic superpower, where English is one of the mother tongues of hundreds of millions of people. Let’s go to India. (Or let’s talk to one of the thousands of Indian expats working in Indonesia!)

Britain originally introduced the language to India, but Indian English has evolved and developed as one of the most vibrant varieties in use today.

In print, for example in one of India’s English-language newspapers, the language looks slightly old-fashioned to British eyes, but when spoken it’s a rich new blend of English and wholly Indian words and expressions. You’ll certainly encounter “Yaar” for example, as in “Hi Yaar, how are you?” It’s an informal word for “friend”, or “mate”.

Finally, a mention of numbers. India uses an ancient system where 100,000 is called a “lakh”, and 10,000,000 is a “crore”. If you saw the movie “Slumdog Millionaire”, you’ll have heard these terms used towards the end of the quiz.

If you are going to live and work in India you’ll need good English. But gradually you’ll come to believe that Indian English is one of the wonders of its culture!

When Aim was approached by Prudential, the multinational financial services giant, and asked to help  transform the language culture of their 700-strong Operations Division here in Jakarta, we knew we would have to think outside the box  to get results. Training for all 700 staff was simply impracticable. So, Aim worked closely with the team at Prudential to devise a plan in which 60 of their people were selected as ‘facilitators’, and each was assigned a group of ten colleagues to motivate, support and teach in weekly tutorial sessions. One problem – none of the facilitators knew much about teaching!

The project began with a series of full-day workshops for facilitators at ‘The Pru’. Aim’s instructors introduced basic teaching techniques, as well as strategies to motivate and boost the confidence of their colleagues. Participants were also encouraged to use their imagination, together discovering how teachers can get creative and inject their own personality into their lessons.

Following these workshops, Prudential’s facilitators have been meeting their tutorial groups weekly, conducting structured yet informal tutorials based on tailor-made materials from Aim. Facilitators receive round-the-clock support and encouragement from Aim via email and IM, and meet their Aim instructor at monthly project review sessions.

So far, results have been extremely positive, with early nervousness from the facilitators replaced by enthusiasm and creativity, and reports of lively sessions which all 700 of them look forward to. We’ve been very impressed with everyone at Prudential, and now they’re well on the road to adopting an English-speaking work culture, too.

Menghadapi tantangan baru

Sudah menjadi prinsip umum dalam upaya pengembangan pribadi bahwa anda akan dapat mencapai lebih banyak keberhasilan kalau anda membuat daftar hal-hal apa saja yang perlu anda lakukan. Buatlah daftar berisi tugas-tugas yang harus dikerjakan pada saat anda tiba di kantor pagi hari, dan kemungkinan besar anda akan sanggup menyelesaikan setidaknya sebagian dari tugas-tugas tadi sebelum perhatian anda teralih oleh berbagai kejadian yang muncul. Buatlah daftar sebelum pergi berbelanja; anda akan mendapat apa yang anda cari dan mungkin tidak akan menghabiskan terlalu banyak uang membeli benda-benda yang tidak anda perlukan!

Sudah juga menjadi prinsip umum bahwa dari seluruh tugas yang ada dalam daftar, anda harus pertama-tama menangani tugas yang paling tidak anda senangi. Ini merupakan psikologi sederhana, tapi biasanya berhasil. Begitu anda sudah menyelesaikan tugas terberat, tugas lain akan terasa jauh lebih mudah, bahkan mungkin menyenangkan.

48 tahun yang lalu Presiden Kennedy dari Amerika Serikat mengatakan, “Kita memilih untuk pergi ke bulan dan melakukan hal-hal lain [yang kita rencanakan], bukan karena mudah, tapi justru karena sulit.” Kennedy tahu, seperti halnya kita, bahwa anda lebih banyak belajar dari hal-hal sulit dibanding dari hal-hal mudah. Dan bahwa anda akan memperoleh lebih banyak pencapaian ketika merespon terhadap sesuatu yang menantang daripada sesuatu yang mudah.

Seorang Amerika lainnya, pembalap sepeda terhebat, Lance Armstrong, terus menerus berlatih di setiap hari libur nasional, ketika rekan-rekannya sesama pembalap sedang merayakan liburan atau bersantai. Dalam keyakinannya, sikap ini memberinya sebuah “kelebihan”. Kepercayaan dirinya bertambah karena ia tahu bahwa hanya sedikit pesaing lain yang sanggup melakukan begitu banyak pengorbanan, dan ia terus melaju melalui gunung-gunung yang berat dalam Tour de France, balap sepeda terbesar di dunia. Dan Armstrong sudah memenangkan Tour ini tidak kurang dari tujuh kali.

Jadi, melakukan hal yang berat terlebih dahulu akan membuat hal lain terasa mudah. Mengalahkan tantangan terbesar memberi anda kesempatan untuk belajar sebanyak mungkin. Melakukan pengorbanan-pengorbanan pribadi dapat memberi anda keuntungan psikologis di atas pesaing anda. Pelajaran dari dunia bisnis, pemimpin nasional dan dunia olahraga ini semuanya berlaku dalam kehidupan kita saat ini.

Kita sedang mendekati saat-saat penuh tantangan di dunia Muslim. Berpuasa itu berat dan sangat menantang. Salah satu godaan yaitu bagaimana menjalani hari-hari anda berpuasa dengan kecepatan yang stabil, menyimpan tenaga untuk hal-hal yang penting dalam hidup, dan mencari penghidupan. Tetapi ada kesempatan untuk mendapatkan “kelebihan” ekstra. Kalau anda punya ambisi dalam hidup yang mengharuskan anda meningkatkan kemampuan Bahasa Inggris anda, lakukan sekarang! Anda akan berada di depan pesaing-pesaing anda yang menunda belajar hingga setelah Idul Fitri. Anda akan tahu bahwa anda memiliki kapasitas untuk menerima tantangan besar. Dan jangan salah, belajar Bahasa Inggris adalah tantangan serius.

Kalau anda tinggal di Jakarta, ada sebuah sekolah Bahasa Inggris dengan guru-guru hebat yang memahami tekanan yang anda hadapi setiap hari, serta tantangan ekstra saat anda berpuasa. Di Aim for English, mereka akan menyusun pelajaran anda sedemikian rupa untuk memastikan bahwa pengorbanan yang anda berikan akan terbayar dengan hasil yang layak anda dapatkan.

Sekolah yang saya pimpin mengadakan uji coba penggunaan papan tulis interaktif Smartboard. Kami sendiri merupakan sekolah bahasa yang berpikiran maju di Jakarta dan memiliki keinginan untuk menerapkan penggunaan teknologi di dalam kelas-kelas kami, namun hanya apabila teknologi tersebut benar-benar terbukti bermanfaat.

Dengan harga perangkat yang semakin turun dan fungsi yang semakin banyak jenisnya, banyak sekolah di berbagai belahan dunia yang kini menggunakan touch-screen interactive whiteboard dan teknologi pendidikan lain yang serupa. Karena tidak ingin “tertinggal” tetapi juga tidak ingin membuang-buang uang, maka sekolah kami memutuskan untuk mengadakan uji coba penggunaan Smartboard selama 4 bulan. Saat ini uji coba tersebut telah berakhir dan sebagai manajer dari sekolah tersebut, ada 3 hal yang saya pikirkan:

1. Apakah para guru saya dapat beradaptasi dengan cepat dan mudah, dan apakah mereka dapat belajar memanfaatkan potensi penuh perangkat tersebut?
2. Apakah interactive whiteboard meningkatkan kualitas dan efektifitas pengajaran yang berlangsung di dalam kelas?
3. Sebagai satu-satunya sekolah bahasa (sampai saat ini) yang menggunakan Smartboard di Indonesia, apakah penggunaan Smartboard ini mengakibatkan lebih banyak promosi dari mulut ke mulut dan dengan demikian merupakan investasi jangka panjang yang berguna?

Apakah para guru saya dapat beradaptasi dengan cepat dan mudah, dan apakah mereka dapat belajar memanfaatkan potensi penuh perangkat tersebut?

Saya adalah jenis orang yang sangat tertarik pada teknologi dan komputer (serta peran mereka dalam pendidikan), sehingga saya adalah sasaran yang mudah bagi perwakilan Smartboard di Jakarta. Namun saya sadar bahwa tidak semua guru saya akan dapat dengan cepat melepaskan diri dari spidol dan papan tulis yang biasa mereka gunakan di kelas. Akan tetapi, ternyata setelah beberapa training singkat dan uji coba penggunaannya di kelas, bahkan guru saya yang paling gagap teknologipun mampu memanipulasi Smartboard dengan lincah. Di awal training, para guru tidak memiliki kesulitan untuk memanfaatkan salah satu fungsinya yang paling mendasar yaitu seperti papan tulis biasa. Selanjutnya dalam waktu beberapa jam, mereka sudah mampu memasukkan foto, suara, menggunakan Internet dan berbagai kegiatan interaktif lainnya ke dalam papan tulis tersebut. Berhasil..

Ada satu keluhan dari guru yaitu bahwa ‘Smartboard terlalu lamban dalam mengenali gerakan pena mereka, sehingga tulisan tangan mereka menjadi berantakan’. Ini bukanlah masalah Smartboard melainkan program komputer. Setelah dibersihkan, defragmentation dan sedikit upgrade hardware, komputer yang mengendalikan Smartboard dapat running dengan sangat cepat dan keluhan tersebut dapat diatasi.

Sekarang saya yakin sepenuhnya bahwa para guru dapat belajar menggunakan perangkat semacam itu dengan cepat, meskipun ada beberapa guru yang pasti akan mampu melakukannya dengan lebih mudah dibanding yang lain.

Apakah interactive whiteboard meningkatkan kualitas dan efektifitas pengajaran yang berlangsung di dalam kelas?

Jawabnya: Ya.

Keberadaan perangkat ini saja sudah membuat ruang kelas menjadi lebih menyenangkan. Perhatian siswa terpusat ke papan tulis bahkan sebelum papan tulis tersebut dinyalakan.

Ketika Smartboard dinyalakan, baik siswa maupun guru dapat menikmati interaksi dengan papan tulis tersebut melalui berbagai cara yang tidak mungkin dilakukan dengan papan tulis biasa. Gambar, film, latihan interaktif dan teks dapat dihasilkan dan dimanipulasi oleh siapapun. Smartboard telah mampu membuat kelas menjadi lebih kaya pengalaman belajar, dan akses Internet di papan tulis tersebut merupakan sesuatu yang tak ternilai. Saya tak ingat lagi bagaimana kami sebagai guru menghadapi vocabulary yang rumit sebelum kami dapat menggunakan ‘Google Images’ untuk mencari dan menampilkan gambar dalam waktu beberapa detik saja. Kami juga secara teratur menggunakan website berisi berita terbaru sebagai teks untuk digunakan di kelas-kelas kami.

Dalam hal meningkatkan kualitas pendidikan, penggunaan Smartboard merupakan sebuah kesuksesan bagi kami.

Sebagai satu-satunya sekolah bahasa (sampai saat ini) yang menggunakan Smartboard di Indonesia, apakah penggunaan Smartboard ini mengakibatkan lebih banyak promosi dari mulut ke mulut dan dengan demikian merupakan invetasi jangka panjang yang berguna?

Ini adalah hal yang sulit dibuktikan. Harga Smartboard tidak murah, dan masih harus ditambah lagi dengan sebuah komputer dan proyektor LCD, jadi pertanyaan ini akan selalu saya pantau setiap saat. Sejak awal dibukanya sekolah ini, kami telah memasang Smartboard di beberapa kelas dan papan tulis biasa di kelas lainnya. Hampir seluruh siswa (96%) menyatakan bahwa mereka lebih menyukai Smartboard dibandingkan papan tulis biasa. Akan tetapi, siswa-siswa ini juga menyatakan bahwa faktor yang paling penting yang mempengaruhi kepuasan belajar mereka adalah kualitas guru dan pengajaran itu sendiri. Yang menarik, tidak ada demografi tertentu (muda/tua/pria/wanita) yang lebih menyukai interactive white board dibandingkan dengan yang lainnya.

Para siswa kami menyatakan sangat puas dengan staf pengajar yang kami miliki, dan karenanya, tingkat registrasi ulang di sekolah ini juga tinggi. Selain itu, sekolah kami, Aim for English, sedang berkembang pesat dan promosi dari mulut ke mulut juga sangat kuat, tetapi adalah tidak mungkin untuk memastikan bahwa semua itu terjadi hanya karena adanya Smartboard. Bagi kami, uji coba yang kami lakukan sangat sukses dan kami berencana melakukan investasi lebih besar dengan mendapatkan lebih banyak Smartboard agar seluruh kelas kami memilikinya pada tahun 2007/2008.

Kalau anda berkeinginan untuk melakukan investasi yang sama, janganlah berpikiran bahwa hal itu akan menjadi jawaban untuk berbagai permasalahan di sekolah anda. Namun, apabila digunakan secara bersamaan dengan guru-guru yang berkualitas tinggi, maka touch-screen interactive whiteboard dapat menjadi alat marketing yang kuat dan, yang lebih penting lagi, dapat meningkatkan kualitas dan efektifitas pendidikan di sekolah anda.

Untuk melihat contoh penggunaan Smartboard, kunjungi www.aimjakarta.com

Untuk informasi lebih lanjut mengenai sekolah kami, hubungi info@aimjakarta.com

Pastilah ada keajaiban di sana karena jutaan perusahaan rela mengeluarkan uang hingga milyaran dolar untuk keperluan training. Yang menarik, perusahaan-perusahaan tersebut menemukan bahwa mereka sebenarnya bisa bertahan tanpa menyelenggarakan training apapun ketika mereka kehabisan dana. Malahan, ada berbagai anekdot yang menggambarkan kecenderungan perusahaan untuk memotong dana training sebagai langkah pertama ketika keuntungan perusahaan mereka menurun. Secara logis, satu-satunya kesimpulan yang bisa kita ambil adalah bahwa perusahaan memandang bahwa training tidak memberikan kontribusi apapun pada perolehan keuntungan dalam perusahaan pada jangka pendek dan menengah. Pada jangka panjang mereka mengakui bahwa sumberdaya manusia yang terlatih memiliki kemampuan lebih baik daripada yang tidak terlatih. Pada jangka pendek mereka lebih memilih untuk tidak menghabiskan uang mereka untuk training.

Akan tetapi, sesungguhnya justru pada masa-masa sulit itulah sebuah perusahaan membutuhkan orang-orang yang terlatih untuk melepaskan perusahaan dari situasi sulit. Orang-orang yang tahu bagaimana meningkatkan produktifitas atau menurunkan tingkat kecelakaan. Orang-orang yang tahu bagaimana menghadapi pelanggan dengan baik.

Pada kenyataanya, perusahaan sudah bisa menduga bahwa setengah dari training yang mereka lakukan adalah sia-sia belaka, tetapi mereka tidak tahu bagian mana yang sia-sia. Dan ketika masa-masa sulit datang, seperti biasanya, 50% kemungkinan untuk meraih keuntungan dikalahkan oleh 100% kepastian bahwa mereka harus mengeluarkan uang.

Salah satu rahasia training, seperti yang telah disadari oleh perusahaan-perusahaan terkemuka dan dikagumi, yaitu bahwa mereka harus menyadari sepenuhnya keterampilan apa yang mereka butuhkan, dan mengapa. Selain itu, mereka juga harus mengetahui secara jelas hasil apa yang mereka harapkan, dan bagaimana menentukan apakah hasil-hasil tersebut telah tercapai. Selanjutnya, berapa banyak uang yang harus dialokasikan untuk menciptakan hasil yang diinginkan. Apabila anda mengetahui elemen-elemen dalam persamaan penting ini, maka tidak ada alasan apapun untuk memotong dana training ketika pasar anda menurun.

Ada dua rahasia lain. Yang pertama yaitu motivas; bukan motivasi perusahaan melainkan motivasi peserta training. Tanpa motivasi, para peserta training tidak akan memperoleh keuntungan apapun. Peserta pelatihan harus benar-benar menginginkan training tersebut. Barangkali training tersebut merupakan kunci bagi mereka untuk mendapatkan kenaikan pangkat. Atau barangkali training tersebut dapat menyelamatkan nyawa mereka seandainya terjadi kebakaran di pabrik mereka. Atau barangkali training tersebut akan memberi mereka kesempatan untuk bekerja di bidang yang mereka impikan selama ini. Trainer professional manapun akan mengatakan bahwa peserta training dengan motivasi tinggilah yang akan mendapatkan paling banyak keuntungan dari pelaksanaan training.

Rahasia terakhir yaitu cara pelaksanaan training itu sendiri. Tidak diragukan lagi dan tidak bisa dibantah lagi, training tersebut harus bersifat fleksibel agar dapat berfokus pada kemampuan dan gaya belajar yang unik dari masing-masing individu peserta. Training manapun yang dalam pelaksanaannya menerapkan prinsip “satu-untuk-semua” tak lain hanya menjual program yang sebenarnya “tidak-untuk-siapapun”.

Rahasia-rahasia di atas (yang sekarang sudah bukan lagi rahasia setelah saya tuliskan di sini!) paling jelas terlihat dalam area pelatihan bahasa yang sulit dan memakan waktu. Akan tetapi, berikut ini adalah link dari sebuah perusahaan muda yang memiliki rahasia-rahasia tadi di dalam DNA-nya, dan karenanya ia dapat tumbuh dengan sangat cepat.

Jadi, kamu mau mencari cara yang gampang dan cepat untuk belajar Bahasa Inggris? Sayang sekali…kami punya kabar buruk untuk kamu. Belajar bahasa memerlukan kerja keras dan waktu. Tapi, ada beberapa hal yang bisa kamu lakukan untuk mempercepat proses belajar, strategi belajar yang lebih efektif dan mudah-mudahan, kamu juga senang dalam menjalaninya.

10 tip andalan kami untuk belajar Belajar Bahasa Inggris

1. Nonton film dengan Bahasa Inggris dengan menggunakan subtitle Bahasa Inggris saja.
2. Gunakan Internet untuk berbicara dengan dan mencari teman dari negara-negara yang menggunakan Bahasa Inggris.
3. Baca koran-koran dan majalah-majalah yang menggunakan Bahasa Inggris. Ada ratusan koran dan majalah Bahasa Inggris yang bisa kamu baca dari Internet.
4. Coba berbicara menggunakan Bahasa Inggris dengan anggota keluarga dan teman-teman setiap hari. Semakin rajin kamu berlatih, semakin percaya diri kamu dalam menggunakannya.
5. Buat catatan khusus untuk kata-kata yang baru kamu pelajari.Ini cara yang baik sekali untuk menambah perbendaharaan kata.
6. Kenapa tidak buat blog kamu sendiri dalam Bahasa Inggris?
7. Ikuti siaran berita dari BBC World atau CNN secara rutin.
8. Coba untuk berlatih dengan penutur asli yang bisa kamu jumpai disekitar kamu. Pusat-pusat perbelanjaan dan tempat pariwisata adalah tempat yang paling ideal untuk bertemu orang asing.
9. Kunjungi situs-situs belajar Bahasa Inggris yang ada di Internet-kamu dapat melakukan beberapa latihan dan tes gratis.
10. Datang dan belajar di Aim for English!