Square, yellow, holds water
Square, white, holds air
Fake Spongebob from snack box my friend and I made during a friend’s thesis seminar. We were kindof bored, so we made this. Well at least we didn’t make any noise there ;).
I wonder why they put balls in this dress. It looks kindof funny and silly. I wonder what the dress maker thinks. I dont think I have balls to wear a dress with balls like that. Or maybe I don’t need balls because I already have more balls from the dress? Haha. If so, then the dress is a weird yet genius idea, I can say.
I like Japanese food. Not that much, though. I think the dishes have funny names. Consider sukiyaki. Do you think it sounds like “sucky-yucky”? hahah. How about teri-yucky, or yucky-niku. Hey, did I just make you lose your appetite for Japanese food anyways?
I cooked squid teriyaki last time, and when I was asked what the name of my cooking was, I simply said “squid teri-yummy”. Sounds cooler, eh?
This is a public restroom in Parang Tritis beach area, Jogjakarta. They charge you if you need to use it. Many public restrooms in Indonesia charge you money. Here in this place you have to pay Rp 1500 for a shower, Rp 1000 for washing, and Rp 2000 for toilet business. I wonder if you do all those three at once: take a shower, wash your body, and use the toilet at once. That would cost you Rp 4500. Wow. Well, no one knows what you do inside, so I guess you can just say you only wash your hands there and pay Rp 1000. They won’t know you take a shower or do other business inside, unless there’s a hidden camera and some guy monitoring you outside :P.
This is the most ridiculous thing i have ever seen.
Is it a stuffed dog?
Is it a pencil?
A dog with a pencil body..or a pencil with a dog head? It is just ridiculous…I just call it a pencil dog anyways…hahah..you can call it whatever you want though..
My cousin has it. His mother said he cried like crazy when he was a baby since he insisted her on buying the thing for him…i guess i understand why…i will surely buy one if i ever see another pencil dog like that hahah…
Hey ya!
I have new webpage. I have two blogs already. Sounds greedy? I dont think so. My friend made me this webpage and it is totally free (I hope so, haha)…Isn’t that awesome or what? So i guess i can learn more stuff on building a webpage and all that. Not bad, eh?
So, enjoy my new webpage.
Sometimes you have problem improving your vocabulary. I would suggest that you read any writings in English or watch English movies. You can also listen to English songs, follow the lyrics and find the meaning. Those are quite effective, especially when you have no native speaker to practice speaking to. However, I have my own way to build up my lexicons (vocabulary). I like using rhymes. A rhyme is a repetition of identical or similar sounds in two or more different words and is most often used in poetry and songs. I think rhyme is an easy way to find and use new words, mainly because it enables you to find similar sounding words. I usually use rhymes when writing poetry.
You can start by collecting words that have similarity in the final syllable. For example, you have the word “darkness”. You can find other words that end in “-ness”. If you have no idea, use the opposite of darkness, such as “brightness”. Surely you will have other rhyming words, just write them down. If you have difficulty, you can go to this site I just found (click this). Now you have a list of rhyming words. Arrange them so as to create a meaningful line or sentence. When you write a poem, sometimes you don’t have to write full sentences.
Here is an example, one of my poems (crummy I know, heheh):
Owl
You are a witness…
A witness of the darkness
When the night whispers you a call
Through the wind you crawl
Spread your wings, never think to fall
Just hope and pray…
Hope and pray to get a prey
You’re a witness…
A witness of the darkness
When the sun spreads his brightness
You just start your loneliness…
You can see which words rhyme. That is how my poems usually go (more of my poems can be found in my personal blog), full of rhymes and repetition. They might sound crappy, but that way I can improve my vocabulary (and it is kind of my poetry style, heh). It works pretty well for me, though. Just try it anyway, and you will find it an interesting way (rhyming, eh? :P).
We Indonesians do not speak English as our mother tongue (although some people do). We mostly speak our local language; for example, we speak Javanese because we are Javanese. As Indonesians, we are also able to speak our national language, Bahasa Indonesia. However, English is a foreign language in our country. Many of us do not acquire English at birth, therefore we often make errors and mistakes learning it. But don’t worry, American or British kids make them too. Language acquisition is a process, and it takes time. So when you make mistake, don’t consider it a terrible thing.
I have seen people making mistakes when speaking English. I do make mistakes too sometimes as a learner. The interesting thing is that we usually make similar mistakes when speaking English. There are many studies proving this. Here are some common mistakes I have noticed:
Thanks before
You are supposed to say “thanks in advance”. Indonesians tend to say “thanks before” because there is an Indonesian language interference. We usually say “terima kasih sebelumnya” right? And we just translate it directly to terima kasih ‘thanks’ and sebelumnya ‘before’. But native speakers don’t say it that way. As I said above, they say it “thanks in advance”. So if you write its abbreviation when you send an SMS you should use TIA (thanks in advance) instead of thanks b4 (before).
No hurt feeling, no heart feeling, etc.
Sometimes you say one of these when you’ve said something you think is rude and would like to apologize just in case the other person feels offended. Those phrases are incorrect. Native speakers might know what you mean when you utter those phrases, but it’s not written correctly. You should change ‘hurt’ and ‘heart’ to ‘hard’, and add ‘s’ to ‘feeling’. So you have to say “no hard feelings”.
Its mean, it’s mean, its happen, etc.
These are common mistakes made when the speakers intend to say “it means, or it happens”. A kind of a slip of the tongue? It could be. In addition, the present tense marker -s attached to a verb is not an easy feature to acquire. It is easier for an English learner to say or notice the -ing sound (as in ‘meaning’) rather than -s sound (as in means), because -ing sound is a salient feature in English. It sounds obvious, and you can hear it clearly. So, let’s say you want to explain something, then you have to say “it means”. If you say “it’s mean,” then you mean something is cruel (mean is an adjective synonymous to cruel).
[Note: Actually you would say “that’s mean” or “that was mean” not “it’s mean”. If you say “its mean” an English speaker might think you are talking statistics.]
Now you know how to say the correct English forms. I hope this short passage helps you improve your English. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.
Glossary
acquire = memperoleh
acquisition = pemerolehan
adjective = kata sifat
feel offended = merasa terhina
mother tongue = bahasa ibu
salient = mencolok
slip of the tongue = keseleo lidah
sound = bunyi
synonymous = bersinonim
G’day mate! When I was in college my professor once told the class a funny story about Australian English. I think many of you notice that Australians have their own English accent, which is different from American or British English.
So this is how the story goes. I think my prof modified it but I still think it is funny, anyway.
Australian guy : Are you going to the hospital to die?
Indonesian prof : [surprised] No, I’m not going there to die.
Australian guy : I mean, are you going to the hospital TO DIE?
Indonesian prof : I’m not going there TO DIE, okay? [aggravated]
Australian guy : I was asking if you are going to the hospital to die or tomorrow.
Indonesian prof : Oh, you mean TODAY?
Australian guy : Yea, to die, wednes-die.
Vowel pronunciation is the most significant difference between American, British, and Australian English. Elongate your vowels [Eel-oon-gayte uur vowls]. Note that words ending with [ay] sound are pronounced [ie]. So, practice “to-die” so you will be ready tomorrow :).
