Belajar Bahasa Inggris dari turis

Belajar Bahasa Inggris yang paling praktis sebenarnya adalah dengan mendatangi dan tinggal di daerah / negara yang berbahasa Inggris. Teman saya yang sewaktu sekolah bahasa Inggrisnya nol putul sekarang dah cas cis cus dan sudah ngomong Inggris seperti selayaknya bahasa ibunya sejak pindah ke Amerika. Belajar dari native speaker dengan mendengar dan praktek langsung ternyata lebih efektif daripada memulainya dengan belajar grammar. Tetapi saya tidak mengatakan bahwa Anda tidak harus belajar grammar. Karena kan tidak semua orang punya kesempatan pindah ke luar negeri. Intinya adalah mau praktek, dan sebaiknya dimulai dengan lebih banyak mendengar. Ketika telinga kita sudah tidak asing dengan Bahasa Inggris, biasanya lidah juga mengikuti.
Salah satu tips yang paling mudah dan murah adalah belajar praktek dengan turis yang berbahasa Inggris. Turis sekarang kan tidak hanya mengunjungi Bali, banyak daerah lain yang juga menjadi jujugan turis. Nah ini kesempatan untuk praktek langsung.
Anda bisa mengawali dengan berkenalan, mungkin topik pertama tentang asalnya, berapa lama tinggal di Indonesia, tinggalnya di mana, dan tawarkan bantuan sesuai kemampuan Anda. Biasanya turis yang tidak sombong senang diajak ngobrol. Lakukan percakapan sebisanya, salah juga tidak apa-apa, tetapi yang penting selama berbicara dengarkan kalimatnya dengan penuh konsentrasi. Pengalaman mendengarkan ini akan membuat Anda terus mengingat kata-kata yang diucapkannya. Keuntungan lainnya ketika Anda menjadi pendengar yang baik, teman turis Anda itu juga akan menganggap Anda sebagai teman ngobrol yang asyik. Jangan ragu untuk bertanya jika tidak mengerti sambil mengatakan bahwa bahasa Inggris anda tidak terlalu jago, dia pasti maklum dan dengan senang hati mengajari Anda. Anda ingat Tarzan ? Lihat Jane begitu senang berkomunikasi dengannya walaupun terbata-bata. Yang penting di sini adalah ketulusan.
Hal penting lainnya adalah jangan menganggap bahwa turis berbahasa Inggris adalah seorang dewa nan modern dan Anda jauh tertinggal dengannya. Ini akan menimbulkan gap yang tidak asyik. Semua orang pada dasarnya sama, cuma bahasanya saja yang beda dan kebetulan Bahasa Inggris dah terlanjur jadi bahasa Internasional. Jadi, coba sajalah dengan percaya diri.

Idul Fitri dalam berbagai Bahasa

Ucapan Selamat Idul Fitri dalam berbagai bahasa :

Happy Eid El FitrIndonesia : Selamat Lebaran, Selamat Idul Fitri
Banjar : Salamat Bahari raya
Jawa : Sugeng Riyadin
Padang : Selamet Idul Fitri
Sunda : Wilujeng boboran siyam
Afghanistan : Kochnay Akhtar
Arab : Aid Mubarok
Bangladesh : Rojar Eid
Belanda : Eigendom Mubarak
Bosnia : Ramazanski Bajram
Bulgaria : Pritezhavani Mubarak
Chech : Vlastnictvi Mubarak
Cina : Guoyou Mubalake
Denmark : Ejet Mubarak
Finladia : Omistama Mubarakiin
Inggris : Happy Eid El Fitr
Israel : Bebe’lanat Mawba’rak
Itali : Proprieta Mubarak
Jepang : Chuuko Mubaraku
Jerman : Besitz Mubarak
Korea : Junggo mubarakeu
Kroasia : Vlasnistvu Mubarak
Kurdishtan : Cejna Remezanê
Malaysia : Salam Aidilfitri
Mesir : Ed Karim atau Eid Sahid
Nigeria : Sallah
Perancis : Fete de l’aid
Persia Iran : Eid-e-Sayed Fitr
Polandia : Wlasnosia Mubarak
Portugis : Mubarak propriedade
Rumania : Mubarak aflate in proprietatea
Rusia : Prinadlezhashchikh Mubarakj
Senegal : Korite
Spanyol : Mubarak, de propiedad
Swedia : Agda Mubarak
Turki : Ramazan Bayrami
Urdu India : Choti Eid
Yunani : Aneekoeen Moeemparak
Sumber : tipsbisnisseo.net

Belajar bahasa Inggris dengan catatan harian

Membuat sebuah catatan harian bagi sebagian orang adalah hal yang mengasyikkan. Sebuah catatan harian yang menceritakan tentang peristiwa-peristiwa yang terjadi setiap harinya, bisa menjadi bacaan yang menyegarkan dan menyehatkan jiwa kita di suatu hari di masa depan.
Sebuah catatan harian mampu memberikan sebuah evaluasi atas apa yang sudah kita kerjakan, dan memberikan petunjuk bagi kita tentang hal apa yang seharusnya terus kita lakukan, dan hal-hal yang tidak perlu kita lakukan. Sebuah catatan harian tidak harus sempurna, toh yang baca hanya Anda sendiri. Dalam bentuk apapun sebuah catatan harian pribadi yang orisinil akan tetap menarik untuk dibaca. Bahkan saya yakin di suatu hari di masa depan nanti, cucu atau cicit Anda akan berebut untuk membacanya.
Jika Anda seorang yang suka membuat catatan harian, mengapa tidak mencoba membuatnya dalam Bahasa Inggris ? Mungkin pada tahap awal memang sulit, tapai Anda bisa menggunakan kalimat campuran antara Bahasa Inggris dan bahasa Indonesia. Kemudian setahap demi setahap mulai menambah prosentase Bahasa Inggris dalam catatan harian Anda. Jika Anda sudah mahir dan mampu menyusun tulisan dengan vocabulary dan grammar yang tepat, mungkin Anda bisa sharingkan sebagian yang tidak terlalu pribadi ke majalah dinding, majalah komunitas, atau saringkan dalam bentuk blog di internet.
Jika Anda belum memiliki catatan harian, cobalah untuk memulainya sekarang. Siapa tahu suatu hari nanti Anda menjadi orang terkenal dan biografi Anda dibutuhkan..... :)
Selamat belajar!
Info bank soal

Pelajaran 68 - Kelompok Kata yang bisa digunakan Sebagai count nouns atau noncount nouns

Beberapa kata berikut ini bisa digunakan sebagai kata benda yang bisa dihitung atau tidak bisa dihitung tergantung konteks kalimatnya :
GLASS, HAIR, IRON, LIGHT, PAPER, TIME, WORK, COFFEE, CHICKEN, FISH, LAMB
Contoh kalimat :
Mirror is made of glass >>> She always buys a glass of tea. (Ralat 28/03/14)
I have black hair >>> I found a hair in my pocket.
Iron is a hard metal >>> I pressed my shirt with an iron.
She has some work to do >>> It is a work of art.
I like some fish for lunch >>> He took a picture af a fish.
Cobalah membuat beberapa kalimat yang membedakan dua jenis fungsi ini.
Selamat belajar.
//-->iptBBIY/>

Short Story (1500 vocabulary)

The Winepress

by Josef Essberger"You don't have to be French to enjoy a decent red wine," Charles Jousselin de Gruse used to tell his foreign guests whenever he entertained them in Paris. "But you do have to be French to recognize one," he would add with a laugh.
After a lifetime in the French diplomatic corps, the Count de Gruse lived with his wife in an elegant townhouse on Quai Voltaire. He was a likeable man, cultivated of course, with a well deserved reputation as a generous host and an amusing raconteur.
This evening's guests were all European and all equally convinced that immigration was at the root of Europe's problems. Charles de Gruse said nothing. He had always concealed his contempt for such ideas. And, in any case, he had never much cared for these particular guests.
The first of the red Bordeaux was being served with the veal, and one of the guests turned to de Gruse.
"Come on, Charles, it's simple arithmetic. Nothing to do with race or colour. You must've had bags of experience of this sort of thing. What d'you say?"
"Yes, General. Bags!"
Without another word, de Gruse picked up his glass and introduced his bulbous, winey nose. After a moment he looked up with watery eyes.
"A truly full-bodied Bordeaux," he said warmly, "a wine among wines."
The four guests held their glasses to the light and studied their blood-red contents. They all agreed that it was the best wine they had ever tasted.

---

One by one the little white lights along the Seine were coming on, and from the first-floor windows you could see the brightly lit bateaux-mouches passing through the arches of the Pont du Carrousel. The party moved on to a dish of game served with a more vigorous claret.
"Can you imagine," asked de Gruse, as the claret was poured, "that there are people who actually serve wines they know nothing about?"
"Really?" said one of the guests, a German politician.
"Personally, before I uncork a bottle I like to know what's in it."
"But how? How can anyone be sure?"
"I like to hunt around the vineyards. Take this place I used to visit in Bordeaux. I got to know the winegrower there personally. That's the way to know what you're drinking."
"A matter of pedigree, Charles," said the other politician.
"This fellow," continued de Gruse as though the Dutchman had not spoken, "always gave you the story behind his wines. One of them was the most extraordinary story I ever heard. We were tasting, in his winery, and we came to a cask that made him frown. He asked if I agreed with him that red Bordeaux was the best wine in the world. Of course, I agreed. Then he made the strangest statement.
"'The wine in this cask,' he said, and there were tears in his eyes, 'is the best vintage in the world. But it started its life far from the country where it was grown.'"
De Gruse paused to check that his guests were being served.
"Well?" said the Dutchman.
De Gruse and his wife exchanged glances.
"Do tell them, mon chéri," she said.
De Gruse leaned forwards, took another sip of wine, and dabbed his lips with the corner of his napkin. This is the story he told them.

---

At the age of twenty-one, Pierre - that was the name he gave the winegrower - had been sent by his father to spend some time with his uncle in Madagascar. Within two weeks he had fallen for a local girl called Faniry, or "Desire" in Malagasy. You could not blame him. At seventeen she was ravishing. In the Malagasy sunlight her skin was golden. Her black, waist-length hair, which hung straight beside her cheeks, framed large, fathomless eyes. It was a genuine coup de foudre, for both of them. Within five months they were married. Faniry had no family, but Pierre's parents came out from France for the wedding, even though they did not strictly approve of it, and for three years the young couple lived very happily on the island of Madagascar. Then, one day, a telegram came from France. Pierre's parents and his only brother had been killed in a car crash. Pierre took the next flight home to attend the funeral and manage the vineyard left by his father.
Faniry followed two weeks later. Pierre was grief-stricken, but with Faniry he settled down to running the vineyard. His family, and the lazy, idyllic days under a tropical sun, were gone forever. But he was very happily married, and he was very well-off. Perhaps, he reasoned, life in Bordeaux would not be so bad.
But he was wrong. It soon became obvious that Faniry was jealous. In Madagascar she had no match. In France she was jealous of everyone. Of the maids. Of the secretary. Even of the peasant girls who picked the grapes and giggled at her funny accent. She convinced herself that Pierre made love to each of them in turn.
She started with insinuations, simple, artless ones that Pierre hardly even recognized. Then she tried blunt accusation in the privacy of their bedroom. When he denied that, she resorted to violent, humiliating denouncements in the kitchens, the winery, the plantations. The angel that Pierre had married in Madagascar had become a termagant, blinded by jealousy. Nothing he did or said could help. Often, she would refuse to speak for a week or more, and when at last she spoke it would only be to scream yet more abuse or swear again her intention to leave him. By the third vine-harvest it was obvious to everyone that they loathed each other.
One Friday evening, Pierre was down in the winery, working on a new electric winepress. He was alone. The grape-pickers had left. Suddenly the door opened and Faniry entered, excessively made up. She walked straight up to Pierre, flung her arms around his neck, and pressed herself against him. Even above the fumes from the pressed grapes he could smell that she had been drinking.
"Darling," she sighed, "what shall we do?"
He badly wanted her, but all the past insults and humiliating scenes welled up inside him. He pushed her away.
"But, darling, I'm going to have a baby."
"Don't be absurd. Go to bed! You're drunk. And take that paint off. It makes you look like a tart."
Faniry's face blackened, and she threw herself at him with new accusations. He had never cared for her. He cared only about sex. He was obsessed with it. And with white women. But the women in France, the white women, they were the tarts, and he was welcome to them. She snatched a knife from the wall and lunged at him with it. She was in tears, but it took all his strength to keep the knife from his throat. Eventually he pushed her off, and she stumbled towards the winepress. Pierre stood, breathing heavily, as the screw of the press caught at her hair and dragged her in. She screamed, struggling to free herself. The screw bit slowly into her shoulder and she screamed again. Then she fainted, though whether from the pain or the fumes he was not sure. He looked away until a sickening sound told him it was over. Then he raised his arm and switched the current off.

---

The guests shuddered visibly and de Gruse paused in his story.
"Well, I won't go into the details at table," he said. "Pierre fed the rest of the body into the press and tidied up. Then he went up to the house, had a bath, ate a meal, and went to bed. The next day, he told everyone Faniry had finally left him and gone back to Madagascar. No-one was surprised."
He paused again. His guests sat motionless, their eyes turned towards him.
"Of course," he continued, "Sixty-five was a bad year for red Bordeaux. Except for Pierre's. That was the extraordinary thing. It won award after award, and nobody could understand why."
The general's wife cleared her throat.
"But, surely," she said, "you didn't taste it?"
"No, I didn't taste it, though Pierre did assure me his wife had lent the wine an incomparable aroma."
"And you didn't, er, buy any?" asked the general.
"How could I refuse? It isn't every day that one finds such a pedigree."
There was a long silence. The Dutchman shifted awkwardly in his seat, his glass poised midway between the table and his open lips. The other guests looked around uneasily at each other. They did not understand.
"But look here, Gruse," said the general at last, "you don't mean to tell me we're drinking this damned woman now, d'you?"
De Gruse gazed impassively at the Englishman.
"Heaven forbid, General," he said slowly. "Everyone knows that the best vintage should always come first."

Pelajaran 67 - Kelompok Kata yang merupakan Kata benda yang tak terhitung

Berikut ini kelompok kata yang dalam penggunaannya adalah kelompok kata benda yang tidak bisa dihitung :
A. Clothing, equipment, food, fruit, furniture, garbage, hardware, jewelry, machinery, mail, makeup, money, cash, change, postage, scenery, stuff, traffic.
B. Homework, housework, work.
C. Advice, information, news.
D. History, literature, music, poetry.
E. English,Arabic, Chinese (nama bahasa)
F. Grammar, slang, vocabulary.
G. Corn, dirt, dust, flour, grass, hair, pepper, rice, salt, sand, sugar, wheat.
Semua kelompok kata di atas mempunya ciri seperti pelajaran 66 :

• Tidak diawali dengan a/an/one (sebuah)
• Tidak mempunyai bentuk jamak

Selamat belajar!

Mengasah otak dengan SUDOKU

Di luar negeri, permaianan sudoku sedang mewabah. Bahkan, permainan angka ini menjadi epidemi nasional di Jepang. Tua muda, laki-laki, perempuan, semua kecanduan. Selain mengasyikkan, permainan teka-teki tanpa kata ini juga bisa mengasah logika otak kita.
Salah satu komentar dalam buku Sudoku yang ditulis oleh Mitsuko Komurata (Penerbit : Mitra Media) mengatakan seperti ini :

"Seperti permainan bahasa kokology, permainan sudoku sekarang menguasai dunia. Kita tidak akan pernah tahu senjata rahasia Jepang lainnya" Daily Telegraph

Mengasah logika otak, ini yang menarik dalam permainan ini. Permainan terdiri dari kotak 6x6 / 9x9 / 12x12, tugas kita adalah menemukan angka-angka yang hilang di setiap kotak dengan syarat setiap kotak, setiap lajur dan setiap kolom hanya boleh diisi angka 1-6 / 1-9 / 1-12.
Permainan ini sangat mengasyikkan dan menantang otak kita. Dijamin Anda akan larut dalam permainan sehingga konsentrasi Anda juga akan terlatih. Gambar di atas adalah salah satu permainan Sudoku yang harus dipecahkan.
Contoh : anda lihat pada kotak nomor 3, di situ ada angka 4,5,6,7. Berati di kotak tersebut yang harus ditentukan adalah angka 1,2 3.
Misal kita memikirkan letak angka nomor 1. Lihat di kolom tujuh ada angka 1, maka tidak mungkin 1 kita letakkan di kolom 7. Di baris 3 juga ada angka 1, maka ada 3 kotak lagi yang mungkin menjadi tempat yang tepat untuk angka 1 di kotak 9. Coba analisa lebih lanjut, dan temukan keasyikan SUDOKU.
Siapkan pensil dan penghapus untuk memulai permainan ini.
Selamat melatih otak.