Thursday, November 24, 2016

Pengalaman Lomba Spelling Bee



At this time, I would like to tell you about my journey in ALSA UI E-Comp. Honestly, this is my first time to join in the national competition. I personally like to join an English competition, so when I saw there was an announcement from ALSA UI E-Comp (English Competition), I eager to join it. ALSA UI E-comp is an English competition which held annually by Law Faculty at the University of Indonesia at Depok, West Java. This is one of the prestigious competition in Indonesia, and it’s a big event.  The one who can join in this competition is an undergraduate student or senior high school student. There are 8 branches competition in this ALSA UI E-Comp. They are story telling, speech, debate, spelling bee, newscasting, paper presentation, the battle of brain, and *Model United Nation (MUN) *for senior high school only.
The reason why I choose spelling bee branch, it because I want to know it further, since the last time I joined is when I was in senior high school. Spelling bee is a competition which to test your skill in terms of spell the words which given by the speaker (usually native speaker). The purposes of this competition are to train the attentiveness in listening to the words and our accuracy in spelling the words, enrich our vocabularies, and enhance our ability in writing and pronouncing English words. It can base on oxford dictionary (use British accent) or longman or Merriam-webster dictionary (or another dictionary which use American accent). In this time, I should use based on the oxford dictionary one. I make my own preparation since D-30 or approximately 1 month before the competition begin. It was tough enough, cause you can imagine how many words that put in the dictionary. Then I should memorize it! No, we as a human being can not remember that million or even billion words, right. Moreover, I don’t familiar enough with the British accent, cause I mostly use the American one. But I tried my best to do it.
The preparation began. I tried to open the oxford dictionary from the first page. I’m not only tried to spell the word by myself, but I also learned the phonetics of each word.  Sometimes I repeated it more than 1 more time. I made my target that everyday I have to memorize and spell 10 words (minimum) until 20 words.  I also asked my friend to become the speaker of the word, then I would try to spell it. On the ext day, I tried to download the spelling bee videos, then I watched it. I also installed the spelling bee game. Ya, that's what I did everyday. Memorize the words, spell the words, watched the spelling bee videos,  and also played the spelling bee game. So when I did nothing in the campus, I use my earphone, then I listened to the words which spell by the speaker in the game, then I must type what the speaker said. That was the spelling bee game, which has approximately 20 rounds. Maybe you will think that it was bored. Me too, hahaha. But sometimes when I felt it, I remembered that I have to struggle, and I remembered that the rivals  must be “crazy” since it was a national level.  The one who makes me feel the spirit is my family, since UI is located at Depok, so I can go home! Exactly it’s located in Jakarta, and it takes 1 hour or 2 hours (if there is traffic jam) to Depok.
Day by day, until 1 week left (D-7), I’m getting frustrated, since there are so many “weird” and “crazy” words. Let me give you the example, “hydrophyte”, “exaggerate”, “symmetry”, “repertoire” etc. Maybe you will think that “symmetry” is simple enough, but it’s tricky when we saw that there is double “m”. It also happens to “repertoire”, the way you read it must be “repetwa”, or “exhausted”, the way you read it must be “igzost”. So the one who makes I confuse enough is the comparison from the way I read, to the letters of each word. For example like “ph” become “f”, like “catastrophe”, “g” become “j”, like “general”, “u” become “e”, like “urge”, “x” become “gz”, like “exhausted” which I already mentioned before. But sometimes some of them only happened in some words maybe.  Sometimes some words can be “silent ‘t’,silent ‘p’, silent ‘k’” etc, which there is a letter or more that we don't have to read it, but if we write it, it is there. Dictionary is my friend which I always bring everyday, the one who always made my day!
D-day has come. On 20th April 2016, I have to go to Jakarta, and the next day, I must do the re-registration at UI Depok. I follow the opening ceremony, and it was great! I also can expand my friend networking, I knew the participants from UGM, UNDIP, BINUS, UNHAS, etc. The first day was just the opening ceremony and the technical meeting. For the spelling bee branch, it was held on April 25th, 2016. I already tried as possible as I can, so it’s time for me to give my best performance. There are 4 rounds in this branch competition. At the first round, we were given 100 words by the native speaker. Each word will be repeated only 2 times, and after that, we had to write it down on the paper that provided by the committee. It was over, and the announcement had come. I got a chance to continue to the 2nd round. At this time, we had to spell it directly. Each participant will be given 5 words from the native speaker, and we had to spell it out afterward. Each participant will be given 30 seconds to think and spell each word. Less time we spend, more score we got. So, if we can spell it with 0-5 seconds, we got 20 points. If we can spell it with 6-10 seconds, we got 15 points, and so on, until if we spend more than 30 seconds, it means that we got no points or zero.
This is the embarrassing moment I ever had, because there are no words which I can spell correctly. Actually, I can spell 3 words correctly, but I almost do it! So I only make a mistake in 1 letter, but even if just 1 fault in 1 letter, a mistake still a mistake. It has the same case when you were given a question like ‘2x3’, the correct answer is 6, but you answer it 5,9. Ya, don't care how close it is, but it still a mistake. Ah, maybe I got nervous at that time, and also I was in a rush. So I want to answer it quickly in order I can get the big point, but I didn’t spell it carefully hehe. I thought it was okay. Maybe this is not my chance yet. Right, almost is never enough. I also said it to my older sisters and brothers, and they said it was fine, because I already struggle enough, and I tried my best. Keep calm, I didn’t give up just like that, because I think there are so many competitions which I can try in.
    So far, I felt happy and excited for joined in this ALSA UI E-Comp 2016. I got some friends, unforgettable experiences, and many more. I also learned that, do something fast is okay, or even good, but please still pay attention to it, otherwise I will mess everything up. I should say to you that, do not ever give up, cause you are still young, and there are so much experiences which you have to try.

Sunday, November 20, 2016

Cara Membuat Essay (Esai) Bahasa Inggris

Di postingan sebelumnya, udah dibahas"Contoh Essay (Esai) Bahasa Inggris". Mungkin temen2 ada yg udah ngerti begitu ngeliat contohnya, hehe. Atau mungkin ada yg masih bertanya tanya, "Gimana cara bikin esai nya?" Yuk langsung aja liat contoh dan penjelasannya di bawah :D

Decreasing the Amount of Poverty in Indonesia to Achieve
a Better Education

“Poverty is the worst form of violence.” – Mahatma Gandhi. The amount of poverty in Indonesia is increasing until the latest data show that it reaches 28,51 million lives. In 2016, hundred or even thousand children become the “victim” dropout students due to economic condition in poverty. This “violence" should be overcome so that the education can be distributed equally. In order to maximize the student’s education, role implementation by the corporation of three stakeholders are needed.
First of all, the government should provide some proper facilities to sustain an equality in terms of education. Some students in poverty still have the hardship to get access to education through infrastructure. Moreover, some students who live in the remote area must cross by swimming, and use an unstable rope bridge through the river to reach their school, because there is no decent bridge which can connect one area to another well. For example, students who live in the big city can reach their education easily because the good infrastructures, facilities, and tools are already there. By contrast, students who live in the remote area have to bet their life in terms of their struggle. Since the government is the one who has the biggest role towards this case, they have to overcome this circumstance, by fixing the infrastructures or replace it with the new one. In fact, all students have the same right to obtain an education, no matter where they live, they deserve to feel the educational equality. Actually not only the government, but NGO also deserve to lend a hand when realizing that society still needs a help.
Second, Non-Government Organization (NGO) should give assistance for society who in trouble. Based on the UNICEF data in 2015, there are more than 2,5 million dropout students. This is caused by the economic pressures that make leaving school unavoidable. Since the students live in a poverty, they feel having a responsibility to undergo some activities which to meet their financial. For instance, they have to be a vendor, sell some foods or goods, and offer some services to make ends meet. As a result, they have to keep their nose to the grindstone to make a living for their family, instead of continuing their education. In order to mitigate the number of dropout students, assistance by NGO is necessary. Significantly, NGO is important to establish the nation and society, so that NGO should involve to relieve the burden of their family by giving a help and support, such as charity, build some community-based enterprises, and participation in terms of society needs and its implementation. Another key point to remember is that both external assistance and internal awareness have a great impact towards poverty.
Last but not least, society awareness is required to minimize the amount of poverty. Students who live in a poverty can not receive the education well because of the lack of material resources. In fact, they should be provided by the parents to support their children’s education. Yet, poverty often places constraints on the family's ability to provide other material resources for their children as well. For instance, the children have limited access to high-quality day care, limited access to before- or after-school care, and limited access to get some knowledge resources, such as book, internet, and a teacher. To that end, society awareness should be upgraded in order to decrease the amount of poverty, by lending some books, share a knowledge to them, and give them some high-quality foods. Therefore, society already eases their problems in terms of material resources which support education.
In conclusion, an involvement of the government, NGO, and society awareness, including their actions are necessary to generate a bright education towards the students. Each stakeholder has a different contribution level to overcome the poverty. The government has the biggest contribution to focus on infrastructures side, then supported by assistance from NGO, and also followed by a feeling of awareness which should be increased in society itself. If poverty is the worst form of violence, then the real actions should be there to prevent the emergence of  a new victim.

1.) Judul - Ya, pasti, judul itu dibutuhkan. Judul ini harus mencakup dan berkaitan dengan topik dan tema yg lo pilih. Misalnya, tema nya kan "Establishing Indonesia Through Education", dan gue ngambil topic "social". Tapi, "social" itu masih umum, karena lingkup sosial itu banyak, ya kan? Maka tugas kita untuk membuat topik itu lebih spesifik, dan topik sosial yang gue ambil tadi mengarah ke kemiskinan. Gue pribadi bikin judul ini di akhir setelah essay gue selesai, tapi terserah gapapa juga kalo lo mau bikin judul dulu. Kemudian, kaitkan antara topik yg lo pilih dengan tema yang ada. Kalo dalam kasus ini berarti gue harus mengkaitkan hubungan diriku dengan dirinya. Eh bukan deng wkwk (no baper ya), maksudnya hubungan antara kemiskinan dengan pendidikan itu apa. Kalo menurut lo udah relevan.... jengjeng, jadilah judul essay :D

2. Jenis essay - Seperti yang udah gue bilang di postingan yang sebelumnya mengenai contoh essay, kalo jenis essay itu ada banyak. Salah satunya adalah 5 paragraph essay (Esai 5 paragraf) yang gue buat di atas tadi. Sesuai nama nya, essay ini terdiri dari 5 paragraf, dimana paragraf 1 berisi tentang introduction, paragraf 2 sampai 4 berisi tentang pembahasan atau opini kalian, paragraf ke 5 berisi  kesimpulan. Berikut istilah dari 5 paragraph essay.  
1st paragraph is introductory paragraph. 
2nd, 3rd, 4th paragraph is body paragraph
5th paragraph is concluding paragraph

3. Opening Paragraf 1 - Nah, paragraf ini bisa dibilang penting, dan menentukan apakah essay lo bakal dibaca atau nggak. Intinya, disini paragraf 1 ini harus caper. "Apa tuh maksudnya?" Lo harus bisa dapetin perhatian reader atau pembaca supaya dia mau membaca essay lo sampai akhir, atau istilah nya "grab the reader's attention". Caranya, dengan membuat kalimat opening yg eye catching. Biasanya, kalimat awal2 nya bisa berupa quote atau fakta2 yang wah. Kalo diliat dari contoh essay di atas, kalimat pertama gue berupa quote atau kutipan dari mahatma gandhi. Yg jelas, kalo mau pake kutipan dari orang terkenal, pastikan quote nya itu berkaitan dengan judul mu ya. Selain itu, kalian juga bisa pake fakta tentang sesuatu, misalnya kaya tadi setelah quote, kalimat kedua gue tentang fakta bahwa, "Tingkat kemiskinan di Indonesia terus meningkat, hingga data terakhir menunjukkan jumlah nya sebesar 28,51 juta jiwa". Mungkin dengan fakta kaya gitu, reader bakal ngerasa "oh ya?", "Loh, masa?", "anjir banyak banget" dan sebagainya wkwk. Dengan begitu, dia bakal penasaran dan tertarik untuk membaca lebih lanjut essay yg lo bikin.
Kalimat 1-2 keliatan masih general ya. Iya, soalnya belom dikaitkan dengan si education. Mulai dari kalimat ke 3 deh baru dikaitkan hubungan kemiskinan dengan pendidikan. Disini gue mencoba memakai istilah "violence" dan "victim" dari Mahatma Gandhi juga, biar nyambung gitu analogi nya dengan apa yg pengen gue bicarakan hehe. Jadi yg tadinya masih agak general, lama2 makin kesini kalimat nya mulai dibikin spesifik dan berkaitan. Nah, kalimat terakhir pada paragraf ke 1, yang berwarna merah bold, itu namanya thesis statement.  
Thesis statement adalah kalimat yg menyatakan main idea (ide pokok), untuk mencapai suatu tujuan, dan menyatakan kepada pembaca tentang apa yang ingin kamu bahas di paragraf selanjutnya. Thesis statement ini selalu berada di paragraf 1 kalimat terakhir. Di essay gue, tujuan gue adalah untuk memaksimalkan pendidikan siswa. Dari sini, bisa diliat bahwa yg nanti akan gue bicarakan adalah mengenai implementasi peran dari 3 stakeholders nya.

4. Paragraf 2 - 1st Main Idea - Main idea di setiap paragraf harus berkaitan dengan thesis statement. Remember, all main ideas of each paragraph should connect to "theme" in terms of "topic". Kalimat yg warna biru di awal kalimat paragraf 2-4 itu main idea. Kalimat yg warna coklat di paragraf 2-4 itu adalah supporting details. Supporting details selalu muncul setelah kalimat main idea. Sesuai nama nya,  fungsi supporting details adalah untuk memberikan info lebih detail dan men develop main idea, serta seperti menjawab pertanyaan2 seperti, "how", "what", etc, dan mendukung main idea yg ada. Di supporting details ini, sangat dianjurkan untuk memberikan suatu info mengenai fakta, contoh, dan hal2 lain yg detail yg berkaitan. Kalo kalian mau ngasih contoh, mungkin bosen ya pake kata2 "For example...." terus. Ada alternatif lain, yaitu "For instance...". Btw, please look at the last sentence of the 2nd paragraph. Disitu gue sekilas "memberi sinyal" pada reader, supaya dia mau baca paragraf gue yang berikutnya, karena di akhir paragraf 2 gue sempet menyinggung tentang NGO, dimana itu nanti akan dibahas detail di paragraf 3. Kalimat terakhir pada paragraf ke 2 ini harus mengikat dengan kalimat pertama pada paragraf ke 3 (lebih detail nya liat contoh essay nya).

5. Paragraf 3 - 2nd Main Idea- Again, main idea disini harus berhubungan dengan thesis statement, dan kalimat terakhir di paragraf ke 2. Sama seperti sebelumnya, ada supporting details, dan kalimat terakhir paragraf 3 mengikat dengan kelimat pertama pada paragraf ke 4

 6. Paragraf 4 - 3rd Main Idea - Masih sama, main idea berhubungan dengan thesis statement, dan kalimat terakhir paragraf ke 3. Pada intinya, disetiap body paragraph struktur nya sama, yaitu main idea dulu baru supporting details. Pada paragraf ke 4, atau paragraf terakhir di body paragraph ini, di kalimat terakhir nya, (yg "therefore..."), menunjukkan kepada reader bahwa pembahasan sudah selesai.

7. Paragraf 5 - conclusion - Kalimat pertama pada concluding paragraph harus restate from thesis statement, but in different sentence, and DO NOT copy paste. Dengan kata lain, kalimat awal di paragraf terakhir ini harus menyatakan kembali apa yang sudah ditulis pada thesis statement. Yang sama hanya INTI nya, BUKAN kalimat nya. Contoh....gue copas disini deh ya biar jelas.
Thesis statement: In order to maximize the student’s education, role implementation by the corporation of three stakeholders are needed.
Restate thesis statement: an involvement of the government, NGO, and society awareness, including their actions are necessary to generate a bright education towards the students.
 Intinya sama, yg beda hanya pemilihan kata2 atau vocabulary, dan kalimat nya di bolak balik aja. Misalnya, yg tadinya tujuan gue "to maximize the student's education..." diletakkan di depan atau awal, pada concluding paragraph, tujuan nya gue letakkan di belakang, dengan pemilihan kata "to generate a bright education...." It's okay selama maknanya tidak keluar dari thesis statement. Lalu kalimat ke 2 dan ke 3 itu point atau inti dari introductory paragraph secara singkat. Kalimat terakhir pada paragraf terakhir ini, usahakan kalimat nya memberikan sinyal kepada reader bahwa essay kalian sudah selesai. Atau, kalian bisa bikin closing yg eye-catching, bagaimana kalian memberikan sentuhan terakhir (*eaa wkwk) kepada reader, untuk mengakhiri pembicaraan dalam essay tersebut. Disini, gue mencoba untuk back ke quote di awal introductory paragraph, tapi dikembangkan dengan kata2 sendiri. Overall, kalian bisa bikin se kreatif kalian mau mengakhiri essay nya seperti apa :)

Mungkin gue rasa cukup yak penjelasan dari gue hehe. Semoga bisa bermanfaat buat temen2 :D. Jangan lupa untuk terus mencoba hal2 baru yg positif, karena kita gak bakal tau sebelum mencoba. Dan jangan pernah menyerah :)
Ohiya, gue ada referensi nih, dan menurut gue ini useful banget buat nulis essay. Referensi ini berfungsi untuk menambah variasi pemilihan atau pemakaian kata2 yang digunakan dalam essay, biar kata2 nya gak itu2 aja. Klik DISINI ya :). Selamat mencoba menulis essay, see ya!

Contoh Essay (Esai) Bahasa Inggris

HOLAAA EVERYBADEEEHH :D btw sebelumnya sorry banget ya akhir2 ini gue jarang nge post, karena....ya begitu deh hehe. Udah mulai memasuki semester 5, udah mulai ngerasain ribet dengan proposal PKL dan pelaksanaan nya, matkul nya makin susah, praktikum ada yg 2 sks, dll. Kalo ditanya kesibukan gue apa...Ya paling akademik itu sih sama masih hunting for some experiences kaya competition, program, exchange, dll. Nah ngomong2 soal competition nih, bukannya gue mau sombong atau apa, tapi gue cuman pengen share pengalaman sama kalian. Waktu itu gue pernah ngikut National Essay Competition yg diadain sama IAAS Indonesia, cabang UB. Awalnya gue ragu buat join karena terakhir gue nulis essay itu pas kelas 12 di LIA. Tapi intinya adalah "jangan takut mencoba". Akhirnya gue submit, alhamdulillah masuk final, dan alhamdulillah juara 2. Jadi pesan gue adalah, rejeki orang itu gak ada yg tau kecuali Allah :) walaupun kita ngerasa mustahil, belom pernah nyoba sebelumnya, belom ada pengalaman, tapi kalo Allah menentukan rejeki kita disitu, yaudah :D (biar kalian semangat huehue). Sebelum gue kasih contoh essay, nya, this is a little indtroduction about essay.

 Jadi, apa itu essay? Essay adalah tanggapan atau opini seseorang terhadap sesuatu atau permasalahan yg ada. Biasanya, essay itu terkait dengan isu2 mutakhir, contoh masalah yg dibahas kaya tentang SDG (Sustainable Development Goals),  gender equality, education, bullying, dll. Entah itu essay bahasa indonesia atau bahasa inggris, intinya syarat essay itu sama, yaitu harus bersifat oroginal, atau murni dari pemikiran kita sendiri,bukan karya orang lain, atau essay yang pernah di publish orang lain. Contoh essay itu macem2, seinget gue, ada argumentative essay, persuasive essay, 5 paragraph essay, dll (sisa nya searching sendiri ya hehe :D). Untuk pembahasan, langsung aja deh ke contoh essay nya nih.

Waktu itu tema yang dikasih dari IAAS adalah "Establishing Indonesia Through Education", Topic yg tersedia ada 3, agriculture, technology, and social. Then i choose "Social". Berikut contoh nya.

Decreasing the Amount of Poverty in Indonesia to Achieve
a Better Education

“Poverty is the worst form of violence.” – Mahatma Gandhi. The amount of poverty in Indonesia is increasing until the latest data show that it reaches 28,51 million lives. In 2016, hundred or even thousand children become the “victim” dropout students due to economic condition in poverty. This “violence" should be overcome so that the education can be distributed equally. In order to maximize the student’s education, role implementation by the corporation of three stakeholders are needed.
First of all, the government should provide some proper facilities to sustain an equality in terms of education. Some students in poverty still have the hardship to get access to education through infrastructure. Moreover, some students who live in the remote area must cross by swimming, and use an unstable rope bridge through the river to reach their school, because there is no decent bridge which can connect one area to another well. For example, students who live in the big city can reach their education easily because the good infrastructures, facilities, and tools are already there. By contrast, students who live in the remote area have to bet their life in terms of their struggle. Since the government is the one who has the biggest role towards this case, they have to overcome this circumstance, by fixing the infrastructures or replace it with the new one. In fact, all students have the same right to obtain an education, no matter where they live, they deserve to feel the educational equality. Actually not only the government, but NGO also deserve to lend a hand when realizing that society still needs a help.
Second, Non-Government Organization (NGO) should give assistance for society who in trouble. Based on the UNICEF data in 2015, there are more than 2,5 million dropout students. This is caused by the economic pressures that make leaving school unavoidable. Since the students live in a poverty, they feel having a responsibility to undergo some activities which to meet their financial. For instance, they have to be a vendor, sell some foods or goods, and offer some services to make ends meet. As a result, they have to keep their nose to the grindstone to make a living for their family, instead of continuing their education. In order to mitigate the number of dropout students, assistance by NGO is necessary. Significantly, NGO is important to establish the nation and society, so that NGO should involve to relieve the burden of their family by giving a help and support, such as charity, build some community-based enterprises, and participation in terms of society needs and its implementation. Another key point to remember is that both external assistance and internal awareness have a great impact towards poverty.
Last but not least, society awareness is required to minimize the amount of poverty. Students who live in a poverty can not receive the education well because of the lack of material resources. In fact, they should be provided by the parents to support their children’s education. Yet, poverty often places constraints on the family's ability to provide other material resources for their children as well. For instance, the children have limited access to high-quality day care, limited access to before- or after-school care, and limited access to get some knowledge resources, such as book, internet, and a teacher. To that end, society awareness should be upgraded in order to decrease the amount of poverty, by lending some books, share a knowledge to them, and give them some high-quality foods. Therefore, society already eases their problems in terms of material resources which support education.
In conclusion, an involvement of the government, NGO, and society awareness, including their actions are necessary to generate a bright education towards the students. Each stakeholder has a different contribution level to overcome the poverty. The government has the biggest contribution to focus on infrastructures side, then supported by assistance from NGO, and also followed by a feeling of awareness which should be increased in society itself. If poverty is the worst form of violence, then the real actions should be there to prevent the emergence of  a new victim.

"Cara membuat essay nya gimana?" Lanjut ke postingan berikutnya yaa :) biar gak kepanjangan wkwk. Bersambung... Buat yg pengen tau penjelasan nya atau cara bikin essay nya gimana, klik DISINI yaw:D