BELAJAR 'ENGLISH IDIOMS"

big smoke - kota besar

one horse town - kota kecil

let the cat out of the bag - membocorkan rahasia

has the cat got your tongue - kenapa tidak mau bicara atau menjawab

gig - tampil bermain musik dan menyanyi

on ya bike - silakan pergi

move on or moving on - memulai sesuatu yg baru

time for a change - waktunya untuk perubahan

 ‘walk it’ and that means memenangkan dengan sanyat mudah.

to ‘walk on air’ and that really means to be merasa sargatgembira or serpati terbang di udara.

‘To hit the road’ =‘berangkat/memulai perjalanan’.

‘To get away’ = ‘berlibur / melepaskan diri dari rutinitas’.

‘driving me bananas’ or ‘driving me nuts’ — ‘membuat orang frustrasi atau sedikit marah’

‘life is a bowl of cherries’ — ‘kehidupan yg menyenangkan’

‘corridors of power’ — ‘dalam lingkup kekuasaan’

‘in power’ — ‘berkuasa’

Not my cup of tea’ — ‘tidak begitu suka’

‘It's a piece of cake’ — ‘sangat gampang’

‘To have your hands full’ — ‘sangat sibuk’

‘To know something like the back of my hand — ‘mengenal dengan sangat baik’

‘To feel on top of the world’ — ‘merasa senang sekali’

‘What a small world!’ — ‘dunia ini kecil!’

‘butterflies in my stomach’ — ‘merasa gugup’

‘donkey's years’ — ‘lama sekali’

‘To give someone a black look’ — ‘menatap seseorang dengan perasaan kesal atau marah’

‘can't stand it’ — ‘tidak tahan’

‘stand up and be counted’ — ‘berani menukapkan pendapat’

  ‘off the beaten track’ — ‘jauh sekali dari kemana mana’

‘beyond the black stump’ — ‘jauh sekali dari kemana mana’

‘To tell a white lie — ‘berbohong demi kebaikan’

‘stands to win’ — ‘punya kesempatan untuk menang’

‘won hands down’ — ‘menang mutlak’

‘elope’ — ‘kawin lari’

‘matchmaker’ — ‘mak comblang’

 ‘play ball’ — ‘bekerja sama’

‘playing with fire’ — ‘bermain api’

fire away’ — ‘ayo mulai’

‘fired up’ — ‘bersemangat’

TAK ADA YANG ABADI DI DUNIA INI

Tidak mungkin  muda  selamanya,  kita mestinya harus sadar bahwa waktu berjalan tak mungkin berhenti. So  kita harus menunggu apa yang akan dipetik nanti. Jika tanaman yang telah ditanam adalah sesuatu yang tidak baik, bisa dipastikan jenis panen yang buruk akan dirasakan.

Tentu sesal kemudian tiada guna. Kadang kita  juga sadar bahwa segala sesuatu ada dampaknya. Positif berdampak positif dan sebaliknya negatif berdampak negatif. 'SOPO NANDUR BAKALE NGUNDUH, Terkadang kita  juga lupa bahwa sekecil apapun kebaikan akan mengundang kebaikan pula. Idealnya kita lebih bersemangat lagi bahwa waktu adalah amal , waktu adalah instropeksi diri, bukan  merasa benar sendiri. Pantang aras-arasen, dan tetep istiqomah. Sekali lagi itu tataran idealisme.

Setan tak  mungkin  menyerah, mungkin  setan juga  mengajak kolaborasi dengan kita untuk menyanyi  dan hafal syair lagu  'JANGAN MENYERAH'  , akhirnya kita tergoda setan dan ragu bahwa Tuhan Allah s.w.t memang benar-benar adil. Kita  tinggal memilih untuk pantang  menyerah menuju kebaikan atau kehancuran diri kita.Kita tinggal menungu. Allah s.w.t yang lebih tahu.

KAPAN TENTERAMNYA KALAU SERING BERPRASANGKA BURUK?

KAPAN  TENTERAMNYA KALAU SERING BERPRASANGKA BURUK?

Benar-benar Kisah nyata. Pengalaman MasKatnoGiri menjenguk orang sakit, setelah dia memimpin doa. Si Sakit  menanggapi,” Terima kasih atas kerawuhannya mohon dukungan dan doanya, saya sakit karena dipenggawe tetangga saya sendiri. Karena dia iri dengan saya”.  MasKatno Giri benar-benar heran. Kok ada sarjana pemikirannya seperti itu, berprasangka buruk pada tetangganya . Dan ini belum ada bukti  autentik bahwa tetangganya benar-benar iri. Katanya dia sakit dipenggawe tetangga.

Secara jujur  Si sakit telah konsultasi dengan orang pintar (mungkin pakar klenik).  MasKatno Giri  memiliki  modal nekat  lalu memberanikan diri ,  MasKatno Giri memohon maaf  tidak bermaksud menggurui  bahwa, jangan kita berprasangka buruk dengan tetangga, teman dll. Kalau  ada satu  orang yang tidak suka kepada  kita. Lalu dia kita anggap mampu membuat satu jenis penyakit . Berapa   ribu penyakit yang kita derita ya?   kalau-kalau ada ribuan orang pas tidak suka kepada kita.

Mestinya kita berlatih lebih cerdas, mungkin  sumber penyakit itu dari prasangka buruk kita. Kapan tenteramnya , kalau kita sering berprasangka buruk terus? HARI GINI  MASIH  SERING PRASANGKA BURUK KEPADA ORANG LAIN, DAN KITA YAKIN ORANG YANG TIDAK SUKA MAMPU  MEMBUAT   BEBBERAPA  JENIS   PENYAKIT   BUAT   KITA.    ADuuuUH BERAPA JENIS PENYAKIT  YAA, YANG AKAN MENIMPA KITA .  PADAHAL  ALLAH YANG MAHA KUASA  ATAS SEGALANYA  DAN ATAS PENYAKIT DAN OBATNYA. APAKAH KITA RAGU ATAS  KEKUATAN ALLAH S.W.T  LEWAT AKAL SEHAT KITA?

Be Happy as an English Teacher

As  an English second language teacher, Mas Katno Giri tries to be happy in teaching and learning English. Even though  he is not smart enough, but he is able to motivate  his student and himself to be better. He states that  Teaching English is time and energy-intensive.

As an English teacher  experience different events everday. sometimes bad, sometimes good or  funny. And we get affected by our school life carrying it in our private lives.We'd better get used to live with it or change our approaches to be HAPPY

We  should;

- find magic ways to motivate the ones  and ourselves.

- ignore your ''course book''(If you teach in a state school:)

- have fun with any game that little monsters want to play over and over without a slight sign of boredom

- act like a singer,actor,author, a friend  and a little kid..

- preapare yourself to meet overinterested / uninterested / interesting parents

- have enough eqipment and ICT tools in your classes

- learn to be patient or patient

- bear with usual dialogues produced half in Indonesian  and half in English

- smile at  students who did not do their homework, maybe electricity went off ..

- have fun while spending your time with colourful papers,pictures,stickers,worksheets and games

- Share your experiences with your collegues esp. teachers of foreign languages.

- have always a hope inside you for the moment all students become a perfect learners.

- have a reason to teach and and give them a reason to learn

IMPROVING READING COMPREHENSION

IMPROVING READING COMPREHENSION

As a matter  of  the fact, Mas Katno Giri are still poor to comprehend reading texts.  He is really aware. However, he never stop learning. He has learned how to improve his reading skill.

He is inspired by Kenneth Beare. He is  an ESL teacher, trainer, and content developer from USA.  He gives tips and   guide to improve your reading.  He states  that one of the best tips on improving reading is to think about how you read in your own language. Start by thinking about how you read different documents. How do you read the newspaper? How do you read novels? How do you read train schedules? and so on. Taking time to think about this will help give you clues on how to read in English - even if you don't understand every single word.

Reading in English is like reading in your native language. This means that it is not always necessary to read and understand each and every word in English. Remember that reading skills in your native language and English are basically the same.

Here is a quick overview of the four types of reading skills used in every language:

Skimming - used to understand the "gist" or main idea Scanning - used to find a particular piece of information Extensive reading - used for pleasure and general understanding Intensive reading - accurate reading for detailed understanding

You can use these reading skills in a number of ways to improve other areas of English learning such as pronunciation, grammar and increasing vocabulary.

Next, review your understanding of these four basic reading skills. If you teach an English course, you can use these quick review texts in class, as well as this lesson plan focusing on identifying reading skills.

Skimming

Skimming is used to quickly gather the most important information, or 'gist'. Run your eyes over the text, noting important information. Use skimming to quickly get up to speed on a current business situation. It's not essential to understand each word when skimming.

Examples of Skimming:

• The Newspaper (quickly to get the general news of the day)
• Magazines (quickly to discover which articles you would like to read in more detail)
• Business and Travel Brochures (quickly to get informed)

Scanning

Scanning is used to find a particular piece of information. Run your eyes over the text looking for the specific piece of information you need. Use scanning on schedules, meeting plans, etc. in order to find the specific details you require. If you see words or phrases that you don't understand, don't worry when scanning.

Examples of Scanning

• The "What's on TV" section of your newspaper.
• A train / airplane schedule
• A conference guide

This lesson plan focusing on scanning reading skills can be of help in practicing these skills on your own or in printed out for in-class use.

Extensive reading

Extensive reading is used to obtain a general understanding of a subject and includes reading longer texts for pleasure, as well as business books. Use extensive reading skills to improve your general knowledge of business procedures. Do not worry if you understand each word.

Examples of Extensive Reading

• The latest marketing strategy book
• A novel you read before going to bed
• Magazine articles that interest you

This lesson focusing on improving vocabulary through extensive reading can be of help putting these skills into practice.

Intensive reading

Intensive reading is used on shorter texts in order to extract specific information. It includes very close accurate reading for detail. Use intensive reading skills to grasp the details of a specific situation. In this case, it is important that you understand each word, number or fact.

Examples of Intensive Reading

• A bookkeeping report
• An insurance claim
• A contract

Now that you've reviewed the four reading skills, take this reading skills quiz to help you improve reading skills through understanding of these basic reading types.

DENDAM TAK ADA GUNANYA

Seingat MasSukatno Giri, dia bukan tipe pendendam.  Karena dia sadar bahwa dendam tak ada untungnya. Daripada  dendam mending memicu diri supaya lebih baik. Dendam menurutnya menghabiskan energi. Munculnya dendam karena seseorang tidak mampu berpikir secara  rasional, cerdas, positif dan efektif.

Pendendam  menjadi lebih berenergi karena dibantu  energi setan  (ENERTAN). Sedangkan pemaaf dibantu Allah s.w.t lewat malaikatNya. Jadi biasanya seseorang yang cenderung mampu berpikir secara rasional   positif diberi kekuatan oleh Allh s.w.t.  menjadi lebih ok.

Namun kenyataanya  ada beberapa orang (mungkin kebanyakan wanita) lebih mudah dendam, mungkin ini disebabkan karena  wanita tersebut tidak mampu menggunakan akal sehatnya secara maksimal. Orang yang tidak mampu berpikir logis, spiritualis, dan possitif akan cenderung menjadi manusia yang ingkar kepada Allah s.w.t.