Limited number of places remaining for IELTS prep in November

We have only 3 spaces left in our next IELTS preparation class, which starts later this week. If you'd like to join, contact us to arrange your free placement test as soon as possible

Only Rp1,750,000 for 50 hours!!

Click for:
Information on IELTS prep courses from Aim
Aim's website

Aim Welcomes a new Teacher!

In November, Aim for English welcomes Sandhy to the teaching team. A long-time professional English teacher, Sandhy has extensive experience in high-level Academic and Business English education, and her fun-loving personality makes her a welcome addition to the Aim family. Visit Aim's website to learn more about Aim and all of the teachers, and to have a live chat with Sandhy via Yahoo! Mesenger


Latihan Bahasa Inggris Jakarta
Terjemahan Bahasa Inggris - English/Indonesian translation services

from everyone at Aim, we'd like to wish you:

selamat Hari Raya

mohon maaf lahir dan batin

See you soon at Aim



kursus Bahasa Inggris di Jakarta
English language training in Jakarta

Visit Aim's main website now!
There, you'll find all kinds of useful information.
There's a free forum for you to get good advice on learning English from the experts.
There's also plenty of fun activities and stuff for you to read.

Plus, of course, there's all the information you could wish for about courses, staff and facilities at Aim for English - Jakarta's pioneering new independent language school. Click on the links below to get started:

• Aim for business English
• Aim for academic English
• Aim for IELTS preparation
• Aim for general English
• Aim for conversational English
• Aim for quality corporate training solutions
• Aim for a private class
• Aim for courses designed exclusively for you

Aim for English. Now you're talking!




Belajar Bahasa Inggris lebih ceptat di Aim - Kursus Bahasa Inggris di Manggarai, Jakarta

New Teachers at Aim

Aim for English has been hunting the very best teachers for a few months now. We've met many teachers (some better than others), and are close to deciding on new additions to our professional teaching team. Standby for more news on this!

kursus bahasa inggris di Jakarta

Problems with learning English commonly experienced by Indonesian students.

After a great deal of time spent teaching in Indonesia and talking to other teachers, it is clear that it is possible to identify a number of challenges specific to Indonesian language learners. While this brief article is clearly generalising about a huge, diverse nation, there do seem to be common difficulties, mostly resulting from interference from their first language and from the education system which they have been through. This article will highlight some of these challenges in the hope that awareness among both teachers and students benefit students studying English in the future.

First, the Indonesian education system (or at least the system which today's teenage and adult language learners passed through) tends to produce students with preconceived notions of ways to be taught. Often this means passive learners expecting to absorb information from the teacher, who is the center of a class, an authority figure, and someone who must not be questioned. Language learning is most effective in an environment where active students feel free to participate, get involved and ask questions; an environment where students know that making mistakes is the best way to learn, and where making a mistake does not result in loss of face.

While this article is not intended to criticise the education system in Indonesia, it does seem that the content of a great deal of Indonesian schools' English language curriculum is based on the teaching of theoretical knowledge as opposed to developing functional, communicative language skills. Often this means that the Indonesian ESL student is able to produce complex grammatic forms, but has little awareness of the actual meaning of the language they are producing. Upon prompting, A student would be able to write a correct sentence using, for instance, the present perfect continuous tense, but when questioned as to the real usage and the meaning of the grammatical form, many high school graduates are stumped.

Then there are the problems resulting from L1 (first language) interference. In terms of pronunciation, many Indonesians have trouble pronouncing consonant clusters (3 or more consonants together is a word), as these clusters do not occur in Bahasa Indonesia. The rolling of the letter 'r' is another common issue, but not one which causes any kind of strain for the listener. In general, pronunciation is not a huge problem for Indonesians, especially when compared to learners from Asian countries with tonal languages such as China and Vietnam.

Bahasa Indonesia does not have tenses as such, and a simplified method of talking about different points in time is often attempted in English (for example, 'yesterday I go'). The concept of tenses, especially the more complex perfect tenses, is often difficult to grasp for Indonesian students. Similarly, Indonesian English students often have trouble creating sentences with correct word order, again caused by the word order patterns in their first language (for example, 'the tree big'). Finally, most Indonesian words are spelled phonetically, creating problems with learning the inconsistent, almost random way in which many English words are spelled.

While the few problems mentioned above do create barriers for Indonesians, they are relatively easy to overcome. Good teachers with an awareness of these difficulties can adjust the way they teach and the materials they use to suit Indonesians. Courses can be created which have Indonesian students in mind, rather than generic courses designed for European learners. Again generalising, it can also be said that, given the right environment and encouragement, Indonesians soon become active, communicative students. Indonesians are hard working, dedicated, enthusiastic and, in general, a pleasure to teach.

One school which recognises the importance of tailoring language education to suit Indonesians is 'Aim for English' www.aimjakarta.com, a pioneering Jakarta-based language centre. Their incredible facilities, custom-designed courses and experienced teachers all combine to provide the very best language education for Indonesians.

In Indonesian: kursus bahasa Inggris di Jakarta

Belajar bahasa Inggris untuk bisnis, general, conversation, studi akademik, IELTS preparation and much more!

New business English Solutions from Aim
Aim for English offers a comprehensive range of business English courses designed to meet your exact requirements.
Whatever your industry, whatever your department, whatever you level, Aim can custom-design an effective language program to train you and your staff more professionally than ever before.
Classes can be held at our hi-tech facilities in Manggarai, which features a fully operational business training room, designed to replicate a hi-tech meeting room environment.
Alternatively, for only a little extra cost, we can deliver the training courses at your office. This offers convenience for busy employees.
For more information, click the link below

Effective business English training courses in Jakarta
Kursus Bahasa Inggris untuk Bisnis di Jakarta

Aim for English now offers native and non-native teachers to your home or office in Jakarta.
Jakarta's pioneering, hi-tech language school now brings quality education to you.
Make your teacher sit in traffic rather than you!

Special offers continue in September at Aim for English.
Jakarta's most forward-thinking language school is now the most cost-effective way to learn English in Jakarta. The best teachers, and courses taught in the most most complete educational facility in Indonesia's capital.
For more, click here: kursus bahasa inggris di DKI Jakarta

The IELTS test and IELTS preparation

Background
Universities realised long ago that the market for International students is huge and ever-growing. As globalisation gathers pace, many students look outside their own country's borders for further education. Now, many universities (especially those in developed countries) rely heavily on enrollments from overseas students, and international marketing has become a major consideration. The language barrier is the most obvious problem associated with taking on overseas students, so the need for a standardised, international English test arose. There are several examination systems competing in this field, most notably the IELTS (International English Language Testing System) test and the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) test. Generally, TOEFL is more widely accepted by North American universities, while IELTS is widely accepted by European, Asian and Australasian Universities (although the situation is changing). Here, the IELTS test and IELTS preparation courses will be discussed.

The Test
The IELTS test is in four sections; listening, reading, writing and speaking, and lasts for approximately 3 hours. Candidates receive their scores within two weeks, giving them a band score of between 1 (no language ability) to 9 (native-speaker level language ability). Generally speaking, most universities require a score of 6 or 7 to enter their programs, depending on the university and the degree or postgraduate program the student is applying for.

Students wishing to enroll at universities take the academic module of the IELTS test, while there is also a 'General Training' module of the test (with simplified reading and writing sections) which is often taken by candidates wishing to join an overseas high school, or for migration purposes.

IELTS preparation
A spin-off of the rise in popularity of the IELTS test has been the emergence of IELTS preparation courses. These courses teach the specific skills and strategies necessary for success in the IELTS test. Usually longer than a standard English course, a good IELTS preparation course (and a motivated student) should have the ability to increase a student's score by one band.

Common misconceptions
The IELTS test is purely a test designed to indicate to universities that a student has the necessary level of English to have a chance of success in their degree programs. Reaching the required band score, however, does not necessarily mean that a student is equipped with the skills needed for university-level study. Similarly, IELTS preparation courses focus only on the test itself, and do not specifically teach all of the skills that an overseas student needs.

As an illustration, the IELTS writing test includes a 250-word essay, which must be written in 40 minutes. At universities, essays often require weeks of research and are often thousands of words in length. IELTS preparation courses generally show students how to write these short essays by introducing rigid 'formulas', formulas which are rarely applicable to the essays the students will write at universities. During IELTS preparation courses, students are rarely taught about citation, paraphrasing, thesis structure and other key skills for successful university-level writing. Similarly, in the IELTS listening tests, students listen and answer question. At universities, students need to be able to listen to lectures and write notes, which involves altogether different skills. Limitations in the reading and writing modules of the IELTS test are also evident.

Summary
While the value of the IELTS test and IELTS preparation courses are sometimes misinterpreted or overestimated, it is clear that an internationally recognised, standardised test of English is a necessity. While there are limitations, IELTS opens the doors to international study opportunities to students from all over the world. Students with the required score, however, should not be complacent. Often training in advanced Academic English (often known as EAP – English for Academic Purposes) is of great benefit for international students, and could be taken in conjunction with IELTS preparation. Aim for English in Jakarta, Indonesia is a pioneering new school with IELTS preparation courses which include EAP. Students are not only prepared for a 3-hour test, they are prepared for 4 years of life at an overseas further education institution. See www.aimjakarta.com for more details.