Welcome to the 21st century learning environment!

Most people reading this will have experience of learning a language in two ways.

By far the easiest was when you were a baby. Babies have an unbelievable ability to absorb and permanently remember their mother tongue. Unfortunately we only get one chance to do it this way, and then the ability disappears. So you have already used your one shot at the easy way. Sorry. And a bit more bad news is that as you get older you will find language learning progressively more difficult.

You will also have learned a foreign language at school. Here you were in a large group, perhaps of 30 students, with your teacher explaining grammar, writing things on a board, pronouncing words and leading repetitious drills. You will also have spent time wearily copying things down into a book and trying to learn it at home. If you were very lucky you will have had access to a “language laboratory”, where you could do more repetition. It is highly probable that you found the whole language learning experience tedious, difficult, stressful and inefficient. That’s pretty much the standard response to the standard system of teaching languages.

Some people are good at hearing, learning and mimicking sounds. Others are great at remembering visual things. Some people learn by repetition of words, some by using the language in context. The sad thing is that most people don’t even know their special strengths because they went through a standardised system as a student at school, or even in a specialised language school. In fact, all the “standard” approaches to language learning miss the essential point; that there is no such thing as a standard human being. The huge range of differences between us is part of the reason why we find life interesting.

So any effective system of language learning has to be one that caters for variety. Variety of interests, variety of motivations, and variety of learning styles. This will always be a challenge.

After all, one teacher, one whiteboard, one lesson…how do you build variety into that? Great teachers can do it!

The good news is that our knowledge of how people learn (and our ability to cater for their various learning styles) have improved by leaps and bounds over the recent past.

We know that stress gets in the way of learning. So any language school has to provide a relaxed, comfortable informal environment where students are happy to be. You need refreshments at intervals, exercise at intervals, and great teachers all the time. You also need to be in a group, but not 30 strong!

Another thing we know is that new skills are easier to acquire if they are interesting, and can attach themselves to skills you already have. For example, the fact that you’re reading this means that you are computer-literate. Most language students today are highly skilled digital users. So using computers and MP3 players to record language comes naturally to you. Digital surround sound is your norm. And sitting at a pc to review notes is more efficient than the drudgery of re-reading handwritten notes.

Today’s students can download their notes directly from an interactive whiteboard that converts your own or your teacher’s scrawl into print and adds in materials pulled off the Internet. The download may be to a school pc or your own laptop or PDA, using a wifi network. There is no doubt that learning a language is a serious task, but all this technology makes the process more stimulating, doesn’t it? And research has shown that we learn much better if we feel engaged and stimulated.

kursus Bahasa Inggris

So here at last are the key elements of language learning in the 21^st century. Of course you need great teachers who understand the need to cater for human variety. Then you also need a relaxed environment that de-stresses the process. And you need to exploit digital technology to absorb some of the drudgery and make your learning process more stimulating. Now…. where can you find all this under one roof?

December's 50 hour IELTS preparation course will be starting soon at AIM.

Limited places available.

For Rp 2,050,000 you will get:

• All of the tips, tricks and strategies you'll need to succeed in the IELTS test
• Plenty of opportunity to practice IELTS tests before you take the real thing
• Experienced IELTS preparation teachers
• Custom designed IELTS preparation course book - developed by Aim, and designed specifically for Indonesian students.
• All courses finish with a full 'Simulation IELTS test' to estimate your potential in the real test.

The details

• 25 X 2 hour Classes, Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 6.30pm-8.30pm
• 50 hours over 9 weeks
  
• Some IELTS preparation classes may be held on Saturday, if requested.
• Like all courses at Aim, our public IELTS preparation classes are very small, with 7-9 students in each class. We believe that this is vitally important for IELTS preparation, as the amount of attention you will receive and the opportunities for you to participate are maximised.

Call now to reserve your place.

Need more information about IELTS at Aim? Click here

The Eco Road to Economic Recovery

There’s one major worry in the current economic crisis.

Not “Shall I lose my job?” Not even “Will the banks keep my savings safe?”

But “What short-cuts will we take to get the world’s economy growing again?

All round the world companies are failing or cutting back output, and people are having to survive on much less income than they had last year. In developing countries people are going hungry. In the developed world some very rich people now have fewer billions to worry about than they did before. And more poor people are dependent on state assistance than before.

At least our planet is getting a break from relentless ruin. Fewer people working in industry, driving their cars and trucks about, making steel and aluminium, and turning their heating or cooling systems onto maximum, means that less fossil fuel will be burned in the next year or two than was forecast last year. You can see the indications of this now, in falling oil and commodity prices, and falling deep sea shipping rates.

There’s an eco downside as well, however. News from the UK this past week, for example, was of a small company recycling cardboard that has hit the buffers because demand for toys in the USA has dropped. The toys- all of them!- would have been made in China and packaged in boxes made from recycled cardboard, including some shipped from the UK. So the global recession is hitting global recycling already, and China isn’t even in an official recession yet. More hits on local eco efforts are very likely in the months to come.

The really big danger is that in their efforts to “kick-start” the world economy, the world’s politicians will relax their previous attitudes to carbon emissions, on the basis that economic recovery is more important than the greening of the world economy. It isn’t, of course, it’s just more immediate. But politicians find it very difficult to focus on the long term important issues when the newspaper headlines are screaming about today’s trouble.

In the western democracies the financial crisis is dominating the news, and politicians don’t want to risk their possible non-election by seeming not to act. So there will be a huge temptation to throw money at immediate projects, and damn the consequences. Or to relax environmental rules to help struggling businesses save on costs. Or to cut taxes on fuel to help struggling families.

But now would be the perfect time for government to put resources into eco projects. Major economies should focus their anti-recession spending on the green agenda. No one will complain about extra resources being focused on job creation in new eco industries at a time when every job counts. The global recession is a perfect excuse for finding the extra funds to do this.

It’s also the perfect time for a decisive shift in private consumption towards eco goods, and away from mass-produced environmentally damaging products.

Biome Lifestyle is a UK-based retailer which has the environment at the heart of everything it does. Some of the stories behind its products are inspiring. All of its products avoid the pitfalls of the mass produced, environmentally damaging, stuff you find on the High Street. And all its suppliers are the kind of businesses that will grow without damaging our precious planet in the process.

Find out more about Biome by clicking: ethical products

Tips from Aim – Excel in TOEFL iBT

Number 1: Comparison and contrast

Comparison and contrast is a big part of the TOELF test. Your ability to recognise and communicate these relationships is examined across all parts of the test: in reading, listening, speaking and writing. Let's look at how you can do this, and how to avoid mistakes.

Remember that the iBT is an examination of communication in academic English. This test is asking you to explain the relationships among ideas in written or spoken information. Comparison and contrast implies that similaries or differences exist between several subjects. A likely conclusion would be that either the subjects are more similar or more different, or that one is better than the others.

You will probably never find that the subjects are of equal value. For example, a listening exercise on high-tech lifestyles looks at positive and negative ideas about mobile phones and email. It would be a mistake to jump to a conclusion that they are simply both good and bad. Although the speaker mentions many positive aspects of instant communication, he actually feels that the negative consequences are more important. He thinks that many people don't have time to be creative because they're too busy answering messages. You are asked to see this conclusion.

Comparison means looking at similarities, while contrast focuses on differences. Comparison signals include also, both, similarly, like, comparable, the same and likewise. Contrast signals include but, however, unlike, differences and on the other hand. In addition, please do also listen for changes in intonation that add ideas or suggest opposing opinions. Some relationships are implied, that is, not stated directly. Sarcasm and irony are used, because that's how we naturally use English. Lots of practice helps students with this challenging task.

Students often incorrectly assume that two items must be of equal value because they are being contrasted. Perhaps a preference for harmony, or simplicity in teaching, has led to this. In academic life, you'll hardly ever find two options equally good. It's similar in the TOEFL test. Many questions ask you to make a choice. Do it, and support those choices with reasons and details. You'll be a star. Contact Aim for more details on effective TOEFL iBT preparation

Kita hidup di zaman yang penuh tantangan

Article by AIM originally published in English. Translated by Aim professional translation services

Dari Amerika hingga Irlandia, dari Inggris hingga Indonesia, dan dari Peru hingga Jepang, pesan yang sama terdengar berulang kali.

“Dunia akan mengalami resesi”.

Bahkan - resesi kali ini mungkin tidak seperti yang pernah kita alami selama beberapa generasi belakangan. Kita semua berharap bahwa langkah-langkah yang diambil oleh pemerintah di seluruh dunia akan mengurangi intensitas dan durasinya. Kita juga bisa berharap bahwa Presiden Amerika yang baru akan memimpin negaranya, dan negara kita, agar cepat kembali pada kemakmuran. Akan tetapi untuk saat ini kenyataan yang harus kita hadapi adalah bahwa kita hidup di masa yang penuh tantangan.

Lalu bagaimana sebuah bisnis dapat menghadapi tantangan semacam itu? Bagaimana ia bisa bertahan? Bagaimana ia bisa sukses mengelola tantangan itu?

Ada tiga hal penting yang perlu diingat. Pertama, banyak bisnis yang akan bisa bertahan hidup. Kedua, bisnis-bisnis yang bertahan hidup akan tumbuh menjadi lebih kuat berkat pengalaman mereka. Terakhir, cara untuk bertahan hidup yaitu melakukan hal-hal sederhana dengan cara yang lebih baik daripada saingan anda.

Apa saja hal-hal sederhana yang perlu kita lakukan?

Lagi-lagi ada tiga jawaban di sini.

Pertama, tetaplah fokus untuk memberikan pelayanan yang terbaik kepada pelanggan anda. Pelanggan anda juga punya masalah, dan mereka membutuhkan, dan akan menghargai, bantuan yang bisa anda berikan untuk mereka. Terlebih lagi, pada masa-masa sulit, alat penjualan terbaik yang bisa anda miliki adalah kesan baik dari pelanggan yang sudah anda miliki. Di masa resesi seperti ini, pasar akan lebih tegas dan kurang toleran terhadap pelayanan yang buruk, dan tentunya akan lebih kejam dalam memutuskan hubungan dengan penyedia jasa yang tidak kompeten.

Kedua, teruslah menjual. Pasti ada pembeli di luar sana, meskipun akan lebih sulit menemukan dan meyakinkan mereka. Karenanya alat penjualan kita haruslah lebih kuat. Tim sales anda harus memiliki pelatihan dan motivasi yang tinggi. Marketing anda harus inovatif, fleksible, dan sensitif terhadap perubahan-perubahan dalam mood pasar. Harga yang anda tawarkan juga harus fleksible, mengingat bahwa pengeluaran sedang dihemat di mana-mana.

Terakhir, jaga agar pengeluaran anda tetap wajar. Berhati-hatilah ketika memotong anggaran karena beresiko mengganggu tingkat pelayanan yang anda berikan, dan pasar akan sangat sensitif terhadap hal ini. Akan lebih baik kalau kita mengadopsi containment policy: menjaga agar pengeluaran tidak bertambah sampai matahari kembali bersinar. Hal yang tersulit adalah bahwa memotong anggaran sama seperti melakukan operasi pembedahan. Dibutuhkan keterampilan yang sangat tinggi kalau anda tidak ingin membunuh pasien anda. Anda harus menganggap customer service sebagai urat nadi yang menghidupi bisnis anda. Potong anggaran di sana dan anda akan merasakan akibatnya!

Ada sebuah tim ( kursus bahasa inggris)yang membantu bisnis di Indonesia untuk melewati badai krisis. Tim ini sendiri mampu mengendalikan pengeluarannya dengan sangat baik, sambil tetap memberikan pelayanan yang tak ada duanya di Jakarta. Harga yang mereka tawarkan sangat kompetitif, dan dengan demikian membantu para pelanggan mereka menghemat pengeluaran mereka. Meskipun dengan harga kompetitif, produk yang mereka tawarkan adalah yang terbaik. Mereka memberikan pelatihan bahasa Inggris, sesuatu yang sangat dibutuhkan oleh tim customer service di manapun bila mereka ingin mampu bertahan menghadapi tantangan resesi.

We live in challenging times

From the US to Iceland, from the UK to Indonesia, and from Peru to Japan the same message is flashing.

“There is a worldwide recession coming”.

More- it’s a recession that may be on a scale not seen for a generation, maybe not even for a lifetime. We all hope that the actions taken by governments around the world will reduce its intensity, and shorten the period of contraction. As I write we can also hope that the new young American President will lead his own country, and ours, swiftly back to prosperity. But the reality of today is that we live in challenging times.

So how on earth does a business cope with this kind of challenge? How does it survive? How does it manage?

There are three important things to remember. First, many businesses will survive. Secondly the businesses that survive will emerge stronger from the experience. And finally, the way to survive is to do the simple things better than your competition.

What are the simple things we all need to do?

Again, there are three.
First, keep focused on delivering the absolute best service you can to the customers you have. They have their problems too, and they need and will value all the help you can give them. More than this, in hard times the very best selling tool you have is the good opinion of your existing customers. In a recession the market is less forgiving, less liable to make allowances for bad service, more ruthless in cutting out poor suppliers.

Secondly, keep on selling. There’s going to be business out there, but it will be harder to find and much harder to win. Your selling tools need to be sharp. Your sales team must be highly trained and very highly motivated. Your marketing will have to be innovative, flexible, and sensitive to the changes in market mood. Your prices will need to be flexible, too, recognising that cash is tight everywhere.

Finally, keep your costs at the right level. Be careful with cost cutting, because there is a very real danger of damaging the level of customer service, and the market will be ultra-sensitive to that. Better to adopt a containment policy, capping cost growth until the sun starts to shine again. The really difficult thing about cutting costs is that it’s like surgery. It takes high-level skills if you don’t want to kill your patient. You should think of customer service as the main artery that keeps a business alive. Cut into it at your peril!

Aim for English is a firm, specialising in English language training, that is helping Indonesian business to weather the financial storm. With its own costs under tight control, it delivers a level of service second to none in Jakarta. Its pricing is very competitive, helping its customers to conserve their cash. The product it delivers is the best English language training in town, without which the customer service teams of its clients would be far less able to cope with their own recessionary challenges.

Find out what's new at Jakarta's pioneering language school by clicking this link:

kursus bahasa inggris

Aim for English. Your future starts here

Business English Training: keys to success

Business English Training: keys to success

We all know why modern business in the non English-speaking world needs the international language. The market for staff English training in many countries, especially those Asia and South America, is growing at a blistering rate, fueled by the rise of globalization and a realization among managers that a certain level of competency in their staff’s English is a must, if their business is going to compete. Of course where the market appears, so do the companies set up to capitalise. Deciding on a language training provider can be daunting, and the unregulated nature of the training industry in most countries can mean huge variation in the quality of the training, and therefore huge variation in the return on investment for the companies’ management. So, what is it that makes some training effective, while other programmes are a waste of time? How can companies minimize the risk of investing in lame-duck language training?

The first piece of advice is to make informed decisions on language training providers based on information from reliable sources. Websites, brochures, marketing emails and fliers can hold a great deal of information, but the reliable most reliable source is a person who has attended or been involved in training elsewhere. One must be careful though, as the ‘famous’ providers - those with strong brand recognition - may be well-known as a result of an over-emphasis on marketing, and not necessarily on quality. ‘Big’ is not always ‘better’ when it comes to training providers; larger establishments usually struggle to find enough good teachers, and compromises are sometimes made. Moreover, while smaller schools tend to be run or heavily influenced by the most important people, the teachers, larger training centres inevitably move towards being driven solely by the bottom line. This is not to say that one should shy away from providers with strong marketing; we’re looking for providers who like to show off their benefits, after all. Be wary of those who aren’t willing to talk about their benefits.

Let’s stop talking about marketing. We are discussing education, and in reality the quality of education comes down to two things; the quality of the teachers and the quality of the courses. Quality of customer service and organisation and coordination by the provider also play a part in your satisfaction, but in terms of return on investment it’s the teachers and the courses that are going to deliver.

Ask about the teachers. Many companies put blind faith in the training provider that they will provide the right people for the job, inevitably causing disappointment when the wonderful teacher promised in the sales pitch to turns out to be useless. Ask to see their resume, ask to meet them. A good training provider will be proud of their teachers and willing to show them off on demand. When you see the resume, bear in mind that experience isn’t everything. While you don’t want a brand new teacher with little experience, many teachers with decades of experience can seem ‘burned out’, as if they have lost the passion for their profession. Look out for teacher training qualifications, and look for their own educational background and work experience. How can someone who never went to university or never worked in a business environment be expected to teach your staff about contemporary business communication? Personality is important, so choose teachers you actually like, choose teachers who your staff will look forward to spending time with, choose teachers who have passion and commitment to their job written all over their face.

Ask about the courses. More to the point, demand courses which are designed to fit your exact needs. Many training providers use generic ‘business English’ courses which are, on the whole, euro-centric, non-specific, and rapidly out of date. The English your sales team needs is very different from the type of language required by your management team, or customer service team. Demand courses designed for your industry; if you’re involved in shipping, make sure that topics are related to shipping, or you could find your staff learning language they will never be able to use. Decide what aspects of your staff’s English to focus on; are they regularly emailing, meeting clients, giving presentations, writing reports or proposals, or using the telephone? Demand that your staff learn the right skills and language. But also gauge the provider’s ability to provide enjoyable programs. Endless photocopied handouts are plain boring. Are the providers going to use communicative, interactive activities? Are the providers going to use modern business technology to teach modern business techniques? What are they going to do to motivate your staff? These are questions to bear in mind when perusing websites and meeting the sales people from the schools. A final tip for effective language training: training is more effective if classes are small, and trainees are divided based on their level of English and specific job responsibilities. Ask the provider how they will assess your staff, and how they plan to organize the trainees into groups. Steer clear of anyone willing to mix abilities and compromise quality by filling classes with dozens of trainees who each have their own learning objectives.

Make sure you clearly define your objectives, and choose the provider who shows you, just as clearly, how they are going to meet your objectives through enjoyable, professional, communicative training delivered by happy, qualified, devoted teachers. In Jakarta, Indonesia, one professional training provider is leading the way in language programmes for businesses. Take a look at www.aimjakarta.com to see how it’s done.

Business English Training in Jakarta

Translated by AIM professional translation services

Budaya korporasi dan pembelajaran bahasa

W H Whyte mempublikasikan karyanya, “The Organization Man,” pada tahun 1956. Karya tersebut merupakan upaya awal – bahkan mungkin upaya yang pertama sekali – untuk menggambarkan dampak dari budaya sebuah organisasi terhadap perilaku karyawannya. Sejak tahun 1956 kita semua telah mulai menyadari bahwa ada terdapat berbagai jenis budaya, yang masing-masing disertai dengan jenis-jenis perilaku yang berbeda. Dengan demikian, definisi yang menyatakan bahwa budaya adalah “cara kita melakukan berbagai hal di sekitar kita” merupakan definisi yang tepat.

Budaya korporasi yang kuat adalah hal yang sangat berguna. Ia membuat proses pengambilan keputusan menjadi lebih dapat diprediksi. Ia membantu para perekrut untuk mempekerjakan orang-orang yang akan cocok bekerja di dalan sebuah korporasi. Ia bahkan memberikan kontribusi pada nilai-nilai yang terdapat dalam sebuah merek perusahaan.

Akan tetapi, budaya perusahaan juga dapat memiliki kekurangan ketika para staf diharuskan berperilaku di luar norma budaya mereka. Contohnya, akan sulit bagi seorang manajer yang terbiasa dengan budaya bisnis yang mengalir bebas ketika ia dihadapkan pada penerapan standar-standar keselamatan secara ketat. Itulah sebabnya mengapa di seluruh dunia, bekerja untuk perusahaan-perusahaan yang bergerak di bidang konstruksi merupakan sesuatu yang sangat berbahaya.

Hampir seluruh budaya korporasi yang efektif akan memberikan penghargaan pada kesuksesan, sementara sebagian besar lainnya akan mencemooh kegagalan. Hal seperti ini cenderung menghasilkan pola pikir yang selalu ingin menghindari resiko pada sebagian besar karyawan. Dan ini adalah pola pikir yang terburuk apabila kita ingin belajar bahasa.

Ketika sebuah organisasi menginginkan karyawannya mempelajari sebuah bahasa asing, seketika itu pula terjadi benturan budaya.

Cobalah pikirkan. Setiap kali seorang pembelajar bahasa membuka mulut, atau mengangkat pena, untuk menghasilkan sepotong ungkapan dalam bahasa asing, ia harus mengambil resiko bahwa apa yang dihasilkannya akan “salah” karena satu atau lain alasan. Biasanya tidak sepenuhnya salah, melainkan kurang tepat atau secara situasional kurang cocok. Semakin sering mereka mengambil resiko, semakin banyak yang akan mereka pelajari. Belajar bahasa berarti berani mengambil resiko. Kalau kita semua menolak menghasilkan sebuah ungkapan bahasa yang mungkin salah, kita tidak akan pernah mampu menggunakan bahasa lain kecuali bahasa asli kita sendiri.

Di tahun-tahun pertama kehidupan kita, kita mempelajari bahasa dengan intensitas yang tinggi. Kita menghasilkan kemajuan yang sangat pesat setiap harinya. Sewaktu kecil, kita tidak tahu bahwa kita harus menghindari kegagalan, jadi kita mulai berbicara dengan mengucapkan berbagai bunyi, lalu meningkat menjadi kalimat berisi satu kata, dan perlahan-lahan kelancaran kita dalam berbicarapun tumbuh.

Sebagai seorang pebelajar yang sudah memasuki usia dewasa, kita mungkin tidak akan pernah belajar dengan kecepatan yang sama seperti halnya kecepatan seorang anak kecil, tetapi kita bisa meningkatkan kesempatan kita dengan secara aktif merengkuh kemungkinan bahwa kita melakukan kesalahan, lalu belajar dari kesalahan tersebut, dan terus maju. Kita perlu mengesampingkan budaya korporasi kita dan berfokus pada proses belajar itu sendiri, dan berhenti memikirkan bahwa apa yang akan kita ucapkan atau tuliskan mungkin “salah”.

Lingkungan fisik yang netral dan santai bisa membantu mengatasi benturan tadi. Jauh dari kantor, kita mungkin akan merasa lebih mudah melupakan budaya kantor. Tetapi tetap saja, guru yang hebat adalah kuncinya. Guru yang akan membantu anda mencapai kemajuan tanpa rasa takut akan kegagalan. Guru yang akan memastikan bahwa proses belajar anda menyenangkan, dan membuat anda terkagum-kagum akan kemajuan yang anda sendiri capai .

Berikut ini adalah link ke sebuah sekolah bahasa yang mengerti tentang benturan antara budaya kantor dan pembelajaran pribadi, dan sekolah ini memiliki guru-guru hebat yang akan membuat kegiatan belajar anda “menyenangkan”. www.aimjakarta.com

Private English classes at Aim:
Aim specialises in private classes, but why should you choose a private class? Well, for some people public classes can be a better option. Some people prefer to be in a larger group, and learn better in a communicative, interactive group class.
However, group classes also have limitations. You must follow the fixed schedule, and you cannot focus on your job, your study programme, or your individual strengths and weaknesses. The amount of attention you receive and the opportunities for you to participate and talk are also limited in public classes.
At Aim, the key to the success of our private classes is flexibility. You choose the days, you choose the times, you choose the teachers, and you choose what you learn.
We will create courses especially for you, focussing on your objectives, your strengths and weaknesses and your individual learning style. For many, the level of attention in a 1-on-1 class, and the amount of time you can spend talking, means that you'll improve more quickly. Plus, if there's something you're working on at work or at university, bring it to class and we can discus it together.
AIM for a private English class. The flexible, customised educational solution!