英语 | 母语程度 |
---|---|
印尼语 | 母语程度 |
日语 | 流利 |
中文 | 只能说一点 |
I first learned Japanese from a local Japanese course in my neighborhood. To this day I'm truly grateful for my first tutor there. I wouldn't have been who I am today if it weren't for her. She made me fall in love with Japanese (and finally Japan as a country) despite the fact that I had signed up merely because the first 2 weeks were free.
Although I'm native to 2 languages, I understand very well what it is like to learn a second language. Hence, when you become my student, I will teach you from a foreigner's perspective, from your perspective. I want to make you fall in love with English or Indonesian language just like my first Japanese teacher did with me.
Two years after graduating with a bachelor's degree in Japanese Language & Literature in Bandung, Indonesia, I got a scholarship from The Japan Foundation for a Long Term Training Program for Foreign Teachers of the Japanese Language in Urawa, Japan. Here's where I topped up my teaching talent with professional teaching skills.
For teaching English, I have obtained TEFL certification.
I started teaching English and Japanese at private homes and public evening courses when I was still a college student. That's when I came to realize that teaching a native language can be more challenging than teaching a second language. When a student asked me about expressions or grammar usage, I could give a more detailed explanation for Japanese language, but failed to do the same for English language. I became aware that there were a few things in English that I had taken for granted. I had never thought e.g. "Why use this word instead of this?" The only way I could explain an error was: "That just doesn't sound right to me."
Approximately 4 years later, I was offered to give private Indonesian lessons to a young Chinese lady who was married to an Indonesian. They spoke Chinese with each other. But, the husband had a business and wanted to run it together with his wife. Once again, I was faced with the same challenge, and even tougher, because Indonesian language at that time, in the late 1990s, wasn't familiar yet with spoken language. Our spoken language was actually our ethnic language, or Indonesian of an ethnic dialect version. That, varied (and still varies) widely from West to East. I can actually give a lecture on this topic. Long story short, I successfully made this young lady confused because much of what I taught her was correct grammatical Indonesian whilst her employees, like 99% of Indonesians, neglected grammar unless in a formal situation.
I ransacked the university's library where I worked, for books on English and Indonesian grammar. Through page after page, I felt compelled to answer the 'why's of my students.
Yes, my first formal job was as a Japanese Language Lecturer at a university in Bandung, Indonesia. For the love of language, and teaching, I seized the opportunity to learn about teaching English -- as a second language -- from my English lecturer colleagues. I was occasionally invited to events conducted by the English Department.
OTHER WORKING EXPERIENCE
5 years later, due to a change in circumstance, I moved to Jakarta and started a second formal job which lasted for 23 years: A Japanese - English - Indonesian interpreter & translator at a Japanese motorcycle manufacturing company. I became accustomed to the Japanese working mindset. But the most important thing is that's where I learned the usage of language in business terms. I wasn't teaching the language. I was using the language. Now I can assure you that, I'm teaching you what I have learned, and used, myself.
***aKOBE