With his uninspired face, my grandpa smiled when I saw him at the hospital today. He looked pale, hopeless, and frustrated. The disease, that no doctor is sure enough what it is, has been bothering him for a while now. I remember when I went to my village in East Bali, it was two months …
Putri Menjangan, a Fulfilling Recreation for You and Nature
What do you say for a peaceful place in Bali that has a beautiful marine life and huge conservation area? If you are a sea person and want to contribute to mangrove and coral reef conservation, then a place in Northwest Bali called Putri Menjangaan is for you. Putri Menjangan is a new tourist attraction …
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Raja Ampat Beyond Diving and Snorkeling
Raja Ampat is a group of islands located in the west tip off Bird’s Head Peninsula, West Papua, Indonesia. This scenic place, comprising 1,500 islands and 100 villages, has been dubbed as ‘The Last Paradise’ and ‘Underwater Paradise’ by many people. This labels are not without a reason. According to the Nature Conservancy and Conservation …
Encountering Indonesian as Spoken by the Papuan
The island of New Guinea, including both the country Papua New Guinea and the Indonesian provinces, has 15% of all the world’s known languages. Papua is home to 307 local languages, but almost everybody speaks Indonesian. For many people, Indonesian is a second language, but in some areas, like Raja Ampat, children learn Indonesian first. …
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Bahasa Biak Beteu/Beser
Kali ini saya akan berbagi ilmu tentang bahasa Biak Beteu atau Beser yang merupakan salah satu dialek bahasa Biak. Bahasa ini digunakan oleh masyarakat suku Biak Beteu yang mendiami beberapa kampung di Pulau Waigeo (Waigio Barat dan Selatan), Pulau Misool, Pulau Mansuar, dan Pulau Gam, di Kepulauan Raja Ampat, Provinsi Papua Barat. Seperti di daerah …
Why Americans Tip Waiters; a Closer Look at the American Tipping Norm
Tipping rules vary from one culture to another, and the U.S. has its own way. Coming from a culture where tipping is less demanding, American tipping norm is something new for me. In fact, my first culture shock in the U.S. was when I received a bill with tip calculator telling me how much to …
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How to Deal with Procrastination
I was looking at the screen working on a math problem that I hated. I started to feel uncomfortable. It was as if somebody whispered in my ear “Check your Facebook first, and come back to your task when you feel better.” I start listening to that devil. I opened Facebook, chatted with my friends, …
Book Review: Learning How to Learn
I took an online course by Barbara Oakley called Learning How to Learn. I learned so much from the course that I read her book A Mind for Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science (Even if You Flunked Algebra). I think the substile minimizes the scope of the book. Oakley talks about learning …
8 Surprising Discoveries on my First American Trip
I am on six-month study tour of the US. Although I knew what America looked like from movies, news, and friends, the actual experience of being in America has been beyond my expectation. Almost everything that I experience is overwhelmingly new – from staying in heated houses to figuring out city transportation, from drinking …
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The Four Components in Teaching Foreign Languages
In Teaching ESL/EFL Listening and Speaking, I. S. P. Nation and Jonathan Newton assert that a good language class has an appropriate balance of four components: input, output, language focus, and fluency development. They define each component: “Learning through meaning-focused input; that is, learning through listening and reading where the learner’s attention is on the …
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