Native Speaker di Darul Hijrah

WELCOME ABOARD TO DARUL HIJRAH MISTER MATT

Foto diambil pada saat kami Hiking di Gunung Mandiangin

Alhamdulillah pada kesempatan kali ini saya berkesempatan untuk berbincang-bincang dengan native speaker yang ditugaskan di Darul Hijrah Mr. Matt Grimes, Beliau adalah salah seorang yang mengikuti program English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) dari AMINEF, ETA adalah program yang diselenggarakan oleh Aminef (American Indonesian Exchange Foundation)  yaitu  yayasan yang bergerak dalam bidang pertukaran budaya antara Indonesia dan Amerika, dan sebagai santri Darul Hijrah berbanggalah karena ini menandakan bahwa Darul Hijrah sudah semakin Go Internasional.

Percakapan disimbolkan dengan huruf R untuk “reporter” dan M untuk “mister”.

R : Hallo Mister, Are u busy at the moment, and if u don’t mind probably we can ask you some questions ?

M : No I dont’mind at all, please give me questions.

R : How are you right now ?

M : I’m great, thanks for asking.

R : Is it your first time to come to indonesia ?

M : Yes, it’s my first time coming to anywhere in ASIA.

Wow sob, ternyata mister matt baru pertama kali datang ke Asia, dan tempat pertama yang beliau tempati sekawasan asia tenggara adalah pondok Darul Hijrah.

R : Up to now, what do you like about Indonesia ?

M : Well, I think what I like most about Indonesia is how nice the people are here, My neighbours are great, they wanna talk to me, I really like that, I feel like in a family already, and the food also delicious.

Artinya kita harus bangga menjadi orang indonesia sob, orang amerika saja mengakui betapa ramahnya orang indonesia.

R : What food do you like to eat here ?

M : I think soto banjar and also sate ayam.

Ternyata makanan favorit mister Matt adalah soto banjar dan sate ayam, ini info bagi kalian yang mau mentraktir mister, cari aja warung soto dan warung sate.

R : How many classes do you teach in Darul Hijrah ?

M : I teach three classes, class III experiment, class four, and class five, and then also we have a debate club that I coach, and also english club for class two and class three students, and also the teachers club for learning english.

R : Do you think it is different to teach in Darul Hijrah in comperassion with other places ?

M : Yeah, I think a big difference with other places, students go home at the end of the day, so they come in the morning, and maybe dictated and they have other things in their mind, at Darul Hijrah, everyone is there to learn all the time in practical their languages, so I think that’s very good, and I think the students here are very smart, they work hard, harder than other places.

Mister Matt ternyata menyukai karakter orang yang mau bekerja keras dan berusaha dengan giat untuk mencapai tujuannya.

R : What stages you faced and dealt with in aminef before you come here ?

M : So i actually, I applied, I am requested to came here one year ago, in october, I got teacher from my college to write my recomendation so I could come here, and then I waited until march, six month I waited, and they told me I would coming to Indonesia, and then I said “yes i wanna come”, and then they bought my plane ticket and they told me that I would be teaching here at Darul Hijrah, I earn that in july, and then  I came here in august after having training in Bandung for three weeks.

R : What is your impression when you came here for the first time ?

M : Well, it’s very different then my home, I think I live in a city where many streets and houses and people, and here is a little more quiet and I think I like that, so it is different but I’m happy.

Haha... mohon dimaklumi ya mister, kalau keadaan disini tidak sama dengan keadaan mister sewaktu di rumah.

R : Are you comfortable with your job and all the responsibilities here ?

M : Yeah, I think it’s challenging. I have to work hard to get ready, because every class is different and need different thing, and I like that, I think it’s the right amount of work right now, I feel busy but I don’t feel stress or “galau”

Dua jempol untuk mister sob, kita harus mencontoh tradisi orang barat, bagaimana mister menghadapi tanggung jawab sebagai sesuatu yang harus ditaklukkan, menghadapi berbagai kesibukan dengan kerja keras, dan akhirnya beliau mengatakan “saya merasa sibuk tetapi saya tidak merasa stress atau (galau)”.

R :  what is your opinion about students in Darul Hijrah ?

M : I think I like everyone seems to wanna meet me to say “hi “to me all the time, and I think the students in the class they work hard, they are well-behave, sometimes in America that doesn’t happen, so it is very nice that here students respects their teachers. I think that some students are afraid to talk to me, and I think that of course cause I am the native speaker and they don’t speak english very well, but I think I am here so they can practice their english, so I really like talking to all of the students so no matter what you should come talk to me.

Bagi para santri Darul Hijrah, jangan mengecewakan beliau, dan hormatilah semua orang yang pernah memberimu ilmu walau satu kata, karena itulah kita dikenal dengan santri yang berbudi baik.

R : Is it comfortable to teach english in darul hijrah ?

M : Yes I do, I had a really good teaching day today, I really have fun here, I really enjoy teaching here.

R : Finally can you gives us some advices to improve our english ?

M : I think the most important thing is just use your english as much as possible to practice, it can be a practice with your friends, practice with your teachers and practice as much as possible, don’t be affraid to make mistake, you learn the most when you make a mistake and you learn why you made a mistake, so just be ready to do that. And my final word is I would like to say thank you to all of Darul Hijrah’s family for having me, allowing me to come here and accepting me.

Betul sekali mister, menurut beliau bahwa berani untuk mempraktekkan itulah sesuatu yang lebih utama, karena “language is habit”, bahasa itu adalah suatu kebiasaan, apalah artinya walaupun kita mempunyai banyak kosakata yang tidak kita gunakan, apakah cuma menjadi tumpukan kertas ataukah akan menjadi kecakapan dan kebisaan kita dalam berbahasa, kitalah yang memilihnya sob, so jangan takut untuk mempraktekkan bahasa, karena sesungguhnya semua orang yang ada di dunia ini juga sama seperti kita sob yang masih belajar dan haus akan pengetahuan. buktikan, dan tunjukkan bahwa saya bisa lebih baik dari teman satu kamar saya, senior, atau bahkan guru atau dosen saya dalam berbahasa. So keep spirit for improving your language.