Concord

Concord means compatibility, suitability, and so on. You know, in English there are certain rules for certain subjects. Be careful whether it's a man or a woman, countable or uncountable noun, and singular or plural.


For example, please find the incompatible uses in some sentences below :

1. Agung is a member of a band. She plays guitar.

2. She wake up at five o'clock in the morning everyday.

3. He gave me a buckets of roses before he was on his knee proposing me.

4. Every blogger should respect each others.

5. Indonesia has many great tourism object beside Bali.

6. Do you know KLa project? I love this bands. They mix music and lyric equally.

7. I saw there were much people attending Rossa's solo concert.


Happy analyzing
^_^

Enrich Your Vocabulary with Synonym (4)

Flying colors = brilliant, remarkable grade,

Weeping (n) = crying,

Crave (v) = need, hope, look forward,

Frighten (v) = scare, terrify, horrible (adj), fear (n),

Enrich Your Vocabulary with Synonym (3)

Condemnation (n) = punishment, sentence,

Unequivocal (adj) = decisive, firm, distinct, explicit,

Wrath (n) = anger, fury/furious (adj),

Maverick (n) = organization, club, association,

Linger (v) = to stay alive at the very last moment, to keep something before it's entirely over,

Drift off (v) = fly,

Be biased to = to have a tendency of something,

Divine (adj) = something related to God,

Ponder (v) = consider,

Dissilusion (n) = disappointment,

Enrich Your Vocabulary with Synonym (2)

Torrents (adv) =an expression to show that something comes in a heavy sum, example : (1) The rain came down in torrents yesterday (2) Torrent of words,

Adherent (n) = follower, zealot,

Homicide (n) = murder, slaying, killing, slaughter,

Snub (n) = insult (v), humiliate (v), offend (v), slight (n)

Blunt (adj) = honest, frank,

Villain (n) = criminal, bandit,

Commit (v) = do, udergo, undertake, execute,

Ecstatic (adj) = very happy,

Capital punishment =death punishment, death sentence,

Assault (n) = aggression, attack,

Enrich Your Vocabulary with Synonym

Condone (v) = forgive,

Bigotry (n) = fanaticism,

Lunacy (n) = madness, insanity,

Decry (v) = curse, condemn,

Kinship (n) = in family atmosphere, friendly,

Decent (adj) = polite, well mannered, courteous,

Snicker (n) = sound of giggling, laughing a lot,

Reap (v) = Get, obtain, receive,

Exceed (v) = beyond (adj),

Dishearten (v) = discourage,

See You in PB 09

Yesterday I went to pestablogger2008. It was fun. 50000 rupiahs for the ticket was nothing compared with what I got there. The lunch and snack package was so luxurious. I also got a cute T-shirt and a fancy notebook soft case. I met some new friends, among them Welly, Ina, and Bhayu. And finally I could see the man behind the scene like Ndorokakung, Iman Brotoseno, Enda Nasution, Chika, Herman Saksono, Nukman Luthfie, etc. I also saw some international bloggers such as Mr Brown, Mr Jeffooi, Mark, and Anthony. I could practice my English Listening by being their audience. They clearly said that Indonesia had many great places to visit beside Bali, but it hadn't been marketed well. It's been gnawing in my mind until now.

I learned a lot about Internet Marketing which material was presented by Nukman Luthfie. He broadened the audience's horizons in an insightful but funny way. There were many things we should consider about Internet Marketing, but Possesing Niche and Being respectful to our audiences were the keys that I could conclude.

But there was a sad story. In the middle of the break session I lose my ticket. Therefore, I missed the chance to win a MP3 player, IPod Nano, Microsoft and Nokia N series, Digital Camera, Personal Computer, and ultimately a Hewlet Packard Notebook. I know I might not win it but it's so painful to have no chance. There was no hope. I learned something. In this life, "hope" matters much to keep you lively and passionate.

That's all. I hope I can be a better blogger and win the awesome doorprizes. See you all in pestablogger 2009.

Analyze This!

Why I Love You

I have four specific reasons for loving you. First of all, you are gentle; you don't like shouting at others. In addition, you enjoy the same hobbies as I do, that is, reading, listening to rock music, and photography. In the third place, you are intelligent. Finally, I completely admire your long, straight, and black hair. Now I am sure that you are the girl whom I have been looking for here and there, for many, many years.


A Boring Film

Last Saturday night, I saw a boring film at the Empire 21 Theatre. In the film, the actresses and actors over-acted. They laughed and cried, for instance, 'too loudly' or unnaturally. The plot did not run smoothly, either. Almost throughout the show, the scene took place in a small police interrogation room. However, I enjoyed the film very much and was very anxious to follow the whole story. I even said to myself "Well, it's not too bad." What's more, the protagonist, and inexperienced actress, kept talking to the police officer; he interrogated her, as a matter of fact. In short, the film was about a 'chat' between the two. I should add that I did not see any film last Friday evening.

(Both paragraphs are cited from Write Well book-Improving Writing Skills, by Barli Bram).


So, what do you think?

Do you think which paragraph is better? Why? Happy analyzing :)

UPDATE 27 November 2008

I got two responses here. It seems that they hit the mark. I believe that most readers agree that the first paragraph is better than another one. As defined in the book, a paragraph is a group of sentences which contain relevant information about one main or central idea (Write Well-Barli Bram). Relevant information is the keyword. These relevant information support the topic sentence. Therefore, to create a good one, we need to include relevant information and exclude the opposite.

Cheers.
^_^

Minimum Requirements in Writing

Hi there :)

Do you know that in writing, there are Minimum Requirements we should obey in order to make a good one. You know, people make mistakes. Even experts sometimes make mistakes here and there when they write in English. But there are some mistakes you can not tolerate. If you break it, then you'll be regarded as a careless writer. We're not trying to be perfectionist but English has its rules by nature. Even it's not our mother tongue, we have the responsibility to write it as the way it is.

The Minimum Requirements are :

1. Concord
2. Finite verbs
3. Tenses
4. Verb groups
5. Articles
6. Punctuation
7. Spelling.
(Based on Write Well book, by Barli Bram)

For those who now just start to learn writing, I hope that these requirements don't discourage you to keep on practicing, moreover, they should motivate you to produce excellent English writings. Do you want to know more about each requirement?

Stay tune in this website. :)

Tenure and Blemish

Due to his age, my father ends his tenure at the company this month.

"Aaah, I almost did it perfectly before I realized that I missed in trigonometry problem.  That trigonometry set was the only blemish in today's examination.  But it's okay, I still did the rest of the problems correctly".

So guys, what do you think? What is this tenure and blemish?

Happy answering ^_^.  

  

Who is the Apple of Your Eyes?

Do you ever find that somebody in your surrounding gets most of attention from the others? Or maybe you have someone that you treat specially like he or she is the only one who gets it? He or she can be anyone. Most people put their couples as the lucky one. But it is not limited to them. You might have experienced that your youngest brother or sister got everything he/she wanted from your parents because he/she was special. Maybe he/she was the gender that your parents long to have. Or in the office, your boss doesn't treat his or her subordinates equally (in positive manner of course) as there's somebody who gets most of his or her attention, maybe due to his or her cheerfulness.

If you experience so, then you should call him or her the apple of someone's eyes. Your fellow at the office is the apple of your boss's eyes. Your little brother or sister is the apple of your parent's eyes. And maybe, your boy/girlfriend is the apple of your eyes.

And I put my girlfriend as the apple of my eyes because she is very special.

Below is a poem that I created for the apple of my eyes.

THE APPLE OF MY EYES

She was Dian I met her
in senior high school
she was enermously cute
with her eyeglasses

I gazed at her deeply
my heart beatin' fast
when everything was perfect
I could only say silly hello

She was the one whom I wrote
the confession of mine
my sense of love was expressed
the first time in my life

My mind kept imagining
she was beside me
when everything was perfect
words just faded away as I passed by

Now she is mine. She's the apple of my eyes.

She's the happiness I want to share, she's the apple of my eyes.

^_^

Idiom to notice : The apple of someone's eyes.

To Give, Give, and Give

Yesterday I had a conversation with my friend, ex-college friend precisely. Before I continue my story, let me tell you about our backgrounds. We were at the same faculty and major in college, Civil Engineering. She emphasized her study in building structure (bumped into many complex building calculations :)) while I emphasized in Construction Management. Now she's working on her path as a Structure Engineer in a malaysian company, and I'm keeping on dreaming about owning an architecture consultant firm with my brother :).

So, after greeting for courtesy, I asked her whether she was ready or no if someday I would have to consult her about building structure. She answered "Certainly! You can rely on me". "I'm capable with building and bridge structure" She added. And innocently I asked her about the cost "How much will it cost? Do you put it by percentage of budget or per meter square?". After that question I sniffed out different atmosphere between us. A sort of having been offended feeling.

Having been silent for a moment I broke the ice with a greeting. Then she straightly told me that not everything in this world should be monetized. "We are friend, aren't we?" She told me so. "I would be very happy if I could help my friend. So just feel free". Wow, I was a little bit surprised with that answer. Nowadays it's kind of scarce to find someone saying like she did. Or maybe it is just me who is narrow-minded.

However it is, I learn something. There is no need of reason to lending a hand to others. We should not be bothered with what we'll receive in return by helping people. Actually, this is a very simple rule of Marketing. It is said that we should give, give, and give to the would-be customers. The next thing they will do isn't very important. The most important thing to be kept in mind is we do it sincerely with our heart and soul. Then God will do the rest :) It works out as I put my friend's name on the top list when I think of the term of Structure Engineer :).




Idiom to notice :
1. To lend a hand = to help

See You All Tomorrow

Tomorrow there will be reunion of my senior high school fellows (SMUN 1 Palembang). We'll gather at The Pondok Indah Mall Jakarta at 13.00 o'clock. I still have no idea what we're going to do. But whatever it is, I hope the party will come of with a bang.

Hmm...long time no see my friends. See you all :)



Idiom to notice :
1. come of with a bang = lively party.

Being Grateful and Positive

It was about four years ago when my brother was accepted in one of prominent universities in Indonesia, ITB (Bandung Institute of Technology) . He chose Architecture as the field of study. The thing is, he did not register it through general test which was held by government, but he registered it through autonomous test held by ITB, which was more expensive.

Once he got the news, in hesitation he asked me what to do. I had been silent for a moment before finally I came up with some questions. "What did you write in the essay test?" I asked him. "I stated that my hobbies were drawing and sketching, and I felt that I could give the most out of myself in Architecture." He claimed.

"Then take it!"
"You like drawing and now you are an architecture student, isn't it perfect?"
"I know that you still want to challenge yourself by passing the government's test and paying cheaper registration fee."

"Uhm...ehm..." He mumbled.

"I tell you what, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush".

Then he said "Maybe you're right, there's no guarantee that I will pass the test". After that I convinced him to not worry about the money, just being a good student will surely pay everything. For the greater good sometimes you have to consider that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Good luck :)



Idiom to notice : a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

Treasure The Beatles Here There Everywhere Lyrics

Here, making each day of the year
Changing my life with a ..... of his hand
Nobody can ..... that there's something there

There, running my hands through his hair
Both of us thinking how good it can be
Someone is speaking but he doesn't know she's there

I want him everywhere and if ..... beside me
I know I need never care
But to love him is to need him everywhere
..... that love is to share

Each one ..... that love never dies
Watching his eyes and hoping I'm always there

To be there and everywhere
Here, there and everywhere

Amrozi Cs Into Death Sentence

For what they did six years ago in Bali, it stands to reason that they are sentenced into death. Now they are quarantined in Nusa Kambangan Prison and waiting for execution, it is just counting the days. As we all know they did the despicable destructive bombing in Bali on behalf of Islam religion. For me as a moslem, their radical minded action did not tell anything except brutality. War is over, and give peace a chance. These slogans deserve more propagation by us as human being, regardless religion, race, tribe, nation, etc. Peace everybody!



Note :
Stand to reason = should go without saying = sudah seharusnya.

Thief Accuses Other Thief

Hello there !

How are you today? Doing fine?

So, how do say that in Indonesian?

Yup, maling teriak maling. How about in English?

If you find someone near you behaving like that, then you should call him or her the put calling the kettle black.

UPDATE 9 November 2008
Put -> POT, the right one is the pot calling the kettle black.

Use of Articles

Articles are very important words that are sometimes referred to as Demonstrative Adjective because they do the work of adjectives. We cannot write English without having to use Articles in our sentences.

For example, we cannot write :
(a) There is car at garage.

We would have to rewrite the above sentence like this.
(b) There is a car at the garage.

There are three Articles : a, an, and the.

1. Indefinite Article
a and an are called Indefinite Articles because they do not clearly define or tell us anything about the person or thing that is spoken of.

example : - I saw a boy. (means-one boy or no particular boy)

The Indefinite Articles a and an must always be put before a singular countable noun.
The Indefinite Articles an is used before a singular countable noun that begins with a vowel sound.

Examples : an apple, an elephant, an island, an orange, an umbrella, an honest person, an hour.

It will be noticed that although honest and hour start with consonant h we use an because the h is silent. Hour is pronounced OUR, therefore it has an 'o' sound,hence we say an hour.

Exception : a university student, a useful animal, a European, a uniform, a unit.


2. Definite Article
The Definite Article The should be used in the following ways.

2.1 When we speak of a particular person or thing that is already known.
Ex : I gave him the book you lent me. (Here, the stands for a particular book)

2.2 The should be used before the names of rivers, seas, oceans, mountain ranges, groups of
islands, gulfs, natural bodies.
Ex : the Thames, the Pacific Ocean, the Himalayan mountains, the Gulf of Mexico, the sun,
the moon, the earth.

2.3 The should be used before the names of ships, important buildings, cinemas, hotels,
newspapers.
Ex : the Titanic, the City Hall, the 21 Cinema, the Semanggi Plaza, the Senayan Sport Hall.

2.4 The should be used before Superlative Adjectives.
Ex : the smallest boy, the most beautiful girl, the best picture, the first prize.

2.5 The is also used when we speak about a Noun in a general way or when a Singular Noun is
meant to represent a whole class : all.
Ex : The elephant is a useful animal. (meaning all types of elephants)
The tiger is a fierce animal. (meaning all tigers)

The Triumphant Barack Obama

Today is Barack Obama's. He easily defeated another candidate John McCain from The Republic Party. His name etched history as America's first black president. After struggling for about twenty one months, finally he ends it with triumph. It puts a bee in my bonnet that impossible is nothing.

Afterward, Obama has to race against time. He has to take the lid of economic crisis, two unfinished wars, and global uncertainty. Let's hope that he pay his promise to stand for all walks of life. But one thing for sure, we shouldn't rely on Obama or anyone else to make Changes. If we want to change the world better, we should start from changing ourselves and stand on our own feet.




Idiom to notice :
1. Put a bee in someone's bonnet = to have an idea
2. To take lid of something = to handle something
3. All walks of life = all communities regardless race, tribe, nation, social, economic, religion, etc.

Brrrr...Brrrr...Brrr...

A couple days ago my father was caught by cold.  He started coughing and sneezing. Unfortunately, he had to take an official trip to a remote area.  When he got back, his fever was getting worst that he could not leave his bed.

Yes. That is exactly what you have to do when you are under the weather.  When you are under the weather it is strongly suggested that you take a total rest before you get better and back to your activity.  Consuming balanced nutritous diet is considerably helpful to maintain your stamina.

Take care then :)    

Find The Lyrics of Ordinary People-John Legend

Girl I'm in love with you
This ain't the honeymoon
Past the ..... phase
Right in the thick of love
At times we get ..... of love
It seems like we ..... everyday

[Bridge]

I know I .....
And you made your mistakes
And we both still got room left to grow
And ..... love sometimes hurts
I still ..... you first
And we'll make this thing work
But I think we should take it slow

[Chorus]

We're just ordinary people
We don't know which way to go
Cuz we're ordinary people
Maybe we should take it slow (Take it slow oh oh ohh)
This time we'll take it slow (Take it slow oh oh ohh)
This time we'll take it slow

[Verse 2]

This ain't a movie no
No ..... ..... conclusion ya'll
It gets more confusing everyday
Sometimes it's heaven sent
Then we ..... back to hell again
We kiss and we ..... ..... on the way

[Bridge]

I hang up you call
We rise and we .....
And we feel like just walking away
As our love .....
We take second chances
Though it's not a fantasy
I still want you to stay

[Chorus]

We're just ordinary people
We don't know which way to go
Cuz we're ordinary people
Maybe we should take it slow (Take it slow oh oh ohh)
This time we'll take it slow (Take it slow oh oh ohh)
This time we'll take it slow

[Verse 3]

Take it slow
Maybe we'll live and .....
Maybe we'll ..... and burn
Maybe you'll stay, maybe you'll leave,
Maybe you'll .....
Maybe another fight
Maybe we won't survive
But maybe we'll .....
We never know baby youuuu and I

[Chorus]

We're just ordinary people
We don't know which way to go
Cuz we're ordinary people
Maybe we should take it slow (Heyyy)
We're just ordinary people
We don't know which way to go
Cuz we're ordinary people
Maybe we should take it slow (Take it slow oh oh ohh)
This time we'll take it slow (Take it slow oh oh ohh)
This time we'll take it slow