Learning English to get a better job
Learning English to get a better job
Leo Wahyudi S
Contributor
Jakarta
Changes in business practices as a result of globalization
have unavoidably altered the way companies recruit employees.
A formal education is no longer enough for potential employees
hoping to hook on with most companies. Besides having a formal
education, job seekers today also require additional skills.
This might explain why professional courses teaching skills
such as foreign languages, computer proficiency and management
are mushrooming in the country.
Many companies today, regardless of what sector they operate
in, now demand English proficiency as a prerequisite for
potential employees.
English courses have mushroomed in nearly every major city in
the country, but not all of them are qualified to meet the needs
of students.
For Global Step, one of major English courses in Jakarta, the
priority is not only on providing the best programs possible but
also on accommodating busy students.
Erikson Hutasoit, the English Program Director at Global Step,
said his course now offered English lessons over the telephone
for busy students.
"Most of our students are busy, which is why we have designed
special learning programs that fit their schedules," Erikson
said.
Regular classes in which students are required to sit in a
classroom with a teacher are becoming a thing of the past.
Today's students require more flexibility and need to be able to
set their own schedules and take classes at their offices or
homes.
"Learners who are preoccupied with their hectic schedule can,
for example, dial a free access number for the course. Stand-by
tutors are ready to pick up the phone at any time from 9 a.m. to
6 p.m. to start the learning process," Erikson said.
Global Step has about 300 active students. Some of them choose
to come to the course for private classes, while others prefer to
do their assignments by e-mail or facsimile, he said.
Other programs take a different approach to the learning
process. At EF Language Program Abroad, a well-known
international English course, about 80 percent of the teachers at
the Jakarta branch are native speakers.
The native speakers are needed to bridge the language and
cultural blocks often considered to be stumbling blocks for
foreign language learners, Arleta Darusalam, EF country director,
told The Jakarta Post. She said a total of 250 native speakers
were teaching at EF nationwide.
Besides hiring many native speakers, EF also offers a program
that allows its students to practice the language in English-
speaking countries.
Language Travel lets students travel and learn in an English-
speaking country for between two and four weeks during the school
holidays. This program is specifically for learners between the
ages of eight and 18.
"The program is not compulsory as it is only for those who are
interested and for those who can afford it," Arleta said, adding
that EF was segmented for middle and upper-class students.
EF also offers the High School Year program for enthusiastic
learners, in which students study at high schools abroad as part
of a student exchange program.
"We have to follow a strict selection process in accordance
with the government policies of the destination countries,"
Arleta said, adding that she is a former exchange student.
For more than a decade, EF has sent an average of 100 students
a year abroad to take part in the program.
Students are also welcome to learn through the Internet.
Arleta said she estimated that more than 1,000 people have
studied English through EF's website www.englishtown.com.
Each program and method has its own advantages and
disadvantages, depending on the background and profession of the
student.
For the 85-year-old Abdul Madjid, who is a member of the House
of Representatives, studying English over the telephone might be
the best choice.
"I prefer learning English over the phone because I can
practice the language from my desk," Madjid said, adding that
this method allowed him to converse in English with his tutors
every day.
Madjid said that he also reads The Jakarta Post every day to
improve his English, while at the same time getting the latest
information about local and foreign issues. After reading the
paper, he telephones a tutor to discuss some of the stories he
read.
He said that for an elderly learner like him, learning a
foreign language by practice was far more helpful due to his
waning memory. He finds this method effective in improving his
ability to speak English.
"It is important for me because I can discuss politics,
democracy and the like in support of my position as a legislator
in charge of foreign affairs," he said.
After all, learning will only be effective when the learners
find a method they are comfortable with.