Proficiency in English

Proficiency in English

For the average Indonesian today, learning and understanding
the English language will never bring him or her to the
proficiency achieved by many pre-war Indonesians who experienced
the Dutch educational system in the Dutch language.

The lack of experience during childhood in conversing with
English speaking people is the main reason that proficiency (and
fluency) cannot be attained.

I read an article in The Jakarta Post (Nov. 4) entitled New
government economic policy. My first question before reading the
whole article was: Which new government was it? I was wondering
-- with my limited knowledge of English language -- whether this
sentence is correct. Should it not have read Government's new
economic policy?

It is hard to learn a language if one does not practice
directly with native speakers from as early as possible in
childhood. That is why rich parents send their children abroad in
order to get the experience that cannot be obtained in their own
country. We must find another way of teaching English in
Indonesia if we want to get the best results i.e. proficiency in
the English language.

ALOYSIUS HARYONO

Jakarta