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