ER: That Perfect Song

I introduced my students to English e-Reader, another free source of graded readers. While ER Central has several levels in numbers, English e-Reader uses CEFR Levels. The texts or stories are longer on English e-Reader. Once students log in to the site and read a story, their progress will be automatically recorded and they can check their track of which story they are still reading and which they have finished reading. 

Another thing I like about this site is that English e-Reader has that feature that allows me to customize the reading view. I can adjust the font size and color as well as the layout of the text. I'm a visual learner, so that lets me enjoy the reading experience more. 

I have also tried reading a few stories there. One is an A1-level (or Starter) story, titled Sister Love. The site categorizes it as a crime story. It is written by John Escott, consisting of 7 pages with a total of 2,704 words. It is surely a short one; still, the story is interesting.

Sister Love, by John Escott

It tells the story of Marcia and his partner, Howard. They loved each other, but things got more interesting when Howard began to meet Karin, Marcia's sister, more frequently. Apparently, Karin was also interested in that man and cunningly-plus-secretly flirted with him. Things went fishy and of course, Marcia learned the bitter truth about their affair. She surprisingly did something to her sister to get Howard back to her in the end.

My students' assignment this week is to choose and write about a perfect soundtrack for the story they have read. I want to pick a soundtrack for that story I have read also. 

For this love triangle, considering Marcia's effort to win Howard back, I'd like to use Jason Mraz's I Won't Give Up.

When I look into your eyes,
it's like watching the night sky

Or a beautiful sunrise;
Well, there's so much they hold

It was Marcia who first met and loved Howard. Then, Karin started to see the 'beauty' in Howard and fell in love with him. I'd agree that what Karin did was mean. Wicked. Both Marcia and Karin made their effort to win Howard, regardless Karin's evil intention to steal Howard from her sister. Neither of the sisters gave up on their struggle to get the man's attention.

Well, I won't give up on us
even if the skies get rough

I'm giving you all my love;
I'm still looking up

Marcia could have confronted them when she secretly found out their affair, but she didn't. She pretended that she knew nothing. She still hoped that Howard would turn back to him and somehow, she let them meet each other while waiting and preparing her best move. 

And when you're needing your space

To do some navigating

I'll be here patiently waiting

To see what you find

I'm imagining this part of the song being played with a piano, no vocal, as Marcia stealthily witness her lover and sister affair behind their back. She was heartbroken and I guess she must have been angry, but she decided to hold her back and wait. Haha.

I don't wanna be someone
who walks away so easily

I'm here to stay and make
the difference that I can make

So, I guess the Mraz's song is suitable to accompany the story. It beautifully articulates both sisters' effort to win Howard's affection and their not giving up. 

Want to check what my students pick for the story they have read? Well, here's the list of their blogs and the songs they chose. Go, check their updates.

• Yohanna Amanda Putri - Can't Take My Eyes Off You by Frankie Valli (covered by Joseph Vincent)
• Johanna Jerusha Prasodjo - Lose Yourself by Eminem
• Vinsensius Brahmantya Adityawan - 
• Sony Chrissetiyaki - All I Ask by Adele
• Theresia Ratna Shela Puspita Sari - 
• Gracia Marchelly - Alone by Alan Walker
• Diki Setyawan Kristiananda - Goodbye to a World by Porter Robinson 
• Yeremia Edo Surya Noegraha - We Don't Talk Anymore by Charlie Puth (feat. Selena Gomez)
• Melkisedek Osibas Tauho - Believer by Imagine Dragons
• Emmanuela Kurnianti - You and Me by Lifehouse 
• Nevel Petroza Andrew - You've Got a Friend in Me by Randy Newman
• Tri Widhiastuti
• Nola Leticia Luntungan - Thank You for Loving Me by Bon Jovi

Do you want to share any story you have read? Can you think of a soundtrack that perfectly suits the story?

ER Assignment #2: I think, I don't think...

Even when we're talking about the same thing or topic, we might have a different opinion from others--and that's okay actually. That also applies to the discussion on reading interest and habit.

Some might think that reading is fun, while others don't really enjoy it. I might prefer a particular genre or topic to read, but my friends might roll their eyes when they find out that I love reading a certain book. Many can read texts quickly and fast, while others, including me, often need to read and reread a sentence to really grab its meaning. 

Today's online discussion I had with my students is about our opinion on reading. We need to respond to these eight statements. 

1. Reading in my first language is fun. 
2. Reading English is difficult. 
3. I should usually look up new words in my dictionary.
4. Reading English is boring. 
5. It is easier to read about sports than science. 
6. If I read very fast, it is hard to understand the meaning. 
7. Reading out loud is a good idea. 
8. Reading English is fun.

I think I'd agree with the first statement. Of course reading in Bahasa Indonesia is (still) fun, although I do enjoy reading English books, too. I would carefully choose what I want to read, which includes selecting the topics and the authors. I am easily interested in an article when I know who writes it. I fall in love with certain authors or writers, whose writing is systematically composed and style is both engaging and convenient to follow. 

Reading in English can also be difficult for me, again, based on the authors and the topics. Even if the language is difficult, with complex structures of sentences and unfamiliar words, I'd still love to read the material if it's written by a certain author or it discusses a topic I love. And when I come across difficult words, I sometimes need to consult an online dictionary (I have a dictionary app on my phone too). I'll write about online dictionaries next time. 

And when I have to read those 'challenging' books or articles, I often have to slow down my reading speed. Rereading a single sentence or a paragraph and even reading out loud helps me much in understanding those tough materials!

Talking about my favorite genre or topic, I'd easily (and proudly) say that I always enjoy reading sci-fi or fantasy stories (Magic always excites me! I'm not into occultism, tho. LOL). I used to read many novels. Nowadays, I'd rather read non-fiction: self-help, personal development, communication, or even psychology. And I'd admit that I enjoy reading books or articles on Christian spirituality too. Sports? That's not my cup of tea. 

A few weeks ago, there's this challenge I joined on Facebook. I was asked to share seven book covers, without providing any explanation or reason. But of course, I picked those seven books because I love them and I want to encourage my FB friends to read them too. Here are those books, 

1. How to Talk so Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk
2. Boundaries
3. Mere Christianity
4. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
5. Talk Like TED
6. Matinya Kepakaran, or originally The Death of Expertise
7. Judy Moody Menaklukan Dunia

Wanna read what my students think of those eight statements related to reading? Check their recent blog posts below.

• Yohanna Amanda Putri, who finds it challenging to read in English. Awesome!
• Johanna Jerusha Prasodjo. Jojo thinks that reading out loud is a bad idea. 
• Angel Indrawati Intan Wiyoso; she's eager to learn more new words in English. Cool!
• Vinsensius Brahmantya Adityawan, who think that learning English is important. It is indeed.
• Sony Chrissetiyaki. Quietness is his reading company.
• Theresia Ratna Shela Puspita Sari. I could learn Javanese from her.
• Gracia Marchelly. Pssst. She likes reading out loud. 
• Diki Setyawan Kristiananda; now he gets more challenged to read in English. Way to go, Dik!
• Yeremia Edo Surya Noegraha -- a football enthusiast here.
• Melkisedek Osibas Tauho. He loves football!
• Rista Arin Ningsih -- she got challenged to read more in English.
• Emmanuela Kurnianti -- well, she prefers a quiet place when reading.

What about you? Please leave your comments below.

Teaching Extensive Reading Course at PBI, UKSW

 Hi!

First of all, actually, this is not the first blog I created. I have my personal blog as well as another teaching blog (in Bahasa Indonesia, not yet updated). Hopefully, I can update this blog more regularly. But for sure, I will often update this blog, at least once a week.

That's because this semester, I'm teaching an extensive reading course at PBI, UKSW. This is not my first time teaching an ER course. Years ago, when I first taught at PBI too, they trusted me with an ER course. Now that I'm back at PBI (after several years working in Magelang, managing schools), I'm trusted to teach this course again. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Daniel Kurniawan (@dankuur) on Oct 23, 2019 at 5:27am PDT

(You might want to check this post I have on Instagram. It was last year when I taught Extensive Reading at both PBI and Sastra Inggris program.)

What's new this semester is that we're still doing remote teaching and learning because of the COVID-19 pandemic. We used to have book clubs or conferences in the classroom. I would invite students to have an individual conference with me occasionally. And students would hand-write and submit book reports weekly. But now, here we are with this online teaching. 

So, instead of asking our students to submit their hand-written book reports, we have decided to go online and use a weblog! So, here I am. With this new blog. But I have promised myself to regularly update this blog not only for the extensive reading course I'm teaching. I also plan to share ideas and stories related to my teaching. #fingerscrossed

Let me end this post by inviting you to watch this short clip introducing the Extensive Reading course we have at PBI, UKSW. Ciao!