Saturday, June 27, 2009

The Count of Monte Cristo

A young sailor named Edmond Dantes returned home from a dangerous voyage. Since the captain of the ship Leclere died during the voyage, Edmond Dantes took over the command of the ship Pharaon which was owned by Morrel. Morrel liked Edmond and promoted him to be the new captain of the Pharaon. Dantes was well-liked by all of the sailors, except Danglars, who was jealous of Edmond's favorable position. Edmond asked for Morrel’s consent to visit his father and then to see Mercedes, his fiance.

When Edmond hurried to Mercedes’ house, she was having an unpleasant talk with Fernand, a soldier who loved her so much and wanted her to be his wife. But Mercedes was true to Edmond. Finally, unable to bear the sight of the happy couple, Fernand rushed out of the house. Then, Edmond and Mercedes planned their marriage,

One day Fernand, Danglars and Caderousse, Edmond’s father’s neighbor, drank together and they conspired to crash the wedding of the two lovers and they would also like to denounce Edmond Dantes as an enemy of the King.

The big wedding feast was prepared and soon the celebration began. Suddenly soldiers barged into the hall, interrupting the feast and arresting the bridegroom, Edmond. The reason for the arrest was not stated. Everyone was shocked, but Edmond believed that it was just a mistake or misunderstanding.

Villefort, the district magistrate, was told that Edmond was a Bonapartist conspirator. Though it looked as though Edmond had tried to help Napoleon, actually the young sailor was simply following orders given to him by his late captain. One of the orders was to deliver a letter to someone in Paris. As Villefort questioned Edmond, Edmond showed him the letter, hoping to reveal his innocence. Villefort read the letter and he was so shocked to see that it was addressed to his father, Noirtier who was a Napoleon supporter. Hoping to destroy any evidence that he was helping the father whom he had disowned, Villefort burned the letter, telling Edmond never to speak about the affair again. Edmond was told that he would be released, but the sailor was forced to stay in prison for the night.

Edmond believed Villefort. But what happened then? Edmond was taken by soldiers to the Chateau d’If, a very well-known prison due to its bad condition. Edmond didn’t know what to do. Villefort had betrayed him.

As the years passed, Edmond really lost his spirit. He feared he was going mad. In his twelfth year, he wanted to die. But one night he heard a scrape on the wall of his room made of stones. The next night the scrape was heard again. He thought someone might be giving him a signal, so he knocked the back of the chair against the wall. Then Edmond broke a mug and used the broken mug as a scraping tool to chip away the plaster of the stone. He did it every day. Before a jailor entered his room to bring food and drink for him, he closed the wall with a table.

Days by days Edmond chipped away the plaster. Meanwhile, a person next to his room also scraped the plaster from the opposite ends. Finally, they succeeded in moving the big stone. An old man entered Edmond’s room and introduced himself as Father Faria, whom the jailors called “The Mad Priest.” They became friends and often communicated with each other. When a jailor was going to bring food and drink, they moved back the position of the stone.

Father Faria was an Italian, a man of the church. He was an educated man. Political enemies had caused his arrest after the death of the rich Cardinal Spada, who had protected Faria and treated him like a son. Edmond felt that his whole world had turned over. For the next few weeks, the two men used the passageway freely to go between Edmond’s dungeon and the priest’s cell.

During the next year and a half, Faria taught Edmond many things and Edmond made rapid progress. Without realizing it, Edmond began to adopt Faria’s refined quiet way of speaking and moving. Soon the rough sailor vanished, and an educated young gentleman emerged. Faria also declared Edmond his heir. At his death, all the riches that he inherited from Cardinal Spada would belong to Edmond.

One day they planned an escape. Faria showed Edmond a treasure map, a map of the Island of Monte Cristo. In this island there were jewels, gold bars, and silver household objects hidden in one of the caves. Edmond wanted to escape with Faria. Unfortunately, Faria was sick and dead several days later.

After fourteen years in the Chateau d’If, Edmond managed to escape. He was free. And then he became a rich man and used the name the Count of Monte Cristo. Edmond wanted to take revenge against his enemies: Danglars, Villefort, and Fernand. He got the information from Caderousse that these three men were responsible for his suffering. The Count of Monte Cristo did a business with Danglars and Villefort. Of course, these two men didn’t know that the Count of Monte Cristo was actually Edmond. With his strategy, Edmond succeeded in making them go bankrupt. They lost in their investment. Villefort were so shocked to see the fact that he lost a lof of money and that the Count of Monte Cristo was Edmond. To make it worse, Villefort’s wife poisoned herself and her son. Finally, Villefort went mad. Danglars felt the same way as Villefort. But Edmond decided to show mercy on Danglars because he was sorry for what had happened to Villefort’s wife and son.

Edmond’s next target was Fernand. Edmond met Mercedes who had become Fernand’s wife. They had a son named Albert. Mercedes didn’t know what had really happened to Edmond and Edmond explained everything. Fernand was very angry to know that Edmond was still alive. Finally Mercedes and her son left home. They didn’t respect Fernand. Fernand shot himself. He didn’t stand it any more. He had so many problems and he faced accusation in the court.


(I summarized this story from the novel The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, published by Baronet Books, New York)

Monday, May 25, 2009

These & Those

Sebenarnya materi ini merupakan pelajaran yang sangat dasar sekali. Tetapi kenyataannya masih banyak pelajar bahasa Inggris yang bingung mengenai penggunaan kedua kata ini. Baiklah kita mulai saja...!

These adalah bentuk jamak dari this.
Contoh:
This book is very interesting.
= Buku ini sangat menarik.
These books are very interesting.
= Buku-buku ini sangat menarik.

Those adalah bentuk jamak dari that.
Contoh:
That tiger is big.
= Harimau itu besar.
Those tigers are big.
= Harimau-harimau itu besar.


Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Non-restrictive Clause

Non-restrictive clause adalah klause adjektiva yang semata-mata memberikan keterangan tambahan pada nomina yang mendahuluinya, namun keterangan tambahan tersebut tidaklah begitu penting seperti halnya dalam restrictive clause. Atau dengan kata lain, keterangan tambahan tersebut bisa kita hilangkan karena nominanya sudah tertentu dan sudah dimengerti.

Non-restrictive clause dalam kalimat ditulis dengan menggunakan tanda koma (,).

Contoh:

Mr. Rahman, who lives next door, is a good neighbor.

CNN, which broadcasts actual news, is my favorite TV station.

I like reading The Firm, which was written by John Grisham.

Budi, who is shining my shoes, is a student.

Smallpox, which once killed thousands of people every year, has now been

wiped out.

Friday, May 8, 2009

Restrictive Clause

Restrictive clause adalah klausa adjektiva yang digunakan untuk memberikan tambahan informasi yang bermanfaat bagi nomina yang mendahuluinya dan informasi tersebut membedakan nomina itu dari yang lain.

Contoh:

Yesterday I met an old man who could fortell the future.

The book which you lent me is very interesting.

This is the place that I visited two years ago.

It was Hasan who called me up.

The boy who is shining my shoes is a student.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Popular Proverb (10)

Action speaks louder than words.
  • Banyak kerja sedikit bicara.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Download Game Hangaroo

Belajar bahasa Inggris sambil bermain sangatlah menyenangkan. Untuk menambah koleksi games yang bersifat edukatif, berikut ini saya sajikan sebuah game yang bernama Hangaroo. Melalui game ini Anda bisa bermain tebak kata bersama teman-teman atau keluarga Anda.

Silahkan download di sini (688 KB).

Monday, March 30, 2009

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Huckleberry Finn lived in the little town of St. Petersburg, Missouri. His father was the town drunk. Huck spent most of his life fishing on the banks of the Mississippi, sleeping in doorways, and having great adventures with his friend Tom Sawyer.

Things were always pretty dull until Huck and Tom discovered hidden treasure. They found twelve thousand dollars in gold. It was money that had been buried by robbers, so Judge Thatcher decided it was rightfully Huck’s and Tom’s. Each of them got six thousand dollars. The judge put the money in the bank for them and each of them got an allowance of a dollar a day.

Unfortunately, Huck’s father, Pap, was a drunken father. He seldom went home. Huck was scared of Pap because he hit Huck so much. He often forced Huck to withdraw some money from the bank.

Every once in a while Pap locked Huck in the old cabin and went to the store to trade fish for whiskey. He would fetch it home and get drunk. Then he would lock the door at night and put the key under his head alongside his gun. Huck couldn’t stand it any longer, so he planned to escape.

Huck found an old rusty saw with a broken handle. When Pap was away, Huck started sawing the end of the cabin behind a table. It was a long and tiring job! Before running away, he tried to design the place in such a way that people would think that he was killed by someone.

Huck headed for Jackson’s Island. Then he met Jim, a slave who escaped from his master. They became good friends and experienced many things together. They floated towards freedom on a raft down the Mississippi river. On their journey, they also encountered thieves and liars who said that they were a king and a duke. These two men were very cunning. They liked to lie to and deceive other people. But finally, Huck managed to reveal those two men’s bad deeds and expose the frauds.

Note: I summarized this story from the novel
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, published by
Baronet Books, New York.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Idioms Using the Word 'Win'

We have two idioms using the word ‘win’. These are quite common idioms and if you start to use them then people will really be surprised and impressed.

The first one is ‘stand to win’. We use this idiom when there is a strong possibility that if you do something then you will surely be successful. It sometimes refers to money but not always.

‘Tell your friend to enter the competition. It is easy and if he does he stands to win some fantastic prizes from KGRE.’

Here is another example for you.

‘The famous singer stands to win a lot of new fans if she visits Bali to sing at the special concert for World Peace in June.’

The second idiom today is to ‘win hands down’. We use this idiom to describe how someone or something has won a contest or competition very easily indeed. Let's use it in the past tense today and I hope that the meaning is clear to you in this example.

‘She won the contest hands down. She knew all the answers to the questions and the other contestants were just not good enough.’

‘stands to win’ — ‘punya kesempatan untuk menang’

‘won hands down’ — ‘menang mutlak’

Source: www.kangguru.org

Friday, March 27, 2009

Activities in the Spare Time

Singgih : What do you usually do in your spare time, Heru?

Heru : In my spare time I usually read books or magazines.

Singgih : What book do you like to read?

Heru : I like to read almost all kinds of books. For me, as long as the books can give benefit and add to my knowledge, I’ll read the books.

Singgih : Yeah, I know you’re really a bookworm!

Heru : We must make reading our habit. Unfortunately, reading habit in Indonesia is still low.

Singgih : By the way, what magazine do you usually read?

Heru : I subscribe to English magazine and computer magazine. I try to improve my English by reading English magazines. As you know, I’m also a computer freak. So, I’m very fond of getting new information or knowledge about computer, especially about new hardware and software. How about you, Singgih? What do you do in your spare time?

Singgih : I like listening to music, especially classical music.

Heru : Oh… that’s great! I like classical music, too.

Singgih : Bethoven and Mozart are my favorite composers. Their music is so great and melodious!

Heru : I agree with you.

Singgih : Well Heru… I think it’s going to rain. So, I have to go home now. Maybe I’ll come here again some day.

Heru : Yeah, I hope we can meet again and continue our talk about classical music.

Singgih : Sure, I promise I’ll come again. See you, Heru!

Heru : See you!

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Idioms Using Dog & Fish

Today's idioms are idioms using animals. There are so many idioms with animals in English. Sometimes they are easy to understand but sometimes they are not. The first one today is to ‘work like a dog’. It means that you work very, very hard.

‘John is just so busy at work. He never has time to have lunch. He works 18 hours a day, seven days a week! John works like a dog.’

Our second idiom today is a little more difficult to understand. Sometimes when somebody drinks a lot we say he or she ‘drinks like a fish’. But we most often use this idiom if someone drinks a lot of alcohol.

‘When my friend James comes to visit I have to buy lots of beer. He drinks like a fish.’

Today's idioms were ‘to work like a dog’, meaning to work very hard. In Bahasa Indonesia that's like ‘bekerja keras’. And ‘to drink like a fish’, which means to drink a lot, especially a lot of alcohol. In Bahasa Indonesia that's ‘suka minum terutama minuman alkohol’. Try and use those as soon as you can. It will help you to remember them.

Source: www.kangguru.org

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Jawaban Latihan Present Perfect ContinuousTense

Berikut ini adalah jawaban atas Latihan Present Perfect Continuous Tense yang diberikan beberapa hari yang lalu.

1.
They …….. chess for two hours. (play)
(+) They have been playing chess for two hours.
(-) They haven’t been playing chess for two hours.
(?) Have they been playing chess for two hours?
2. The secretary ……... letters since this morning. (type)
(+) The secretary has been typing letters since this morning.
(-) The secretary hasn’t been typing letters since this morning.
(?) Has the secretary been typing letters since this morning?
3. Mr. Smith ………. his car for five hours. (drive)
(+) Mr. Smith has been driving his car for five hours.
(-) Mr. Smith hasn’t been driving his car for five hours.
(?) Has Mr. Smith been driving his car for five hours?
4. The boys ……… kites since 10 o’clock. (make)
(+) The boys have been making kites since 10 o’clock.
(-) The boys haven’t been making kites since 10 o’clock.
(?) Have the boys been making kites since 10 o’clock?
5. The participants …….. the problem for one hour. (discuss)
(+) The participants have been discussing the problem for one hour.
(-) The participants haven’t been discussing the problem for one hour.
(?) Have the participants been discussing the problem for one hour?

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Latihan Present Perfect Continuous Tense

Kerjakan seperti contoh!

She ……… English for two years. (study)

(+) She has been studying English for two years.

(-) She hasn’t been studying English for two years.

(?) Has she been studying English for two years?

(Jika Anda lupa rumus pembentukan kalimatnya, silahkan baca lagi penjelasannya di sini!)

  1. They …….. chess for two hours. (play)
  2. The secretary ……... letters since this morning. (type)
  3. Mr. Smith ………. his car for five hours. (drive)
  4. The boys ……… kites since 10 o’clock. (make)
  5. The participants …….. the problem for one hour. (discuss)

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Download Software Kamus 2.0


Kamus 2.0 merupakan program terjemah bahasa dari Inggris ke Indonesia dan sebaliknya. Program ini gratis (freeware) untuk penggunaan pribadi dan non komersial. Meskipun banyak software serupa, program ini berusaha berbeda dengan lainnya dengan harapan lebih memberi kemudahan kepada penggunanya.





Fasilitas utama program Kamus ini adalah :

  • Ukuran yang cukup kecil
  • Sederhana dan antarmuka yang mudah
  • Pencarian kata yang cepat
  • Pencarian otomatis antara bahasa Inggris dan Indonesia
  • Clipboard monitoring
  • Compact Mode
  • Smart Find
  • Otomatis menghilangkan karakter bukan huruf abjad seperti :!',:;.?"-)\(*/+, dll.
  • Tampilan hasil dengan warna sesuai dengan jenis katanya
  • Pencarian kata tepat sama, mengandung kata dan frase.
  • Penambahan kata-kata baru
  • Lebih dari 41.000 kata Inggris-Indonesia, 35.000 kata Indonesia-Inggris dan lebih dari 64.000 frase.
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Kamus ini sangat bermanfaat bagi Anda yang saat ini sedang mempelajari bahasa Inggris. Jika Anda berminat, silahkan DOWNLOAD DI SINI. (2,7 MB)


Monday, February 9, 2009

Present Perfect Continuous Tense

Present Perfect Continuous Tense digunakan untuk mengungkapkan suatu kegiatan/peristiwa yang telah dimulai di waktu lampau dan sekarang masih berlangsung dan akan tetap berlangsung.

Kalimat Positif

S(I/You/We/They) + have + been + V1 + ing

S(He/She/It) + has + been + V1 + ing

Contoh:

They have been studying English for 5 years.

She has been teaching English since 1997.

John has been staying in Indonesia since 10 days ago.

Kalimat Negatif

S(I/You/We/They) + have + not + been + V1 +ing

S(He/She/It) + has + not + been + V1 + ing

Contoh:

They haven’t been studying English for 5 years.

She hasn’t been teaching English since 1997.

John hasn’t been staying in Indonesia since 10 days ago.

Kalimat Interogatif

Have + S(I/You/We/They) + been + V1 + ing

Has + S(He/She/It) + been + V1 + ing

Contoh:

Have they been studying English for 5 years?

Yes, they have. / No, they haven’t.

Has she been teaching English since 1997?

Yes, she has. / No, she hasn’t.

Has John been staying in Indonesia since 10 days ago?

Yes, he has. / No, he hasn’t.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Buku Peribahasa Inggris

Peribahasa adalah kelompok kata atau kalimat yang tetap susunannya, yang biasanya mengiaskan maksud tertentu. Diungkapkan dalam kalimat yang ringkas-padat. Peribahasa berisi perbandingan, perumpamaan, nasihat, prinsip hidup atau aturan tingkah laku.

Kata-kata mutiara merupakan ungkapan-ungkapan khas tokoh yang keluar dari penghayatan pribadi hidup mereka. Peribahasa dan kata-kata mutiara mengandung nilai-nilai hidup yang bermutu.

Buku ini memuat lebih dari 300 peribahasa Inggris (English Proverbs) yang terkenal dan 100 kata-kata mutiara (Quotations) para tokoh dunia yang terkemuka.

Peribahasa dikelompokkan dalam lima bagian: Animal, Parts of the Body, Plants, House and Its Parts, dan Other Popular Proverbs. Daftar kata (Glossary) yang disusun alfabetis dicantumkan pada bagian akhir.

Buku English Proverbs and Quotations ini sangat cocok bagi Anda yang saat ini sedang mempelajari bahasa Inggris karena bisa menambah wawasan dalam berbahasa sekaligus menambah perbendaharaan kata. Mempelajari peribahasa dan kata-kata mutiara juga berarti mempelajari nilai-nilai untuk hidup yang lebih bermutu.


Jika Anda tertarik dengan buku seharga Rp22.000,00 ini, Anda bisa membelinya di toko buku di kota Anda. Atau, jika Anda kesulitan mendapatkan buku ini, Anda bisa langsung memesannya secara langsung ke penerbitnya.

Kantor Pusat
Jln. Bromo No. 24, Malang 65112, Jawa Timur, Indonesia
Telp: (0341) 326370, 366228
Fax : (0341) 361895
Email : info@diomamedia.com

Kantor Pemasaran Jakarta
Jln. Dwijaya I No 5, Radio Dalam Jakarta Selatan 12140
Telp / Fax : (021) 7247971
Email : jkt@diomamedia.com

Saturday, January 31, 2009

Idioms Using Butterflies & Donkeys

We've got two idioms today using the names of animals – butterflies and donkeys.

The first one is ‘butterflies in my stomach’. Someone has ‘butterflies in their stomach’ when they feel really nervous about doing something, a bit like having lots of butterflies flying around inside your stomach!

‘I've got butterflies in my stomach. I have to speak in front of 200 people this afternoon and I feel so nervous.‘

The second idiom uses the word ‘donkey’. It's ‘donkey's years’, no, not ‘donkey's ears’, ‘donkey's years’! ‘Donkey's years’ means ‘a very, very long time’. Have a listen to this example.

‘I didn't recognise my old school friend Sally when I met her in the street. I haven't seen her for donkey's years and she's changed such a lot.’

Let's recap on today's idioms –

‘butterflies in my stomach’ — ‘merasa gugup’

‘donkey's years’ — ‘lama sekali’

Source: http://www.kangguru.org/idioms.htm

Monday, January 19, 2009

Jawaban Latihan Present Perfect Tense

Berikut ini adalah jawaban atas Latihan Present Perfect Tense yang diberikan beberapa waktu yang lalu.

  1. They …….. chess for two hours. (play)

(+) They have played chess for two hours.

(-) They have not played chess for two hours.

(?) Have they played chess for two hours?

  1. Putri ……... a short story since seven o’clock. (write)

(+) Putri has written a short story since seven o’clock.

(-) Putri has not written a short story since seven o’clock.

(?) Has Putri written a short story since seven o’clock?

  1. My brother ……… English for two years. (study)

(+) My brother has studied English for two years.

(-) My brother has not studied English for two years.

(?) Has my brother studied English for two years?

  1. The students …….. the problem for an hour. (discuss)

(+) The students have discussed the problem for an hour.

(-) The students have not discussed the problem for an hour.

(?) Have the students discussed the problem for an hour?

  1. The technician …….. the computer since this morning. (repair)

(+) The technician has repaired the computer since this morning.

(-) The technician has not repaired the computer since this morning.

(?) Has the technician repaired the computer since this morning?

  1. The singer ……… five songs. (sing)

(+) The singer has sung five songs.

(-) The singer has not sung five songs.

(?) Has the singer sung five songs?

  1. Mr. Smith ………. his car since last night. (drive)

(+) Mr. Smith has driven his car since last night.

(-) Mr. Smith has not driven his car since last night.

(?) Has Mr. Smith driven his car since last night?

  1. The gardener …….. the grass since this morning. (cut)

(+) The gardener has cut the grass since this morning.

(-) The gardener has not cut the grass since this morning.

(?) Has the gardener cut the grass since this morning?

  1. He ……… three books this month. (read)

(+) He has read three books this month.

(-) He has not read three books this month.

(?) Has he read three books this month?

  1. The baby …… for five hours. (sleep)

(+) The baby has slept for five hours.

(-) The baby has not slept for five hours.

(?) Has the baby slept for five hours?

Friday, January 2, 2009

Latihan Present Perfect Tense

Kerjakan seperti contoh!

She ……… in Palembang for five years. (work)

(+) She has worked in Palembang for five years.

(-) She hasn’t worked in Palembang for five years.

(?) Has she worked in Palembang for five years?

(Jika Anda lupa rumus pembentukan kalimatnya, silahkan baca lagi penjelasannya di sini!)

  1. They …….. chess for two hours. (play)
  2. Putri ……... a short story since seven o’clock. (write)
  3. My brother ……… English for two years. (study)
  4. The students …….. the problem for an hour. (discuss)
  5. The technician …….. the computer since this morning. (repair)
  6. The singer ……… five songs. (sing)
  7. Mr. Smith ………. his car since last night. (drive)
  8. The gardener …….. the grass since this morning. (cut)
  9. He ……… three books this month. (read)
  10. The baby …… for five hours. (sleep)