Practice Makes Perfect

By : Elsa

Hello, El here.

It's been a long time since I last greeted you. I hope you are well. I've been having a few mood swings lately that's kept me out of focus; I hope that doesn't happen to you. Usually, in a month, I can finish 2 to 3 books for me to read, but until the middle of this month, I even spent one chapter of the book I was reading.

I bought this book more than six months ago, but I haven't had time to read it because of my other list. I bought it on the recommendation of a former host on a private TV station that I often watch. He has a YouTube channel with two of his friends. On their YouTube channel, they discussed recommended book recommendations to read, and I was interested in one book title, Outliers. Outliers were written by Malcolm Gladwell, the same author of The Tipping Point and Blink.

Overview of Outliers books are books that tell stories with facts that will change how we understand success. I haven't finished my reading thoroughly. I've only read one of the ten chapters that exist with the addition of a few pages to the second chapter I've read. However, I stopped when I entered the third page of chapter two. As I read a few sentences in it, my brain suddenly reacted by linking one incident to another, and I couldn't continue my reading until I satisfied my wandering mind.

In chapter 2, with the subtitle The 10,000 Hour Rule, a sentence states that the closer psychologists examine the careers of the gifted, the less likely the role of innate talent is and the more significant the part of the practice. This book states that research conducted by K. Anders Ericsson, a psychologist, and his colleagues compared amateur and professional piano players. His study found a similar pattern at the Academy of Music about violinists divided into three groups. In his research on amateur and professional piano players, it was found that amateur piano players at the age of children practiced no more than 3 hours per week. By the age of twenty, they had practiced about two thousand hours. Professionals, on the other hand, increase their training time every year, and by the age of twenty, they have practiced ten thousand hours.

And, interestingly Ericsson and colleagues did not find 'natural musicians' but rather 'hard workers.' A person who practices more diligently, his talent will be honed to become a professional. Still, even if someone has extraordinary talent but does not practice, his talent is nothing. Like a saying, 'hard work will not betray the results.’ Success is not born instantly; of course, there is a forging practice in achieving it.

I became connected with the concept of this practice in my life, and when I was in high school, I majored in Natural Sciences with two math subjects, one compulsory math, and the other special math. I practice every day by doing math problems. Even when there are assignments, I will increase my study hours to get good grades and understand the material. However, in physical education lessons in the swimming section, I got the lowest score. After reviewing it, it turned out that because I did not practice optimally in swimming in 12 years of learning physical education, I still could not swim.

The same thing I found in language, speaking English is not a talent. Still, we need continuous practice with additional practice time to become a professional.

See you in my following writing!

You Will Never Know Your Limits Without Trying to Start

By : Jamaludin

Hai guys, eiits, do you know that sometimes we always feel insecure about the limits of our abilities? So, here I am, I want to convey that such things are natural and expected as human nature. But, there is an essential thing that you should know, that each of us has given its advantages and disadvantages. So, why do we grieve for our shortcomings? We should realize that it is not always the lack that makes us stagnant and cannot grow from the other things.

Well, I want to share a story with you guys, so I used to be an apathetic person. In the past, I didn’t want to know and care about the environment and didn’t want to take risks at all. Instead, I always stay in my comfort zone and relax. So, in the condition of being cornered and ostracized, I was once seen as unreliable and unresponsive. Well, this is a tight slap for me in response to their rude remarks. But, I don’t want to reply to their words that insult me, but I use it as a motivation to change myself.

Since Junior High School and Senior High School, I have used my study time as well as possible, not only regarding lessons at school but also organization. As a result, this is where my self-confidence began to emerge, and I became a stronger person. I started to try to participate in various competitions, exchange student activities, get out of my comfort zone, and always be open to receiving criticism and suggestions from others. Alhamdulillah, I never imagined in my mind that I could produce the best achievement so far, which I thought before, that there was no way I could be like my great friends. I give my most significant appreciation to myself.

The moral value is to try your best to do something that you think will not achieve and is impossible. Because basically, you will not know at all the limits of your ability without ever trying to start. You are being brave enough to try better than nothing.

HOW DOES ENGLISH CHANGE MY LIFE

  By: Anju Eranti

    Many of us started learning English since we were at primary school, and me too. I learned basic vocabulary like animal names, fruit names and etc. At high school, I started learning grammar and speaking. Sometimes my teacher asked my friends and I to read some stories alternately. Hilariously, we even didn’t understand what did it mean. I felt so confused about English pronunciation because the writing, spelling and pronunciation were arduous and contrasting.

    I hated when I heard people talking in English and I didn’t like to watch English movies by reason of not understanding English. It sounded absurd but it burdened me to get the meaning.

    Sometime there was a question in my head like “why are there so many languages in this world?” those obstruct us to communicate with all people around the world.

    When I was at 2nd grade in senior high school, I was taught by a  genuinely great teacher ever at that time. He is Mr. Chen who gave terrific motivations concerning English. He told us his experiences at the moment he was a volunteer in other countries.

    Since he taught me at class, I was so motivated to learn English. I started playing random apps to communicate with people from different nationalities. I used google translate to help me to understand one by one words. I got some friends from India, Pakistan, Albania and some other countries. They motivated me to learn English by taught me how to greet someone politely, how to use vocabulary correctly.

    After finishing my senior high school, I decided to take an English course. After a few months, I can speak English, understand what people say and start using google translate seldomly. My friends who have helped me in learning English so proud in that I can communicate with them without using google translate.

    By knowing English, my life is more colorful because I can watch movies without using Indonesian subtitle. I can enjoy listening music in English lyric inasmuch as I understand the meaning. Furthermore, I everyday talk with many people from many countries. I join many English events like webinar, MUN, talk show, competition and others. I get new experiences, knowledges, insights and relations. Moreover, I can work while continuing my bacelor’s degree utilize my English.

    Being an English learner and speaker makes us closer with this world. English provides me to know more about so many things.