How to Improve Your Pronunciation

Here are some tips to help you improve your English pronunciation.

First of all, don't worry about not having a native-English accent. It's important to be able to speak clearly, so that people can understand you. However, it's almost impossible to sound exactly like a native English speaker if you are learning English as an adult in a non-English speaking country.

However, there are many things that you can do to improve your pronunciation and your speaking skills.

1. Listen to spoken English as often as possible.

Listen to how speakers pronounce various words and phrases and "model" your pronunciation on what you hear.

2. Learn the phonetic alphabet.

Use the phonetic alphabet page (at the beginning of most good dictionaries) as a guide to pronouncing new words.

3. Don't forget to learn the word stress of a new word.

Every English word has its own stress, or intonation. For example, the word "believe" has two syllables (be and lieve), but only the second syllable is stressed. We say be'lieve and not 'be lieve. Your dictionary will show the syllable stress by an apostrophe (') before the syllable to be stressed.

Word stress is important. In fact, it is more likely that someone misunderstands you because of wrong word stress than because of the wrong pronunciation of a sound.

4. Work out which sounds cause you most problems in English.

Depending on what your first language is, you may have problems with certain sounds. For example, French speakers have difficulties with "th"; speakers of Mandarin have difficulties with "r" or "l", and Arabic speakers have difficulties with "p" and "b".

5. Practise the sounds you find difficult.

A useful exercise is a "minimal pair" exercise. For example, if you have difficulty distinguishing between "p" and "b", try practising pairs of words which are the same except for the sound "p" and "b":

For example, "pair" and "bear"; "pond" and "bond"; "pie" and "buy" etc.

6. Be aware of intonation and sentence stress.

Not all words in a sentence have equal stress, and generally only the "information" words (nouns and verbs) are stressed.

'Where's the 'pen I 'gave you?

'Where's the 'red 'pen I 'gave you?

Where's the 'red and 'blue 'pen I 'gave you 'yesterday?

The unstressed words (such as "the", "I", "you" and "and") don't carry as much "weight" as the stressed words. They become much smaller in length, and are almost abbreviated. For example, "and" becomes "un".

Changing stress

Sentence stress isn't "fixed" like word stress. In fact, you can stress words that are normally unstressed in order to highlight different meanings.

For example:

I 'love you. (Love, rather than just like.)
'I love you. (With the stress on I to highlight that it's me rather than another person who loves you.)
I love 'you. (And nobody else.)

Intonation

There are a couple of easy to remember rules about intonation. Usually our voices go up at the end of the sentence to show a question, and down at the end to show a statement.

Intonation is also important in "tag questions":

You know him, don't you? (With rising intonation on "don't you?" to show it's a question)
You know him, don't you. (With falling intonation on "don't you" to show it's a statement you expect the other person to agree with.)

7. Learn to recognise spelling patterns.

For example, "tion" on the end of a word is pronounced "shun", while "sion" can be pronounced "zhun". There are often many ways to pronounce a particular spelling pattern, but it certainly helps to know what the variations are. For example, the pattern "ough" can be pronounced "uff" as in "enough" and "tough", or "or" as in "ought" and "bought" or "oh" as in "although" and "dough".

8. Don't rush.

If you speak too fast, the danger is that you could skip over some words, fail to pronounce them completely, or mix them up. If you speak too slowly, you might end up sounding unnatural. But it's better to speak slowly and clearly than too quickly.

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The Structure of a sentence

There are three basic kinds of sentences: simple, compound, and complex. They are formed by using one or more independent and dependent clauses and phrases. An independent clause can stand alone as a sentence, while a dependent clause or a phrase can not. A phrase is distinguished from a dependent clause by its lack of a necessary subject. The phrase "sentence fragment" is often appended to a student's work when a professor sees a dependent clause or phrase standing on its own.
If you understand the difference between a dependent clause and an independent clause, you will be able to write proper sentences. You also will be able to form proper compound sentences (which consist of two or more independent clauses) and complex sentences (which consist of one or more dependent clauses and at least one independent clause).


1. Do not leave dependent clauses or phrases standing alone; these are sentence fragments, not sentences. Sentence fragments often contain a verb with no subject (creating a dependent clause or a phrase). A writer who makes this error will invite the ridicule of more experienced writers. The best way to avoid the problem is to be certain that every sentence has at least one subject linked to each verb. You also can avoid the problem by attaching the fragment to an independent clause with a conjunction, a comma, or both. Be careful, however, not to attach two independent clauses with a comma. This error, known as a comma splice, is discussed in rule 2.

Incorrect Use of Phrase:

The appellate court ruled for the plaintiff. Affirming the judgment of the trial court.

Solution #1:

The appellate court ruled for the plaintiff. It affirmed the judgment of the trial court.

Explanation: In the incorrect example above, the sentence fragment is created because there is no subject linked to the verb "affirming." This problem can be solved by providing a subject. In the corrected version, the pronoun "it," referring to the appellate court, is the subject of the verb "affirmed."

Solution #2:

The appellate court ruled for the plaintiff, affirming the judgment of the trial court.

Explanation: By placing a comma before affirming, the writer links the phrase to the independent clause on which it relies for its context.

Solution #3:

The appellate court ruled for the plaintiff and affirmed the judgment of the trial court.

Explanation: By placing the conjunction "and" before the phrase, the writer links the dependent clause to the independent clause on which it relies for its context.

Incorrect Use of Dependent Clause:

The counsel for the defendant was called to the judge's chambers. Because he had failed to file the complaint within the time provided in the statute of limitations.

Solution #1:

The counsel for the defendant was called to the judge's chambers because he had failed to file the complaint within the time provided in the statute of limitations.

Solution #2:

The counsel for the defendant was called to the judge's chambers. He had failed to file the complaint within the time provided in the statute of limitations.
2. Do not link two independent clauses with a comma. This error, known as a comma splice, can easily be avoided. Instead of using a comma to connect two independent clauses, either use a period to create two sentences, a conjunction to link the two clauses in one sentence, or (if the independent clauses are closely related) a semicolon to link the two clauses in one sentence.

Incorrect: The appellate court found that the constitutional prohibition against warrantless searches had been violated, it therefore remanded the case for a new trial.

Solution #1:

The appellate court found that the constitutional prohibition against warrantless searches had been violated. It therefore remanded the case for a new trial.

Explanation: Because the second independent clause can stand alone as a sentence, the writer can avoid the comma splice by replacing the comma with a period and capitalizing the word "It."

Solution #2:

The appellate court found that the constitutional prohibition against warrantless searches had been violated, and it therefore remanded the case for a new trial.

Explanation: A conjunction such as "and" or "but" can be used to link two independent clauses; however, be sure to place a comma before a conjunction that introduces an independent clause.

Solution #3:

The appellate court found that the constitutional prohibition against warrantless searches had been violated; it therefore remanded the case for a new trial.

Explanation: When two independent clauses are closely related in substance, one can link them with a semicolon.


3. Use strong subject-verb formulations. Good writers provide their readers with strong subject-verb formulations early in their sentences. The result is forceful writing that quickly gets to the point. Avoid beginning your sentences with phrases such as "there is" and "it is" in place of subject-verb formulations.

Undesirable:

There is disagreement about the best approach to negligence law.
Better: Scholars disagree about the best approach to negligence law.

Undesirable:

It is a different argument than the one the court adopted.
Better: The argument is different than the one the court adopted.

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How to be a Great Academic Writer

A Great Academic Writer Knows How to Write Well

A thorough understanding of proper grammar and sentence structure is absolutely essential to the success of an academic writer. In other forms of writing, such as fiction writing or poetry, strict adherence to conventional rules of grammar, sentence structure, and punctuation is not required. However, academic writing is held to a much higher standard, and any straying from conventional grammar rules lowers the quality of the paper, even if the content is fantastic.

To Be a Great Academic Writer, You Must Be a Great Listener

An ability to write is important, but it is even more important to able to listen. A great academic writer will be able to listen closely to the needs of the client. This is undoubtedly the most important aspect of becoming a successful freelance writer, and will prevent the need for frequent rewrites when a paper does not meet the client's requested specifications.

A Great Academic Writer is Honest and Reliable

A degree of integrity is important to success in any career, but it is of even greater importance to an academic writer. Clients put a great deal of faith in the writers that are commissioned to produce written material for them, so a great academic writer can be relied on to produce that material and keep all private information completely confidential. Doing so allows for the development of ongoing relationships between clients and academic writers, therefore custompapers.com only maintains independent contract writers that are completely honest and reliable.

Plagiarism is Never Tolerated by a Good Academic Writer

A successful academic writer would never dare consider plagiarizing other writer's works when creating his or her own. This is not only a bad business practice that will certainly destroy any degree of trust between the client and the writer; it is also unethical and can ruin a student's academic career. It is also important to understand that plagiarism is not always blatantly apparent. By not following proper citation procedures, a sub par academic writer can unintentionally plagiarize and cause just as much damage as a writer that does it intentionally. The writers at custompapers.com are thoroughly practiced in the proper way to cite other writers' works and would never even consider plagiarism.

A Great Academic Writer is Willing to Put in Research Time

Our custom essay writers generally write about subjects they have already thoroughly studied during their own academic careers. However, a great academic writer realizes the importance of researching the topic of the academic paper he or she is preparing. Therefore, our experienced writers spend as much time as is necessary to ensure that each paper that is prepared is as detailed and precise as possible.

A Great Academic Writer Can Always Meet a Deadline

Any writing professional understands this, including contracted freelance writers. It is extremely important to able to meet a client's deadline, provided of course that enough time is allowed to complete the amount of work requested.

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writing skills is very important

Of all the classes I took in college and graduate school, the two that have helped me most in my career have been English Composition and Business English. In these classes I learned effective writing skills, which I have used in every job I have ever had. No other job but my work on this site included writing as part of my job description. In spite of this, I was required to write in every job, and it was taken for granted that I would be able to do this. This is the case with most jobs -- whether you must write internal memos, correspond with clients, or help design sales materials. Writing beautiful prose and poetry is a talent. Writing effectively, however, is a skill that can be learned.
Organize Your Writing

Whether you are writing a memo to your co-worker or a report for your boss, you should decide what information you want to convey. Here is how to do this:
1. List each item you need to discuss in your memo or report.
2. Put them in order — from most to least important
3. Write a brief summary of your entire memo — this will be your first paragraph.
4. Expand on each item listed in step 1.
5. If any action needs to be taken by the recipient, state that in your closing paragraph.

Some Tips

Avoid wordiness. Say out loud what you are trying to write. Listen to how the words sound. For example, the sentence, "I found out that I should take a look at our past sales figures in order to come up with a plan to help us re-evaluate our sales technique" could be more simply stated as "I must take a look at our past sales figures to re-evaluate our sales technique."
Write for your audience. Use simple language. You don't want the reader to need a dictionary to decipher what you are trying to say. You should not try to impress your reader with your huge vocabulary. Chances are you will frustrate your reader instead. Most people are juggling several tasks at the same time, and are interested in receiving only necessary information. You are responsible for making this happen. Instead of saying, "His gregarious nature credentials him as a superlative candidate for the job," say "His friendliness makes him a top candidate for the job."

Stay away from jargon your reader may not understand. If your work is very technical, but the person you are writing to is not well versed in that field, stick to words that person will understand. For example, if you are a Web site designer, this sentence in a memo to your client, a psychologist, will make no sense: "What would you like me to use as the BGCOLOR for your site: #ADD8E6 or #FFFFFF?" Anyone proficient in Web page design knows that this question can be translated to "What would you like the background color of your site to be: Light Blue or White?" However, don't expect your client to be more familiar with this technical jargon than you would be with her discussion of a psychological term such as trichotillomania.

A cliche a day keeps the reader away — or at least it does not make him or her remember what you are saying. You want your writing to be memorable. Because we hear cliches often, we become desensitized to them. The words, then, are not uniquely associated with your writing. Rather than saying "Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today" in a memo to a subordinate you are trying to motivate. Simply say, "Stop procrastinating. Get the job done now."

When possible, use the active voice. The active voice makes your sentence stronger and usually shorter. Let's try these examples. Passive voice: "Sales increased due to the networking I did." Active voice: "My networking increased sales."

Don't be redundant. It is not necessary to say "2 p.m. in the afternoon" or "the expectant pregnant woman." Saying "2 p.m." or "2 in the afternoon" or "the expectant woman" or "the pregnant woman" all convey what you want to say and are less wordy.

Of course pay attention to grammar. Use Strunk and White's Elements of Style, available on the Web. A good dictionary should be nearby, along with a thesaurus. A thesaurus will allow you to keep your writing fresh by helping you find a variety of words to use. Many of these resources are available online.

Proofreading is one of the most important things you can do. Since you probably do most of your writing on a computer, you have access to automated spelling and grammar checkers. Beware though — some words, used in the wrong context may be missed by computerized spell checkers. For example the sentence "To employees attended too meetings two learn about the gnu software," would pass through the spell check without any misspellings being detected. Have someone else proofread your document, if possible. If time allows, put your composition away, and proofread it later, or even better, the next day.

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How to Make Better Speak

1. Listen to yourself talk. Many people do not like to do this, and they often react by saying: "I hate the way I sound." But, use whatever technical tools you need to take this step. Whether it's a simple recording on a voicemail or answering machine, or something more advanced, you need to hear yourself before you can learn to improve your speaking voice. One trick here: record yourself speaking, but do not listen to it immediately. Wait a day. This advice coming from some of the best talent coaches in the country, who train some very prominent public speakers. You must allow time to separate yourself from whatever you have recorded, so you can be more objective. Record something. Wait a day. Then listen to your voice.

2. Begin working on the weaknesses you hear. One of the biggest hurdles to hop over, is getting away from that "monotone" delivery. This happens on the phone and speaking to groups. For some reason, we tend to shy away from using inflection. That is because we are trying to sound professional. But, truth be told, your speaking voice will end up sounding flat when you try too hard at this. Use inflection, like you do when you are telling a funny joke, or a really great story. Envision yourself sitting around the dinner table talking to your family. Let your voice go "up" a little during the more exciting parts, like you do in normal conversation. This will keep people engaged when they listen to you.

3. Learn to warm up your mouth and jaw, just like you warm up muscles for working out. Open your jaw very wide and stretch it, then close, and open and repeat. This will also help relax you. Another good exercise is to loosen up your tongue and vocal chords by using a few little tools learned from well trained talent coaches. If you are driving to a meeting or to give a public speech, repeat this phrase: "Over the lips, the teeth the tongue." Sounds funny, just try it. You will feel it loosen up your mouth. Also stand in front of the mirror and say (opening your mouth nice and wide): "Woo, Whoa, War, Wow." This will also stretch out that mouth and jaw. You don't want to speak when you are all clenched up.

4. Speak from your gut. You have probably heard that you are supposed to "push from the diaphragm." Same thing. The idea is to pull that voice up from the center of your body, instead of speaking out of your throat. You will find this is easier than you think. All you do is breathe and relax, and speak naturally. You should be able to feel your tummy moving a little (just below your ribs) if you press down on it when you do this. This will give your voice a nice, resonant sound. It will also keep you from getting a sore throat, which is what happens when you push directly from the vocal chords.

5.Sing. Even if you believe you are a terrible singer, sing anyway. Just be sure and do it when you are alone, so you are comfortable. This will help your inflection and your control more than you can imagine. Public speakers, news anchors, and actors often even take singing lessons to help them learn to control their voices. You don't have to go that far. Just sing to yourself. And don't hold back. Belt it out.

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CONCEPTUALIZING READING AND READING INSTRUCTION

Effective reading instruction is built on a foundation that recognizes that reading ability is determined by multiple factors: many factors that correlate with reading fail to explain it; many experiences contribute to reading development without being prerequisite to it; and although there are many prerequisites, none by itself is considered sufficient.

Adequate initial reading instruction requires that children:

use reading to obtain meaning from print,
have frequent and intensive opportunities to read,
are exposed to frequent, regular spelling-sound relationships,
learn about the nature of the alphabetic writing system, and
understand the structure of spoken words.
Adequate progress in learning to read English (or any alphabetic language) beyond the initial level depends on:

having a working understanding of how sounds are represented alphabetically,
sufficient practice in reading to achieve fluency with different kinds of texts,
sufficient background knowledge and vocabulary to render written texts meaningful and interesting,
control over procedures for monitoring comprehension and repairing misunderstandings, and
continued interest and motivation to read for a variety of purposes.
Reading skill is acquired in a relatively predictable way by children who have normal or above average language skills; have had experiences in early childhood that fostered motivation and provided exposure to literacy in use; get information about the nature of print through opportunities to learn letters and to recognize the internal structure of spoken words, as well as explanations about the contrasting nature of spoken and written language; and attend schools that provide effective reading instruction and opportunities to practice reading.

Disruption of any of these developments increases the possibility that reading will be delayed or impeded. The association of poor reading outcomes with poverty and minority status no doubt reflects the accumulated effects of several of these risk factors, including lack of access to literacy-stimulating preschool experiences and to excellent, coherent reading instruction. In addition, a number of children without any obvious risk factors also develop reading difficulties. These children may require intensive efforts at intervention and extra help in reading and accommodations for their disability throughout their lives.

There are three potential stumbling blocks that are known to throw children off course on the journey to skilled reading. The first obstacle, which arises at the outset of reading acquisition, is difficulty understanding and using the alphabetic principle--the idea that written spellings systematically represent spoken words. It is hard to comprehend connected text if word recognition is inaccurate or laborious. The second obstacle is a failure to transfer the comprehension skills of spoken language to reading and to acquire new strategies that may be specifically needed for reading. The third obstacle to reading will magnify the first two: the absence or loss of an initial motivation to read or failure to develop a mature appreciation of the rewards of reading.

As in every domain of learning, motivation is crucial. Although most children begin school with positive attitudes and expectations for success, by the end of the primary grades and increasingly thereafter, some children become disaffected. The majority of reading problems faced by today's adolescents and adults are the result of problems that might have been avoided or resolved in their early childhood years. It is imperative that steps be taken to ensure that children overcome these obstacles during the primary grades.

Reducing the number of children who enter school with inadequate literacy-related knowledge and skill is an important primary step toward preventing reading difficulties. Although not a panacea, this would serve to reduce considerably the magnitude of the problem currently facing schools. Children who are particularly likely to have difficulty with learning to read in the primary grades are those who begin school with less prior knowledge and skill in relevant domains, most notably, general verbal abilities, the ability to attend to the sounds of language as distinct from its meaning, familiarity with the basic purposes and mechanisms of reading, and letter knowledge. Children from poor neighborhoods, children with limited proficiency in English, children with hearing impairments, children with preschool language impairments, and children whose parents had difficulty learning to read are particularly at risk of arriving at school with weaknesses in these areas and hence of falling behind from the outset.

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Cara Mudah Menulis Bahasa Inggris

enulis dalam Bahasa Inggris bukanlah suatu hal yang sangat sulit. Hal yang paling penting yang harus kita ingat hanyalah kita harus menggunakan pola kalimat yang betul-betul standart, yaitu SPOK. Jika kita selalu berpedoman dengan pola ini, maka tentu saja kita tidak akan menghadapi kesulitan dalam menulis. Namun demikian, hal-hal lain yang harus kita perhatikan dalam menulis Bahasa Inggris adalah sebagai berikut:
Buatlah kalimat Anda sederhana dan jelas. Jangan gunakan banyak kalimat-kalimat yang rumit dipahami.
Jangan membuat semua kalimat sama panjang.Lebih baik memvariasikan panjang kalimat. Ada yang pendek, dan ada yang panjang. Apabila kita dapat memotong suatu kalimat menjadi kalimat yang baru, maka lakukanlah.
Lebih baik untuk menggunakan kalimat aktif, daripada kalimat pasif.
Jangan gunakan singkatan kecuali Anda yakin bahwa pembaca akan mengerti.
Hal ini lebih baik menggunakan kata benda dan kata kerja, bukan kata sifat dan kata keterangan.
Gunakan kata-kata yang pembaca kenal. Jangan menggunakan kata-kata yang pembaca mungkin akan sulit mengerti.
Gunakan istilah-istilah umum.
Perhatikan tanda baca.

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Pentingnya Pendidikan Karakter...!

Saat ini mulai marak dibicarakan mengenai pendidikan karakter. Tetapi yang masih umum diterapkan mengenai pendidikan karakter ini masih pada taraf jenjang pendidikan pra sekolah (taman bermain dan taman kanak-kanak). sementara pada jenjang sekolah dasar dan seterusnya masih sangat-sangat jarang sekali. kurikulum pendidikan di Indonesia masih belum menyentuh aspek karakter ini, meskipun ada pelajaran pancasila, kewarganegaraan dan semisalnya, tapi itu masih sebatas teori dan tidak dalam tataran aplikatif. Padahal jika Indonesia ingin memperbaiki mutu SDM dan segera bangkit dari ketinggalannya, maka indonesia harus merombak istem pendidikan yang ada saat ini.

Mungkin banyak yang bertanya-tanya sebenarnya apa sih dampak pendidikan karakter terhadap keberhasilan akademik? Beberapa penelitian bermunculan untuk menjawab pertanyaan ini. Ringkasan dari beberapa penemuan penting mengenai hal ini diterbitkan oleh sebuah buletin, Character Educator, yang diterbitkan oleh Character Education Partnership. Dalam buletin tersebut diuraikan bahwa hasil studi Dr. Marvin Berkowitz dari University of Missouri- St. Louis, menunjukan peningkatan motivasi siswa sekolah dalam meraih prestasi akademik pada sekolah-sekolah yang menerapkan pendidikan karakter. Kelas-kelas yang secara komprehensif terlibat dalam pendidikan karakter menunjukan penurunan drastis pada perilaku negatif siswa yang dapat menghambat keberhasilan akademik.

Pendidikan karakter adalah pendidikan budi pekerti plus, yaitu yang melibatkan aspek pengetahuan (cognitive), perasaan (feeling), dan tindakan (action). Menurut Thomas Lickona, tanpa ketiga aspek ini, maka pendidikan karakter tidak akan efektif, dan pelaksanaannya pun harus dilakukan secara sistematis dan berkelanjutan.

Dengan pendidikan karakter, seorang anak akan menjadi cerdas emosinya. Kecerdasan emosi adalah bekal terpenting dalam mempersiapkan anak menyongsong masa depan, karena dengannya seseorang akan dapat berhasil dalam menghadapi segala macam tantangan, termasuk tantangan untuk berhasil secara akademis.

Sebuah buku yang baru terbit berjudul Emotional Intelligence and School Success (Joseph Zins, et.al, 2001) mengkompilasikan berbagai hasil penelitian tentang pengaruh positif kecerdasan emosi anak terhadap keberhasilan di sekolah. Dikatakan bahwa ada sederet faktor-faktor resiko penyebab kegagalan anak di sekolah. Faktor-faktor resiko yang disebutkan ternyata bukan terletak pada kecerdasan otak, tetapi pada karakter, yaitu rasa percaya diri, kemampuan bekerja sama, kemampuan bergaul, kemampuan berkonsentrasi, rasa empati, dan kemampuan berkomunikasi.

Hal ini sesuai dengan pendapat Daniel Goleman tentang keberhasilan seseorang di masyarakat, ternyata 80 persen dipengaruhi oleh kecerdasan emosi, dan hanya 20 persen ditentukan oleh kecerdasan otak (IQ). Anak-anak yang mempunyai masalah dalam kecerdasan emosinya, akan mengalami kesulitan belajar, bergaul dan tidak dapat mengontrol emosinya. Anak-anak yang bermasalah ini sudah dapat dilihat sejak usia pra-sekolah, dan kalau tidak ditangani akan terbawa sampai usia dewasa. Sebaliknya para remaja yang berkarakter atau mempunyai kecerdasan emosi tinggi akan terhindar dari masalah-masalah umum yang dihadapi oleh remaja seperti kenakalan, tawuran, narkoba, miras, perilaku seks bebas, dan sebagainya.

Pendidikan karakter di sekolah sangat diperlukan, walaupun dasar dari pendidikan karakter adalah di dalam keluarga. Kalau seorang anak mendapatkan pendidikan karakter yang baik dari keluarganya, anak tersebut akan berkarakter baik selanjutnya. Namun banyak orang tua yang lebih mementingkan aspek kecerdasan otak ketimbang pendidikan karakter.

Selain itu Daniel Goleman juga mengatakan bahwa banyak orang tua yang gagal dalam mendidik karakter anak-anaknya entah karena kesibukan atau karena lebih mementingkan aspek kognitif anak. Namun ini semua dapat dikoreksi dengan memberikan pendidikan karakter di sekolah. Namun masalahnya, kebijakan pendidikan di Indonesia juga lebih mementingkan aspek kecerdasan otak, dan hanya baru-baru ini saja pentingnya pendidikan budi pekerti menjadi bahan pembicaraan ramai. Ada yang mengatakan bahwa kurikulum pendidikan di Indonesia dibuat hanya cocok untuk diberikan pada 10-20 persen otak-otak terbaik. Artinya sebagian besar anak sekolah (80-90 persen) tidak dapat mengikuti kurikulum pelajaran di sekolah. Akibatnya sejak usia dini, sebagian besar anak-anak akan merasa “bodoh” karena kesulitan menyesuaikan dengan kurikulum yang ada. Ditambah lagi dengan adanya sistem ranking yang telah “memvonis” anak-anak yang tidak masuk “10 besar”, sebagai anak yang kurang pandai. Sistem seperti ini tentunya berpengaruh negatif terhadap usaha membangun karakter, dimana sejak dini anak-anak justru sudah “dibunuh” rasa percaya dirinya. Rasa tidak mampu yang berkepanjangan yang akan membentuk pribadi yang tidak percaya diri, akan menimbulkan stress berkepanjangan. Pada usia remaja biasanya keadaan ini akan mendorong remaja berperilaku negatif. Maka, tidak heran kalau kita lihat perilaku remaja kita yang senang tawuran, terlibat kriminalitas, putus sekolah, dan menurunnya mutu lulusan SMP dan SMU.

Jadi, pendidikan karakter atau budi pekerti plus adalah suatu yang urgent untuk dilakukan. Kalau kita peduli untuk meningkatkan mutu lulusan SD, SMP dan SMU, maka tanpa pendidikan karakter adalah usaha yang sia-sia. Kami ingin mengutip kata-kata bijak dari pemikir besar dunia.

Mahatma Gandhi memperingatkan tentang salah satu tujuh dosa fatal, yaitu “education without character”(pendidikan tanpa karakter).

Dr. Martin Luther King juga pernah berkata: “Intelligence plus character….that is the goal of true education” (Kecerdasan plus karakter….itu adalah tujuan akhir dari pendidikan sebenarnya).

Juga Theodore Roosevelt yang mengatakan: “To educate a person in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society” (Mendidik seseorang dalam aspek kecerdasan otak dan bukan aspek moral adalah ancaman mara-bahaya kepada masyarakat)..

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