Being A Teacher

"Jauh sekali mengajarnya," he said.

"Iya," I replied.

"Tak pantas mereka bayar 25 ribu. Paling tidak 50 ribu."

"Hah, nggak kemahalan apa?"

That conversation took place in a restaurant across from Borma Kiara Condong. I was with my father, talking about things while enjoying our ikan kerapu bakar. When it came to my side-job (yeah, like I have another job), teaching English privately to SMP and SMA students, Ayah said I was paid too low. I should've been paid higher -- education does need money. And people should know that.

Some of me agree with Ayah. But not for the exact reason. I am a capitalist wage-earner, I will obviously say yes to a raise. More money, more bucks! Hehe. If I was paid higher, my financial calendar would lengthen back to normal. Besides, I have to come far (and spent hours) for each session. All the students I had, they live in Riung Bandung. It's almost 20 kilometres away from my kosan. Time spent for the angkot is much more than for the session. I think raising the pay would be quite tolerable.

But I don't know... Some of me don't.

As you all might see, my sort of job derived from something wrong in schools. We don't get proper time and tools to study English. Learning it requires more than just two hours per week, and of course a skilled teacher. He/she must encourage the students to speak up, not only telling us off to fill in the exercise sheet. I once got frustrated by my teacher who always made us playing the dialogue, taken from LKS. And never I saw her say something in English.

So, as the way out, my mother sent me to ILP Depok. There I started to understand grammar, structure, type of sentences, and so on. I learnt how to speak, joke around, write, and even flirt. I loved all the teachers -- Miss Ika, Irra, Ria, Teguh, and Aryo. They conducted the class in English, so that students get used to speaking in it. No shame. Let mistakes become mistakes, as long as you say it really quickly, people won't tell you're wrong.

And so I knew that studying English only from school was never enough. You have got to spend more money!

Me? I don't teach as well as them. What I do is only helping students who have problems with their test or exercise sheet. I just accompany them giving the right answer -- something their teacher at school don't do. I enjoy doing it, despite the fact that I will enjoy more if the place is not that far. I don't find it really necessary to ask for a raise.

If BSC raises the fee, how much will it cost they who can't afford ILP, to study English?

***

Ayah put another slice of kerapu into his mouth. So did I. We then slid the talk into his being in Bandung. About PWI. Rosihan Anwar. Things.

Ow, this was just a dinner talk. Nothing really serious :)

-------
LKS: Lembar Kerja Siswa, the exercise sheet.
Borma: Stores, quite big and well-known in Bandung.
ILP: International Language Program, an English Course. The head office is in Pancoran, Jakarta.
BSC: Bandung Study Club, where I got the job from.
PWI: Persatuan Wartawan Indonesia.