Student Assignment

I gave my 11th grade students an in-class written assignment. They got to choose a thesis and then write arguments to support their idea. The key words to be learned in both English and Indonesian were: topic, opinion, thesis, argument, point, elaboration and conclusion.

Thesis topics:
TV is good. TV is bad.
Teenagers today are good. Teenagers today are bad.
Schools in Indonesia are good. Schools in Indonesia are bad.
The internet is good. The internet is bad.
America is good. America is bad.
Facebook is good. Facebook is bad.
Sports are good. English is good.
Arema (a local football club) is good. Smoking is bad.
Hand phones (cell phones) are good Hand phones (cell phones) are bad.

They had some really creative ideas!

It’s sometimes challenging to teach English as a Foreign Language.
Here is what they wrote and what I think they meant.

Smoking – Ciggaret is as flying killer. (A cigarette is a silent killer)
It can make destroyed your heart because it has a poison. (can destroy your heart because it has poison)

Facebook – My money ought to need a important. (ought to go for something important)
You can get much friend. (many friends)
It to damage moral someone. (can morally damage someone)
It trigger measure criminal. (It can trigger you to be a criminal.)
Cause make funny to all people in the world. (It brings fun to all the people in the world.)

Internet – It make opium. (It can become a drug like opium.)
Because bad make brain. (It makes your brain bad.)
It can study with is good. (It can help us study well.)
It can forget study. (It can make you forget to study.)
It is cheat us. It cause wicked. Cause negative impact. (It can cheat us. It can cause people to be wicked. It can have a negative impact.)
Internet like many people. (The internet is liked by many people.)
Many deceit, many bad peoples that pretend good to our obvious, he deceive our. (Many people are deceitful. There are many bad people who pretend to be good. They deceive us.)

Cell phones – You can be lazy people. (a lazy person)
You delivered message for your friends but its not important. (send messages to your friends but they are not important.)
If you use handphones in place darkness its make your eyes hurt. (in dark places, makes your eyes hurt.)
You can refreshing with play game. (can get refreshed by playing games)
It makes you economic. (good economic sense)
It makes to disturb activity study you can’t acceptance studying with good. (It disturbs studying. You can’t study well.)

TV – It can stupid. (It can make us stupid.)
Because sinyal is bad, TV burnt, to swoop down thunder, anthena is bed, borter is damaged, secreen is damaged. (I guess all this would make a TV bad. It’s useful for me to see how much they really understand when I give them an assignment.)

Motorcycles – Make your vacation is fast. (You can go fast to your vacation.)
Help to we sport so healthy. (Help us to go to sports so we can be healthy)
They like to hang out is not benefit. (The motorcyclists like to hang out and it’s not beneficial.)
Disturbing other rider if the riders are crazy or the riders are drag racing in the street. (Sounds crazy to me, too!)
It cause disease often use motorcycle can make you sick lung cancer. (Using motorcycles often can make you sick with lung cancer.)
It release our depressed. (It releases our depression.)
They are often to collide regulation traffic. (They often have traffic accidents.)
You must buy sheeze every day. (I have no idea. Is sheeze: shoes or gasoline or cheese or some kind of parking permit?)

Schools – The teachers very confidential because Indonesian people are freanly. (teachers are comforting because Indonesian people are friendly)
Peoples in Indonesia can’t worthless times not ontime – often late. (People in Indonesia waste time. They are not on time. They are often late.)
Bad - School in Indonesia fery musle. (Schools in Indonesia are not very strong.)
Indonesia have achievement this proud and study process it’s very fun and good like that also Indonesian people is very joval. (Indonesia can be proud of this achievement. The process of studying is fun and good. Also Indonesians are very jovial.)
Schools in Indonesia is very disciplin. (are very disciplined)
The school is dirty because very much dirt. (Yes, well…..)
The students often have arrogant attitude, they don’t really to get science, they just want money and rich friends. (Some dictionary must have translated studies as “science”)
The school became to shape generation nation continuously. (Schools shape the next generation of the nation.)

English – Study hard to English. (learn English)
You can comutation with Oma. (communicate)
Study English is very happy. (Studying English can make you happy.)
It fun very happy nothing feel satifed to studing English. (It’s fun. You feel very happy. It feels satisfying to study English.)
Don’t boring to studying English. (It’s not boring to study English. That’s an understatement. Just look at how un-boring all these sentences are!)

Teenagers – They like drug because when they sad they like to drink drug. (Makes me sad just to read this.)
They like to do free sex, because they like hang out with friend when night. (Some insight into their world.)
Free sekx. They are to take turns couple. (Free sex. And I don’t have a clue what the rest of it means...maybe sharing partners rather than just having sex with your spouse.)
To wear narcotic. (To use narcotics – The Indonesian word “pakai” means both “use” and “wear”)
The teanagers is naughty you can see some teanagers rise in volt with his/her parents they can’t accept any advice. (Teenagers are naughty. You can see some teenagers revolt with their parents. They can’t accept any advice. – So true, every where!)
They usually doing some act trespeson social norms like doing making love under age - under 17th. (They are usually doing some act of trespassing social norms, like making love under the age of 17.) (Actually, I doubt that there is very much “free sex” drinking or drugs at my school. I live in a pretty conservative area. I think.)
Teenagers never surrender for pick up curiosity. (never loose their curiosity)

America – You can get look scinry very beautiful. (see scenery that is very beautiful)
Bad – It is many people of kristiany. (There are many people of Christianity.)
Bad – America doesn’t have many culture. (I think she means that Indonesia has a rich culture which she doesn’t think America has.)
There is a cold. (There it is cold.)
Good - Presiden Obama is handsome. (!!!)
Because a peoples of Amererican is too much smart peoples. (the people of America are very smart people)
American peoples can the work or anywhere with quickly. (American people can work anywhere quickly.)
Country is industrion. (industrious)

Arema football – Arema have player and sporter those is relation ship. (Arema has players and supporters who are in relationship with each other.)
It player is the best. (Their players are the best.)
It can give you a happy. (give you happiness)
The players is very handsome, for example: M. Ridhuan, Nooh Alam Syah, etc. (OK, handsome is good…)
In the fue your Arema group. (Maybe something like … the few, the proud, the brave?)

Sports – You can spared sick, and we can do it every day. (spared from being sick and you can do it every day.)
It is healthy spiritual and body you can spared stress and low fisik. (healthy, spiritual and your body can be spared stress and …?)
Because can health a body. (Because they can make a body healthy.)
Make durable young. (Makes you stay young.)
Lasting junior. (They can keep you young.)

Love and hugs from your durable, lasting, junior, senior - Colleen Young