MET 2008 COLLOQUIUM

From August 10-16, the MET 2008 Colloquium was held at Wisma Maluku, Jakarta Pusat. This program was organized by ITC, the International Test Center, Jakarta, and presented a number of highly reputable speakers either from Indonesia or abroad. All of the speakers were experienced professionals and experts in educational issues. Thirty-nine teachers, mostly SMK teachers from all over Indonesia, joined the event after a careful selection by ITC.

The goal and purpose of this event was to change the old paradigm of ELL (English Language Learning) in Indonesia, which so far had always put English as a foreign language, into the new paradigm, "English is a tool for international communication." After joining this program, the participating teachers are expected to be better able to teach students to acquire English as a life skill rather than just a foreign language.

The participants said that they had acquired valuable knowledge and improvement from this event. They said that it would be a valuable contribution to their teaching skill. They also said that they had a really great time and that the 6-day period of colloquium was clearly not enough. They wanted more. :-D