To begin with, I’m a newly retired civil servant. (When I told this to an old friend of mine, he responded with a surprised look of disbelief because he thought I looked much younger than my actual age, so I said to myself ‘I wish I could say I’m a newly married man’). Secondly, I’m a former lecturer, it is true, but first and foremost I’m an ardent lover and explorer of the English language.
Allow me to recall what happened way back in the nineteen fifties when I was a child in one of the remotest areas in Eastern Indonesia. My parents’ neighbour was a young anthropologist from Britain who was conducting research on the folklore of the indigenous community there. During his work in my village, foreign officials (mostly from the United Nations Organization such as FAO and WHO) sometimes visited the village and were entertained by my parents in our modest home, and the young anthropologist was one of the guests.
It was on these occasions that I first heard English spoken by foreigners during their conversations. In retrospect, I must say now that I fell in love with the sound of the English language. I thought then that it was a beautiful language, actually much more beautiful than the Dutch language that my father spoke.
This childhood experience seemed to have had a long-lasting effect as it affected my choice of the field of study when I entered upper secondary school. I chose the language and culture/literature stream in which foreign languages were taught : English, French, and German (though I also opted for old Javanese as one of my elective subjects). I remember vividly receiving a copy of a book containing a collection of fables written by the British anthropologist. (It was the result of his one-year research in my village.) It was through this favourite book of mine that I first acquired my reading knowledge of English.
Little wonder that I also decided to major in English at university in the sixties where I had the benefits of constant exposure to English, French, and German (and a bit of Latin). I have never regretted my choice because the seeds of “Love at first hearing” back in the mid-fifties actually developed into a deeper appreciation and broader knowledge of English.
I owe a debt of gratitude to the young anthropologist by the name of Dr Rodney Needham, whom (almost by sheer chance) I had the pleasure of meeting again twenty years later at Oxford University, where he was Professor of Anthropology.
Thirdly, being retired I no longer do my regular work and routine duties, and I particularly miss one activity that I enjoyed: my personal language consultancy outside working hours in which I responded to questions from students, former students, and colleagues sent to me by letter, memo, short message service, or electronic mail.
Living in retirement, I would still be happy to share my interests with fellow lovers of English by exchanging information and trying to solve specific language problems in our learning process, or to show where to find answers and solutions.
Lastly, I’d like to introduce and offer my private translation and editing services to anyone under the following categories:
a). Anyone who wants to have an Indonesian text translated into English
b). Anyone who has produced his or her own translation of an Indonesian text into English but wants to have it edited.
c) Anyone who has written his or her own text in English but is not confident enough of its acceptability in terms of syntax (sentence structure), word choice, and style.
Note : I prefer relatively shorter texts, i.e. between one and around ten pages (on well spaced quarto or foolscap paper).
Here are some examples of texts I have in mind :
- leaflets/brochures/pamphlets/broadsheets/prospectuses
- letters of application and suchlike
- letters of reference/recommendation
- curriculum vitae
- research proposals
- announcement/public statements
- contractual agreements
- any other official documents
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