Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Lesson Learned!

Several years ago, before I got married, I needed to take TOEFL. Not the "real" one, just the placement test kind. I needed it for a walk-interview.

I decided to take it in an English course, Jalan Dipati Ukur, Bandung. Before taking it, the receptionist eyed me dubiously and said, "Are you sure you want to take this? You'd better take a course in this place first, or else don't blame me should you get a bad result..." I just shrugged it off and told her, yes, I was pretty sure.

After I finished the test, I was told to wait for fifteen to thirteen minutes. Ohkay. I busied myself reading a novel. Minutes passed and I got called.

"The director asked to see you," the receptionist said.

Baffled, I followed her to the director's room. I sensed something was wrong. The director looked at me from head to toe then offered his hand, introducing his name. Won't write his full name here, but suffice to say, that his first initial is R. R then motioned for me to sit.

"What's the matter? Why did you ask me to be here?" I asked.

"It's about your test," R said.

"What's wrong?"

"You see, you didn't make any mistake in the test." Pause. "Your answers are 100% correct."

Before I even began to formulate another question, he added, "You cheated, didn't you?"

I was shocked. Flabbergasted. So unjust! Ridiculous!

"Didn't it even occur to you that perhaps I could answer all correctly?" I managed to ask.

"Well, even my score is not that high."

Silence. Thousands of thoughts swam in my head. Like hell I care! "I didn't cheat. And how would I do that, given the chance?" Then I babbled in English, and being mean, I deliberately used difficult vocabs and expressions.

Then the director began to ask about my background. Where I studied English. What my major was in university. Stuff like that. He then grudgingly admit that perhaps my score was that high. Then that stupid bastard even had the nerve to offer me a job as a teacher there!

I'm sad to say that back then, I was almost in tears. So humiliated and offended I was that I only said that I had a better offer. I regretted that I didn't kick him in the shin or something more damaging.

The institution has moved to another place, and I'm not sure whether he's still working there or not. And I have learned a lesson. If somebody insults you deliberately, callously, then it is okay to strike back.

I hope that Mr. R, wherever you are, you won't do the same mistake twice. Puhhleeez. Your mastery in English is surely not the best in this world.

5 comments:

Therry said...

What a dickhead! Most of the people who run English institutions can't speak fluent English for shit anyway! I know because I've been an English teacher myself and I could speak better than my manager.

Go figure!

Rani said...

way to go, Donna!

roelworks said...

Wow...is it THE institution that i'm thinking of where i used to be?

Primadonna Angela said...

thanks all for your support!

aye, most so-called managers in english institution can't really speak english. *sigh*

@ muhammad, hmm, you used to work there? hehe. and the director's name, was it "R"? small world!

Anonymous said...

well...
(almost)typical Indonesian Lecturer, not just in a course but also in (almost)every educational institution in Indonesia.
for whose so called lecturer, only a cheater could beat them.
*sigh*
[not every lecturer though, maybe just some (minor)over educated people)
CMIIW

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