"How long have you been learning?" That is a sentence I learned from Dr. Tony Garthwaite, a visiting lecturer from Humberside Polytechnic (UK), in 1991. At the time, I was a fourth-semester undergraduate student in the Fisheries Study Program at the Faculty of Animal Science, Diponegoro University.
At that time, I not only learned about post-harvest technology from Dr. Garthwaite but also improved my English speaking skills, as he did not speak Indonesian. Dr. Garthwaite gave me tips on how to communicate fluently in spoken English.
I admit that my aptitude for learning English is not as strong as my wife's (we were classmates during our undergraduate studies in Fisheries Science at the Faculty of Animal Science, Diponegoro University). My ability also pales in comparison to my daughter's; after all, she completed her Master’s degree in Food Technology at Ghent University and KU Leuven in Belgium (where she used English in her daily life). To be honest, when I first started my undergraduate studies, I used to feel anxious about speaking English, fearing that my grammar or pronunciation might be flawed or my vocabulary limited. However, a conversation I had with Dr. Garthwaite—a native speaker—gave me the confidence to realize that it is perfectly fine not to be perfect.
My communication experiences in 1991 gave me the confidence to communicate in English, even though my English was not perfect. While working in export/import (1995–1998) and later in export marketing (1999–2002), I communicated with many people, and not all of them were fluent in English.
When I traveled to several European countries to visit my daughter, who was pursuing her master's degree in Belgium, I also met many people there whose English was not perfect.
I am sharing this experience to encourage the many people in Indonesia who feel afraid, embarrassed, or lack confidence because their English proficiency isn't as good as that of their school English teachers or university English lecturers.
In conclusion: 1) English speaking ability is not a matter of simply "can" versus "cannot." 2) I view English speaking proficiency as falling on a scale of 0 to 10. 3) I have met people in Europe whose English speaking skills were imperfect, yet they spoke the language with confidence. 4) I eventually gained the confidence to speak English, even though my proficiency level was only a 6 or 7. 5) It was precisely by consistently practicing that my ability gradually improved.
Friday, July 10, 2026, at 10:55 WIB
Author: Dr. Constantinus, S.Pi, M.M. (Green Industry & Management)
Holiparent Food Division is managed by: 1) Bernardine Agatha Adi Konstantia, S.T.P., M.Sc (Green Food Science & Technology), 2) Dr. Susana Adi Astuti, S.Pi, M.Si (Green Industrial Behavior), 3) Dr. Constantinus, S.Pi, M.M. (Green Industry & Management)
