Indonesia was one of countries in Asia which experienced a high economic growth in early 1990′s. From 1987 to 1996, growth of Indonesian GDP has reached 7.1% which accounted as the great performance over the decade. This situation was mainly influenced by the financial deregulation in early 1980s which had triggered a great expansion in capital inflow and credit growth. However, the economy continued to overheat and asset price bubbles emerged in early 1990s which also led Indonesian economy susceptible to external shocks.

Indonesia

In 1997, Indonesian economy experienced a huge shock due to a currency crisis which broadened to a banking, financial and general economic crisis. Actually, the origin of the crisis was not mainly caused by the lax of macroeconomic policies, instead the unwell-developed financial system like unsound banking sector. At its heart, the Indonesian crisis was a banking crisis brought on by banks which took too many foreign currency risks.

The recovery process of Indonesian economy has shown a slow pace due to a complexity of the domestic problems from 1997-2000. The political tension, for example, contributed to the uncertainty and led the recovery program did not work properly. This tension was reflected by the weakening of the rupiah, expectations of rising inflation, and decelerating economic activities. It appears that rising uncertainty has contributed to a slow economic recovery in Indonesia, although the momentum for recovery was in place, as indicated by a relatively high level of growth (4.8 percent) in 2000 and good progress in banking reform as well as corporate debt restructuring during the year.

The slow of the recovery process was also caused by mismanagement of economic policy in the event of crisis. In banking sector, for example, the closing of the insolvent banks has led to a run bank and caused the economy fall into a deep recession. Furthermore, a tight monetary policy that was always going to be some part of the response has also led to problems in investment and banking sector due to a high interest rate.

A gradual improvement of the recovery process has started since 2000, reflected in the stable inflation and exchange rate, reduction in the debt-to-GDP ratio and a manageable fiscal deficit in the last 5 years. Furthermore, Growth of GDP as represent of economic performance reached to 4.9% over the 6 years since 2000. In a policy side, fiscal and monetary policies have always shown a reasonably conservative. Inflation rates were low by developing country standards, budgets were reasonably controlled in most cases, and government debt levels were generally not excessive. Furthermore, these achievements also indicate to the strong commitment to sound economic policies.

However, a stable macroeconomic condition in Indonesia has not been accompanied with robust or quality economic growth because consumption remains the primary driving force in economic growth. This situation has been identified as consequence of supply side rigidities which also make monetary and fiscal policy can not be optimally used to push a higher economic growth. Furthermore, in the banking sector, an underperforming intermediation function continued to overshadow industrial performance. Consequently, economic growth in recent years was not followed by a significant reduction in unemployment and poverty and had little effect on income disparities.

Following on from this introduction, the reminder of this paper is structured as follows. The section two considers the economic performance in Indonesia from 2000-2006. The section three reveals the recent challenges to economic policy. Finally, concluding remarks are provided in the fourth section.

2. Snap-Shot of Economic Performance in Indonesia

2.1. Indonesian Economy performance 2000-2006

Indonesian economy after the crises shows a slow process of recovery due to a complexity of the domestic problems. Based on the graph below, the years to recover for Indonesia is 7 years, with average annual GDP percentage reached 4.9% from 2000-2006. However, In general, the Indonesian economy has experienced gradual improvement since 2000. The growth of GDP, for example, remained stable around 5% from 2000-2006. In 2006, the growth of GDP was mainly strengthened by the fiscal stimulus and robust export performance that mitigated the impact of weak public purchasing power. Analyzed by sector, the most vigorous growth took place in primary and services sectors. The robust performance of the two sectors in turn helped to promote more rapid recovery in economic activity in 2006.

Table 1

East Asian GDP

Average annual percentage growth

1987-1996 1997-1999 2000-2006 Years to recover

Hong Kong 5.2 -0.8 4.7 3

Indonesia 7.1 -6.4 4.9 7

Korea 8.1 1.0 4.6 2

Malaysia 9.5 -0.8 4.7 6

Philippines 3.6 1.4 4.6 3

Singapore 9.2 2.8 4.6 2

Taiwan 7.2 5.1 3.3 5

Thailand 9.5 -3.3 5.1 3

East Asia* 7.6 0.0 4.5 -

Sources: IMF, RBA, CEIC

Furthermore, the other macroeconomic indicators are also show a stable movement in the last 6 years, reflected in the stable inflation and exchange rate, reduction in the debt-to-GDP ratio and a manageable fiscal deficit. In spite of the improvement in macroeconomic condition, the investment and exports, the former dominant engines of economic growth, have not a significant improvement since the crisis 1997. This situation is mainly as a consequence of supply-side rigidity which also makes ineffectiveness of fiscal and monetary policies in influencing economic output. A further consequence, economic growth in recent years was not followed by a significant reduction in unemployment and poverty and had little effect on income disparities. The specific aspects of economic performance are covered in more detail below.

Growth of GDP and ICOR

(at annual change, %)

Source: Bank Indonesia

Table 2

Poverty and Unemployment rate from 2003-2005

(at annual change, %)

2003 2004 2005

Poverty 17.4 16.7 16.0

Unemployment rate 9.5 9.41 10.84

2.1.1 Income, Consumption and Investment

As a structure of GDP, consumption is mainly contributed to the biggest share of GDP. As can be seen from the table below, it accounted 65.4 % of GDP in 2005, increased 3.7% from 2002. Furthermore, the growth of consumption has increased significantly since 2000, reached 4% in 2006. On the other hand, the share domestic capital formation in GDP remained flat at 22% of GDP since 2002. It reached the highest percentage in 2003 at 25.3%, but continued to decrease to 22.2% in 2005. Consequently, this weakened investment performance has continually impacted on the quality of growth which was steady on 5%.

Table 3

Structure of Demand % of GDP

(at current prices)

ITEM 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

Private consumption 61.7 61.7 66.1 67.4 67.4 65.4

Government consumption 6.5 6.7 7.1 8.0 8.4 8.2

Gross domestic capital formation 22.2 22.0 20.9 25.3 23.2 22.2

Exports of goods and services 41.0 38.2 32.0 30.1 32.1 33.5

Imports of goods and services 30.5 30.1 25.8 22.7 27.4 29.2

Source: Bank Indonesia

Growth of Consumption and Investment

(at annual change, %)

Source: Bank Indonesia

As reported by Bank Indonesia, Total Factor Productivity (TFP) fell to below 1.0% in the 2000-2004 period, far below the 3.0% TFP during the 1993-1997 period. Furthermore, ICOR (Incremental Capital to Output Ratio) also showed a high trend since 2003, showing the bad signs of capital efficiency to growth. These factors combined to produce supply side rigidity, which hampers efforts to pursue more rapid expansion in economic capacity. The combination of an unresponsive supply side and a more consumptive household sector has constricted policy options for pursuing a higher rate of sustainable economic growth. This is because accelerated growth will be followed by stronger upward pressure on prices. As a rule, supply side rigidities increase the economy’s vulnerability to shocks and are also responsible for poor quality of growth, persistence of inflation, entrapment of the economy in an excess liquidity spiral and lack of macroeconomic policy effectiveness in promoting growth.

2.1.2 Financial Performance

Banking sector since 2002 has demonstrated relatively sound performance, reflected in Loan to Deposit Ratio (LDR), Return on Capital (ROA) and Capital Adequate Ratio (CAR). Instead, Non Performing Loans (NPL) shows a deterioration performance over the last 2 years due to the restructuring of non-performing corporate loans at two state-owned banks. There were also numerous structural problems in the real sector that paved the way for banking prudential practices in playing their intermediary role, particularly in the disbursement of credit.

Table 4

Commercial Banks Performance Indicators

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

LDR (Credit/Deposit) 49.1 53.7 61.8 64.7 64.7

ROA (%) 1.9 2.5 3.5 2.6 2.6

NPL Gross (%) 8.1 8.2 5.8 8.3 7.0

CAR (%) 22.5 19.4 19.4 19.5 20.5

Source: Bank Indonesia

2.1.3 External vulnerability

External balance, otherwise called balance of payment equilibrium refers to the ability of the residents of a country to pay their way in international transactions. In general, the balance of payments account is a systematic record of the country’s international economic transactions of both current and capital nature, conducted within a defined period time. In general, Indonesia’s balance of payments showed better improvement over the last 3 years. As can be seen from the table 6, the percentage of Current Account to GDP reached 2.6 in 2006, increased significantly from 2004 that just reached below 1.

Surplus of balance of payment also represents that the domestic savings exceeds the domestic investment. As can be seen from table 5, the total of government and private savings exceeds the total of government and private investment. Although, the government has ruined a budget deficit over the last 5 years, the gap can be filled by the private savings.

Tabel 5

Savings-Investment Gap

(2001-2006)

ITEM 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Government

Saving Deposits 1.8 2.6 3.8 3.7 3.0 3.6

Investment 4.2 3.9 5.5 4.7 3.5 4.6

Deficit/Surplus -2.4 -1.3 -1.7 -1.0 -0.5 -1.0

Private

Saving Deposits 21.6 20.3 18.9 19.4 20.7 23.0

Investment 15.0 15.1 13.8 17.7 20.1 19.4

Deficit/Surplus 6.6 5.2 5.1 1.6 0.6 3.7

Total

Saving Deposits 23.4 22.9 22.7 23.1 23.7 26.6

Investment 19.2 19.0 19.3 22.4 23.6 24.0

Deficit/Surplus 4.2 3.9 3.4 0.6 0.1 2.6

Exchange Rate (Rp/$) 10,256 9,318 8,572 8,940 9,713 9,167

Source: Bank Indonesia

From domestic side, competitiveness of Indonesia’s non oil-gas products – especially natural resource based – was still high, while return of rupiah investment in financial markets also became more attractive as risk factors improved. Besides, the flow of foreign direct investment (FDI)-primarily in the oil-gas sector reported an increase in proportion to raising oil price over the last three years. Other economic developments also had an impact on the balance of payments in 2006. Slower domestic demand growth stemmed imports growth. Given that background, Indonesia’s balance of payments recorded a surplus of .0 billion in 2006 or 2.6 as represent by percentage of Current Account/ GDP.

Table 6

Indicators of External Vulnerability

ITEM 2004 2005 2006

Current Account/GDP 0.6 0.1 2.6

Exports of Goods and Services/GDP 34.3

37.4 33.3

Debt Service Ratio1) 27.1 17.3 24.5

Foreign Debt/GDP 53.9 45.1 33.9

Note: 1) Debt Service Ratio (DSR) increased in 2006 due to IMF debt repayment of ,6 billion

Source: Bank Indonesia

3. Recent Challenges to Economic Policy

Generally, Indonesian economic performance in 2006 shows a better improvement, reflected in some macroeconomic indicators such as exchange rate, GDP and inflation. This improvement has also proof a sound macroeconomic policy in Indonesia, specifically the consistency of central bank of Indonesia to achieve inflation target and macroeconomic stability. Despite this, Indonesian economy is facing a greater challenge in micro structural problems which burden the development of investment and export competitiveness. Furthermore, the problem of banking intermediary is also need to be resolved in order to boost the economic expansion. The specific aspects of recent challenges to economic policy are covered in more detail below.

Table 7

Comparison of Assumption and Realization

Of Inflation Target in 2006

Variable 2006

Target Outcome

Exchange Rate (Rp/$) 9.472 – 10.156 9.166

GDP 5% – 5.7% 5.5%

Core Inflation 7.2% – 7.5% 6.03%

CPI Inflation 7% – 10% 6.60%

Source: Bank Indonesia

3.1. Investment policy

Investment is one of the important indicators to ensure the quality of economic growth performance. The improvement of investment growth is needed to absorb the excess labor supply and to boost higher welfare. However, the investment performance in Indonesia has not shown a significant improvement after the crisis. Regarding to this problem, the issue of enhancing better quality growth is the key success. Thus, government needs to be more serious to implement various policies for improvement of the investment climate with the support of stable macroeconomic conditions.

The weak investment climates, poor quality of infrastructure and problems with bureaucratic inefficiency have been identified as the main obstacles of the investment growth in Indonesia. These problems are made productivity and accumulation of capital is low, making the improvement of the economy sluggish.

Reflecting this was the deteriorating quality and contribution of capital to economic growth, the low total factor productivity (TFP) and the persistently high incremental capital output ratio (ICOR). Over time, the combination of these factors has led to supply-side rigidity that has constricted responsiveness to policy stimuli. This has reduced the effectiveness of transmitting macroeconomic policy stimulus to the real sector. Instead, stimulus of this kind can easily trigger rapid overheating in the economy.

In order to improve investment performance, government should forefront the efforts to minimize risk in the business sector, such as improvement in investment climate and renewed development of infrastructure. In addition, the micro risks problem such as corruption, bureaucratic red tape, licensing procedures, manpower regulations, the high cost economy and market distortions are also has to be vanished in order to ensure the improvement of investment climate in Indonesia. These strategies continually will create a good perception of bank and private sectors to fulfill new loan and investment.

There are, at least, 3 important policies regarding to solve investment problems. The first is the policy based on institutional reforms. The second is the policy based on infrastructure development. The third is the policy based on financial restructuring.

For institutional reform, the policy is expected to answer perceptions of uncertainty in the investment climate in Indonesia. Furthermore, this policy has to cover the general improvements in investment services and harmonization of central government and regional government regulations. For the latter objective, it concerns to reforms in customs administration, taxation and industrial relations and support for small and medium enterprises and cooperatives.

Lastly, for restructuring financial system government needs to enhance intermediary function of banking system. An increased banking role in financing support is also a crucial point in the achievement of higher levels of better quality economic growth. Banks are expected to shift their financing structure away from consumer financing and money market placements and towards more productive uses, such as working capital and investment financing with priority for labor intensive business activities. Banks will also need to demonstrate greater capacity for seeking new financing opportunities and to be better acquainted with the characteristics of the business community.

3.2. Export competitiveness and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy

Future of support from the export sector will be strongly determined by the ability to promote manufacturing exports, which at this time are still hampered by micro structural hurdles that undermine competitiveness and the ability to seize advantage in the highly competitive global trading environment. Similarly, more intensive efforts are needed to build external resilience by attracting higher volume of longer-term capital inflows for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), rather than fluctuation-prone portfolio capital flows. Under these conditions, higher economic growth can only be achieved with support from significant expansion in domestic demand compared to the previous year.

3.3. Macroeconomic policy

Several policies concerning various fields including monetary, banking and the payment system has to be synchronized with the general policy direction. Monetary policy has to consistent with efforts to achieve and maintain the government-set inflation target. Banking policy has to foster the role of banks as intermediation institutions without neglecting prudential principles and continuing to reinforce banking institutions. Meanwhile, payment system policy has to be designed to support the effectiveness of policies taken in the banking and monetary sectors by providing a secure, efficient and reliable payment system. There are, at least two general important strategies for enhancing effectiveness of macroeconomic policy.

First, commitment and policy consistency are crucial elements of raising macroeconomic policy credibility. Indonesia’s open economy is highly susceptible to global economic developments. Consequently, Indonesia’s economy must have the ability to mitigate the various sources of instability. Furthermore, more coordination between monetary policy and fiscal policy is also needed to enhance the credibility of macroeconomic policy. Better credibility, in turn, reinforces macroeconomic resilience in harmony with restored public confidence in macro policy management. Holistically, macroeconomic policy consistency can lead to lower inflation and a relatively stable exchange rate.

Second, the function and strategy of clear and sound policy communication and dissemination have become pivotal elements to influence the perceptions of economic players towards overall economic prospects. For example, policy to raise fuel prices will develop negative expectation of a prospective economy because the increase of oil price will higher cost of production. This condition consequently will reduce income and investment in the short run. Regarding to this negative consequences, government should has a strategy to communicate with the public to restore confidence that the tight-biased monetary policy was part of an effort to turn economic conditions around.

4. Conclusion

Indonesian economy has shown a gradual improvement since 2000. Despite the growing of GDP over the last 6 six years, investment and export sector still stagnant making the issue of enhancing better quality growth as the key of success. Thus, government needs to be more serious to implement various policies for improvement of the investment climate with the support of stable macroeconomic conditions.

In the banking sector, central bank of Indonesia needs to solve an underperforming intermediation function of banking sector. The role of banking sector is so important to support performance of real sector. In addition, to ensure the effectiveness of macroeconomic policy, there are, at least two important strategies that need to be resolved. First, commitment and policy consistency are crucial elements of raising macroeconomic policy credibility. Second, the function and strategy of clear and sound policy communication and dissemination have become pivotal elements to influence the perceptions of economic players towards overall economic prospects.

Snapshot Of Indonesian Economic Performance

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Every year the citizens of the Philippines host major festivities that are known as the Barrio Fiesta. This fiesta honors all the patron saints of different towns, villages, and regional districts and is celebrated by ceremonies that are held in the church followed by street parades in honor of the saints. There are various contests that include dancing and singing, and cockfight tournaments before the grand finale of the fireworks.

Philippines

The Chinese also influence the Filipino culture to a large extent, and this is clearly evident in the Filipino cuisines. The locals here have termed the famous Chinese noodles as Mami. Other dishes like meat and other foodstuffs also reflect the influence of the Chinese cuisine. The influence of the Chinese culture in the Philippines is reflected in the fact that citizens occasionally use Chinese surnames, and some are proficient in speaking the language as well.

Over a century ago, the American culture began having a relative influence on the Philippines. The frequent use of the English language in the Philippines is due to the American culture influence. The American culture has also increased the demand for fast food and its chains have spread all over the Philippines. Filipinos have also started listening to the latest American music, taken to watching American movies, dancing to the American tunes, and also started fancying Hollywood actors. The basic principal of the Filipino people is to follow their moral values and to respect their elders and family members. These qualities help them grow into better human beings and have a friendly and pleasing personality.

Philippines Culture

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One’s first time in the Street is completely mind blowing, loud music being heard in every direction. At the top end can be found Mxxx disco for the rich and trendy of Pattaya. If you are going to venture here, dress to impress bearing in mind anyone over thirty five, will appear ancient. If rock and roll is your your bag “The rolling stones bar” is for you with popular live rock and roll from its resident band.

Thailand

If your looking for something really different then there is the arab quarter, with belly dancers and deafening music from all directions. Don’t stay here long or you might suffer permanent damage and loss of hearing, you will see people of all nationalities smoking water pipes in some establishments.

Lucifer’s disco is easy found with its large neon sign above the entrance, like most discos in Pattaya entrance time is regarded as two am when the ladies leave their respective bars. Going any earlier and you might well be the only person there. Although the drinks are expensive this drifts into insignificance when weighted against the atmosphere and entertainment value.

Gogo bars are common place at every turn. “The iron door” nearby being very popular. The place is full of beautiful and exotic ladies with lots of smiles and intensive looks. This makes a newbie single male tourist a love god overnight. Perhaps more seedy of all the gogo bars is “Beavers” here ladies dance on mirrored tables, and as the name implies little is left to the imagination.

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Palm oil is also a primary substitute for rapeseed oil in Europe, which too is experiencing high levels of demand for bio-diesel fuel production purposes. The palm tree fruit extract is the most productive energy crop the world has. One hectare of oil palm plantation has the capacity to produce nearly 6,000 litres of crude bio-diesel. In comparison, soybeans and corn generate only about 400 and 200 litres per hectare, respectively.

Malaysia

The palm trees can be grown on sunny tropical region. Most plantation lands are cleared through administering the slash-and burn technique. Palm trees are very versatile and are the highest yielding oilseed crop. For fresh fruit yield, for every 10 tonnes of palm oil, about 1 tonne of palm kernel oil can be obtained. The countries the produce the most crude palm oil are from Southeast Asia mainly Malaysia and Indonesia. Together, both countries account for about 80 percent of the world’s production.

Malaysia is the single largest producer with more than 50 percent of the world’s production, while Indonesia follows with almost 30 percent of global production. Between 1960 and 2000, global palm oil production increased 10 fold from 2 million tons in 1960 to 24 million tons in 2000. As the largest producer and exporter of palm oil and palm oil products, Malaysia has an important role to play in fulfilling the growing global need for oils and fats in general.

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During the nineteenth century, and prior to the Nationalist movement of the early 20th century, the model of kebaya had enjoyed a period of being worn by Indonesian, Eurasian, and European women alike, with trivial style variations. In this time distinguishing class and category was important and produced variants of the basic set of clothes. Now we may appreciate the modern kebaya ( or in Indonesia called as model kebaya modern) that may be made of silk, velvet and brocade.

Indonesia

There are two main kinds of the Indonesian traditional clothing. The first one is known as baju kebaya and the second one is baju kurung. The baju kebaya may have two highest forms: the semi-transparent straighter cut blouse of the Java or Bali and the more tightly tailored Sunda kebaya. The baju kurung is a loose-fitting, knee-length long-sleeved blouse worn in the additional adherent Muslim areas- including former Kingdom of Johor-Riau (now Malaysia), Sumatra and parts of coastal Java.

The blouse is generally semi-transparent and worn over the torso wrap. The skirt or kain is an unstitched material wrap around three metres long. The name sarong in English is erroneous, but the sarung (Malaysian accent: sarong) is truly stitched together to shape a tube just like a Western costume.

In Indonesia, especially in Java, Bali and Sunda, the kebaya modern is generally batik which can be from natural stamped cotton to elaborately hand – painted batik tulis embroidered silk with gold thread. In several other areas of Indonesia such as Sumatera, Flores, Lemata Timor, and other islands generally use kain ikat or songket. In Sumba, there is a well-known decorated kain with lau hada: shells and beads.

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Admissions

Australia

The IELTS test is administrated by the British Councils, the University of Cambridge, and IELTS Australia. That is to say, it is associated with the British government and traditionally was used by British universities, as well as New Zealand and Australian universities to determine the language capability of foreign students. TOEFL is administered by ETS, a US-based non-profit and is used widely by American and Canadian universities. However, these days, in order to make it easy on international students, universities all over the world take both TOEFL and IELTS. While you should check with the specific university you want to apply to, in general any school in the US, the UK, Australia or New Zealand will take either test score. So that’s one worry off your mind. Pick the test you think will be easier for you to complete. To do that, you probably need to know the structure of each exam.

Structure of the TOEFL

As of last year, official TOEFL is almost universally given in the iBT (Internet Based Testing) format. It consists of four sections:

Reading

The TOEFL Reading section asks you to read 4-6 passages of university level and to answer multiple-choice questions about them (multiple-choice means you choose the answer from provided options). Questions test you on comprehension of the text, main ideas, important details, vocabulary, inferring, rhetorical devices and style.

Listening

The Listening Section presents long 2-3 conversations and 4-6 lectures. The situations are always related to university life i.e. a conversation between a student and a librarian about finding research materials or a lecture from a history class. The questions are multiple choice and ask you about important details, inferences, tone, and vocabulary. The conversations and lectures are very natural and include informal English, interruptions, filler noises like “uh” or “Uhm.”

Speaking

The Speaking section is recorded. You will speak into a microphone and a grader will listen to your answers at a later date and grade you. Two questions will be on familiar topics and ask you to give your opinion and/or describe something familiar to you, like your town or your favorite teacher. Two questions will ask you to summarize information from a text and a conversation–and may ask your opinion as well. Two questions will ask you to summarize information from a short conversation. Again, the topics of the conversations are always university-related.

Writing

Finally, there are two short essays on the TOEFL. One will ask you to write your opinion on a broad topic, such as whether it is better to live in the country or the city. One will ask you to summarize information from a text and a lecture–often the two will disagree with each other and you will need to either compare and contrast, or synthesize conflicting information.

IELTS Structure

The IELTS contains the same 4 sections, Reading, Listening, Speaking and Writing, but the format is very different.

Reading

The reading section of the IELTS gives you 3 texts, which may be from academic textbooks or from a newspaper or magazine–but all at the level of a university student. One will always be an opinion piece–i.e. a text arguing for one point of view. The variety of questions on the IELTS is quite broad, and not every text will have every question type. One question type asks you to match headings to paragraphs in the text. You may be asked to complete a summary of the passage using words from the text. Or you may have to fill in a table or chart or picture with words from the text. There may be multiple-choice questions that ask you about key details. One of the hardest question types presents statements and asks you whether these statements are true, false or not included in the text. You may also be asked to match words and ideas. Finally, some questions are short-answer but the answers will be taken directly from the text itself.

Some questions come before the text and may not require careful reading to answer. Others come after the text and may expect you to have read the text thoroughly.

Listening

The IELTS has four listening sections. The first is a “transactional conversation” in which someone may be applying for something (a driver’s license, a library card) or asking for information (say calling for more details about an advertisement or a hotel). The second section is an informational lecture of some kind, possibly a dean explaining the rules of the university. Third is a conversation in an academic context and the final section will be an academic lecture. For all sections you may be asked to fill out a summary, fill in a table, answer multiple-choice questions, label a diagram or picture, or classify information into different categories. You will be expected to fill out answers as you listen.

Writing

There are two writing tasks on the academic IELTS. The first asks you to summarize a table or chart in about 300 words. You will have to identify important information, compare and contrast different figures or maybe describe a process. The second task asks you to present your opinion on a statement about a fairly open topic such as: “Women should look after children and not work” or “Too many people are moving to cities and rural areas are suffering.”

Speaking

Finally, the speaking section will be held on a different day from the rest of the test and in the presence of a trained interviewer. The questions are the same for all examinees but some parts may be more in the form of a conversation than a monologue. The first part of the test will be a brief introductory conversation followed by some short questions about familiar topics. The interviewer may ask your name, your job, what kinds of sports you like, what your daily routine is, and so on. In the second part, you will be given a card with a topic and a few specific questions to address. You will have to speak for two minutes on this topic, which may be about your daily routine, the last time you went to the movies, your favorite part of the world or a similar familiar topic. In the last section, the interviewer will ask you to discuss a more abstract side of the topic in part 2–why do people prefer daily routines? Why do people like the movies? How does travel affect local life?

Which is Better for Me?

So now you have some understanding of what each test involves, but you might be wondering which is better for you. Maybe in reading about the structure, you thought, “Wow TOEFL sounds so easy,” or, “Oh the IELTS sounds like it’s kind of fun!” That might be a good sign that one test will be easier for you than the other. More concretely, there are a couple of key differences between the tests.

British versus American English

While both the UK and the US accept both tests, and while British English and American English are not as different as some think, the fact of the matter is the IELTS tends to use British English and the TOEFL uses exclusively American English. On the IELTS, this difference will have a larger effect because spelling counts, and that is one area where Britain and the US do not always see eye-to-eye. Obviously if you have problems with the British accent (and the test may include a wide variety of accents, including Australian, New Zealand, Irish and Scottish). On the other hand, American accents may throw you off. Certain terms are also different and you don’t want to waste time in your speaking test asking what a flat or a lorry is. So whether you are used to British or American English is certainly a factor. If you are more comfortable with US English, the TOEFL is a good bet but if you are used to British English and accents, you’ll do better on the IELTS.

Multiple choice versus Copying Down

For the reading and listening sections, TOEFL gives you multiple-choice questions, whereas IELTS generally expects you to copy down words from the text or the conversation word-for-word. Multiple-choice questions will tend to be require slightly better abstract thinking, but the IELTS favors people who have good memories and think more concretely. The good thing about multiple-choice is that it is easy to pick out wrong answers, whereas the good thing about copying down is that the answer is sitting there in the text. You just have to find it and repeat it. So, concrete thinkers will tend to do better on the IELTS and abstract thinkers will tend to excel on the TOEFL.

Predictable or Different Every Time

Of course, the TOEFL is also more predictable than the IELTS. The IELTS throws lots of different question types at you, and the instructions are often slightly different every time. That makes it harder to prepare for. The TOEFL, on the other hand, is pretty much the same test every time–pick A, B, C, D, or E. On the other hand, the IELTS certainly keeps you on your toes and that can keep you more alert.

Speaking to a Person or a Computer?

Another large difference is in how the speaking section is carried out. For some people, it’s very relaxing to just record your answers into a computer because it feels like no one is listening. You just try your best and forget about it until you get your grades. Because the IELTS test is done in an interview format with a native speaker present, you might get nervous or feel you are being judged. And they take notes: Oh God, did he write down something good or something bad? On the other hand, you might feel more relaxed in a conversation, with a person there to explain if you don’t understand a question, or simply having a face to look at, instead of a computer screen. Getting feedback from a native speaker can be helpful too, in order to correct mistakes and improve during the test. So it depends on what you are more comfortable with. If you like talking to people, the IELTS is a better bet. If you just want to be alone and not feel judged, the TOEFL will be more comfortable for you.

Holistic versus Criteria

Finally, the speaking and writing sections of the TOEFL are graded holistically. The grader gives you a score based on the overall quality of the essay, including vocabulary, logic, style, and grammar. The IELTS by contrast is marked by individual criteria and you are scored individually for grammar, word choice, fluency, logic, cohesion, and a dozen other criteria. In other words, if you write well but have a lot of small grammar mistakes, your TOEFL score might be quite good because graders will ignore small mistakes if the overall essay is logical and detailed. The IELTS will not overlook bad grammar. On the other hand, if your grammar and vocabulary are strong but you have trouble expressing your opinion or organizing an essay, you could end up with a low TOEFL score but the IELTS will give you good marks for language use. So while it may sound like the IELTS is much tougher since it grades you on everything, in fact you can get quite a good score if you are strong in a number of areas. The TOEFL emphasizes the ability to put together a logical and detailed argument (or summary) and looks at clarity, word choice, and style above all. If you don’t feel comfortable writing essays but you think you have excellent grammar and vocabulary and overall are a decent writer, the IELTS will probably be easier for you.

I hope this essay was helpful in making your choice. In any case, I recommend you go to the websites of IELTS and TOEFL and get some more detail on each test, and also try out some practice problems on your own.

TOEFL or IELTS – Which is Better?

Walton Burns is an English language teacher and university placement consultant in Astana, Kazakhstan. Check out his blog with more advice for international students and English language learners at http://englishadvantage.blogspot.com and his website at http://english.zendurl.com for games, lesson plans, tests and other cool stuff!

DID YOU KNOW THAT…Fidel Castro is the worst violator of human rights in the Third World today.The Cuban dictatorship has curtailed the republic´s free press and banned strikes. Critics and opponents of the government, including journalists, human rights activists and members of opposition political parties, are arrested and some are convicted and imprisoned. Fidel Castro claims that demonstrations against him are led “subversives” and people under the influence of the United States.

Myanmar

DID YOU KNOW THAT…Cuba had one of the most famous sportsmen in the Third World: José Ariel Contreras.Like Sammy Sosa (Dominican Republic) and Livan Hernández (Cuba), he is now recognized as a symbol of Latin American baseball. For political reasons, he escaped from Cuba and now lives in the United States.Certainly, José Ariel Contreras has became an icon for the Cuban exile community..

DID YOU KNOW THAT…The photographer Cristobal Herrera Ulashkevich was forced to leave Cuba. Why? Because he captured two crucial images of Castro´s health slide:his fainting spell while making a speech in 2001 and his dramatic fall another speech in October 2004.Cristobal Herrera once said, “I am condemned to forced exile. The Cuban government barred me from returning to my country,without explanations.We had no other option left.This is the price for doing photojournalist in Cuba”.

DID YOU KNOW THAT…Fidel Castro´s Latin American allies (Brazil,Argentina,Panama,Guyana and Haiti) privately expressed dismay over Cuban excesses but insisted that they can not interfere in the internal affairs of Cuba.

DID YOU KNOW THAT…The Cuban dictatorship have destroyed traditional Cuban society, culture,and systems, in an attempt to build a communist society.

DID YOU KNOW THAT…More than 200 world-class athletes have defected from Cuba: Magaly Carvajal Rivera (volleyball player),Yamile Aldama (sportswoman), Regla Bell McKenzie (volleyball player), Taimaris Aguero (volleyball player), Joel Casamayor Johnson (boxer ),José Ariel Contreras Camejo (baseball player), Orlando Hernández Pedroso (baseball player),Giorbis Barthelemy (boxer),Ramón Garbey (boxer), Ramón Gato (volleyball player),Andrés Gilbert (basketball player), Ihosvany Hernández (volleyball player), Dulce Tellez (volleyball player), Ruperto Herrera (basketball player), Leonel Marshall (volleyball player)…

DID YOU KNOW THAT…From 1962 to 1992, Cuba received billions of dollars in aid from the USSR(currently Russia).

DID YOU KNOW THAT…Fidel Castro receives continued support and aid from Venezuela. The evalue of Venezuelan oil subsidies to the Cuban dictatorship climbed past $ 3 million in 2006…

DID YOU KNOW THAT…Like Mario Vargas Llosa (Peruvian writer),Jorge Batlle Ibañez (former president of Uruguay),Oscar Arias Sánchez (currently president of Costa Rica), Lászlo Sólyom (currently president of Hungary), Vaclav Havel, who was president of the Czech Republic( 1993-2003), is well-known for his fight against the dictatorship of Fidel Castro Ruz.

DID YOU KNOW THAT…Cuba does not have diplomatic relations with the Czech Republic, Costa Rica, South Korea, El Salvador, Israel and the United States.

DID YOU KNOW THAT…Cuba has one of the most serious human rights problems in the world today. Like North Korea (communist dictatorship), Myanmar (military dictatorship), Zimbabwe (military dictatorship) and Sudan (terrorist state), Cuba always refuses to cooperate with human rights groups.

DID YOU KNOW THAT…Cuba suppled arms to Venezuela.

DID YOU KNOW THAT…In the 1970s and 1980s, Cuba sent troops to Africa (Angola, Ethiopia,Namibia,Somalia,Zimbabwe, Eritrea, Congo, Mozambique and Guinea). At least 5000 Cubans soldiers were killed in Africa.

DID YOU KNOW THAT…In 1996, Cuban olympic boxing champions Yan Bartelemi Varela, Odlanier Solis and Yuiorkis Gamboa Toledano abandoned the national team during a trip to practice in Caracas (Venezuela).

DID YOU KNOW THAT…Cuba maintains excellent diplomatic relations with Venezuela (military dictatorship), North Korea (terrorist state), Equatorial Guinea (military dictatorship), Iran (terrorist state), Zimbabwe (socialist dictatorship), Lybia (military dictatorship), Sudan (terrorist state) and Myanmar (military dictatorship).

DID YOU KNOW THAT…The most common joke in Cuba is, “Would the last person to leave the country please turn off the lights”.

DID YOU KNOW THAT…Cuba does not have first lady since 2007.Vilma Espín Guillois was the last first lady of the Cuban revolution.She was president of the Federation of Cuban Women (1960-2007).She died of cancer on June 18, 2007.

DID YOU KNOW THAT…In January 2007, Cecilia Guevara March, the daughter of revolutionary leader Ernesto Guevara de la Serna, has become an Argentine citizen after many years of living in Havana. She is a marine biologist. Cecilia Guevara was born in 1963, in Cuba, daughter of Ernesto Guevara and Aleida March.

DID YOU KNOW THAT…Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz spends most of his time writing essays about Cuban revolution, Iraq war, sporting defections, and the United States.

DID YOU KNOW THAT…In the 1970s, Cuba has had good relations with Argentina.During this period of time,Argentina was a military dictatorship ruled by Jorge Rafael Videla.

DID YOU KNOW THAT…Like Mao Tse-tung (Chinese dictator), Enver Hoxha (Albanian dictator) and Pol Pot (Cambodian dictator), Fidel Castro is rarely seen without the green military fatigues that have helped make him a revolutionary symbol.

DID YOU KNOW THAT…In 2006, Helena Houdova, who was Miss Czech Republic 1999, slipped into the island and took photos of Cuban slums.However, she was detained by the Cuban secret police.She said, “The revolution´s watchmen rose up because I was taking pictures of something they do not like”.

DID YOU KNOW THAT…The per capita on the island isn’t even US$ 1,560, making it one of the poorest areas on Earth.

DID YOU KNOW THAT…In the past century, Cuba had good relations with Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia (currently Czech Republic and Slovak Republic), Poland, Hungary, East Germany (currently Germany), Romania, Ethiopia, Benin, Guyana, Iraq, Iran, India, Mozambique, Yugoslavia and Tanzania.

DID YOU KNOW THAT…One of the Cuba´s longest-serving political prisoners,Francisco Chaviano, who was chairman of the Cuban Civil Rights, was released in August 2007.He said: “I spent five years stuck in a cell without seeing the sun, two years without receiving visitors and four years without conjugal visits”.Since then he has continued to criticise the Cuban dictatorship, risking imprisonment and even death.

DID YOU KNOW THAT…Only one political party-the Cuban Communist Party (PCC)- is allowed to operate in Cuba.

DID YOU KNOW THAT…In Cuba the divorce rate has doubled in the last ten years.

DID YOU KNOW THAT…Fidel Castro Ruz lives in Havana with his wife, Dalia Soto del Valle, and his five sons: Alex, Alexis, Alejandro, Antonio and Ángel.

DID YOU KNOW THAT…In the 1970s and 1980s, Cuba did not have diplomatic relations with Albania (communist state until 1991).

Facts About Cuba’s Dictatorship

About this Author

Alejandro Guevara Onofre: He is a freelance writer. Alejandro is of Italian, African and Peruvian ancestry. He studied political science and journalism. He has published more than seventy-five research paper in English, and more than twenty in Spanish, concerning the world issues, Olympic sports, countries, and tourism. His next essay is called “The Dictator and Alicia Alonso”. He is an expert on foreign affairs. Furthermore, Alejandro is the first author who has published a world-book encyclopedia in Latina America.

He admires Frida Kahlo (Mexican painter), Hillary Clinton (ex-First Lady of the USA), and Jimmy Carter (former President of the USA). His favorite film is “Gorillas in the Mist”.Some of his favorite books are ?The Return of Eva Peron and the Killings in Trinidad? (by V.S.Naipaul), “Las Mujeres de los Dictadores” (by Juan Gasparini) and ?Murder of a Gentle Land? (by John Barron and Anthony Paul).His personal motto is “The future is for those people who believe in the beauty o f their dreams” by Eleanor Roosevelt.

Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alejandro_Guevara_Onofre

Just like every other animal, fleas breed. In fact they are rather good at it. A female flea will lay eggs every day of her adult life. These tend to fall off the animal and are never seen. However they hatch and develop as minute larvae, living in the nooks and crannies of your home. Carpets and the gaps between floor and skirting boards make a wonderful nursery for these little blighters. When they are ready they hop onto the next passing warm and furry creature and get ready to lay more eggs, and so the cycle goes on. The trouble lies in the fact that for every one flea on your pet there might be 100 eggs or developing immature fleas, living out of sight in your home. This means that by the time we notice any fleas at all, there are usually vast numbers developing in the background, ready to launch their “attack”. In fact, switching on the central heating in the autumn tends to fool the dormant army into thinking it is springtime. They all develop at once and suddenly they can seem to be everywhere. If there are enough of them they might bite you as well!

Laos

So what can we do about them? Well the best thing is to keep your pets protected all year round so that a flea problem does not get started. Any animal which goes outside at all is at risk of picking up the occasional flea. Hedgehogs and other small mammals can carry them, leaving a few in your garden. Using an effective treatment all year round is the best answer. If you do not do this and you then see fleas (this usually happens in the autumn) then it is highly likely that there are going to be masses of them living in the house, with only a tiny fraction of the population living on your pet. So if you treat your pet with a perfectly effective product one week, by the next week it might be crawling with them again. They will not be the same fleas that you saw in the previous week, just the next wave of invaders. This means that you should treat your house as well. Households where there are cats and dogs together tend to suffer the greatest flea problems, but even single cat households can be affected. It is important to treat every animal in the house, and vital to treat the house too.

Products to use against fleas

So called “spot-on” products are the most popular. The original brands contained organo-phosphorus compounds and were not very safe. They have gone off the market now and all modern treatments are likely to be very safe. The most effective ones tend only to be sold through vets or some pharmacies. Ones which can be bought from pet shops and supermarkets do not contain the same ingredients and are usually not nearly as effective. We recommend “Frontline” or “Stronghold”, but other products such as “Advantage” and “Advantix” (for dogs only) seem to be effective. Frontline is also available as a spray. This is slightly more difficult to use, but is probably the most effective and yet safe product on the market for fleas. It kills ticks and other surface-living parasites too. Stronghold has a different advantage in that it controls most other parasites too, including the vast majority of the intestinal worms and mange mites. Speak to your vet if you need more information.

To treat the household there are a number of good products. We recommend “Acclaim” or “Indorex” sprays. The main thing to remember is to treat the whole house as fleas are very mobile. Follow the directions on the can and make sure you buy enough of the product to treat everywhere.

It is also helpful to vacuum clean any carpets or other areas where pets tend to rest, and dispose of the dust and debris outside. Also put any bedding which your pet uses through the washing machine – this will destroy huge numbers of eggs and developing larvae.

Remember that fleas have existed for a very long time and are very good at surviving unnoticed. It is best not to wait until you see them, because then they will have got a huge head start. Treat regularly as a precaution. And then finally – don’t have nightmares – sleep well!

John Cousins (VioVet)

Please visit http://www.VioVet.co.uk to purchase any of these products or to ask questions if you have any. Thanks for reading

Fleas? Where Do They Come From And How To Get Rid Of Them

Luke Cousins is a vet in St. Albans, United Kingdom. He also is a partner in http://www.VioVet.co.uk