HSC Indonesian Continuers common mistakes
HSC Indonesian Continuers · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Writing a personal reflection in English or in mixed English–Indonesian when the task asks for a response in Indonesian about oneself, so affixes and register collapse into translation-style sentences such as 'Saya sangat suka because...'.
Under time pressure candidates plan ideas in English and translate word-for-word, and they lack automatic chunks for expressing opinions, feelings and reasons in Indonesian.
What to do instead
Build a personal bank of 15–20 opinion frames (misalnya 'Saya rasa...', 'Menurut saya...', 'Yang paling penting bagi saya ialah...') and drill writing 150-word individual responses using only those frames, then self-edit to remove any English word before submitting.
Describing Indonesian social life only through generic stereotypes ('orang Indonesia ramah', 'budaya gotong royong') without naming concrete practices, places or language evidence.
Candidates memorise broad cultural labels from class notes but never attach them to observable details, so their answers stay abstract and thin.
What to do instead
For each community topic (gotong royong, selamatan, pasar tradisional, kerja bakti), prepare one specific example with who does what, where and why, plus one Indonesian key term, and practise embedding that example in a short written or spoken response.
Treating 'the changing world' questions as pure opinion, ignoring the cause–effect structure the task requires (for example, discussing teknologi without explaining effects on pekerjaan, keluarga or lingkungan).
Candidates react emotionally to prompts about modernisation and forget that markers reward analysis of change and its consequences.
What to do instead
Use a fixed three-step scaffold for every changing-world response: keadaan dahulu, perubahan yang terjadi, dampak positif dan negatif; practise applying it to transport, social media, tourism and urbanisation prompts.
Missing the key detail in a listening text because the candidate writes during the first playing and stops listening, then cannot answer the second or third item.
Anxiety about forgetting leads to note-taking at the wrong moment; candidates also try to transcribe full sentences rather than keywords.
What to do instead
Train a two-pass routine: first playing, listen only and jot three to five keywords or numbers; second playing, confirm and complete answers; practise with 60–90 second recordings and no pausing.
Answering listening questions in English or with single words when the rubric requires a response in Indonesian, or copying the whole sentence heard instead of answering the question asked.
Candidates focus on comprehension and forget the response language and format requirements printed in the paper.
What to do instead
Before each practice listening task, underline the instruction (in Indonesian / in English, number of details required) and rehearse answering in complete Indonesian sentences of the required length.
Reading a text for gist only and then guessing at inference or attitude questions, or lifting a sentence that contains the topic word but not the answer.
Time pressure encourages skimming; candidates also over-rely on cognates and miss negation and modality markers such as 'tidak', 'belum', 'seharusnya'.
What to do instead
Practise annotation: circle negation, modality and connector words (tetapi, meskipun, oleh karena itu) on every practice text, and locate the exact sentence supporting each answer before writing.
Producing writing that meets the word count but has no clear structure, with paragraphs that merge introduction, argument and conclusion into one block.
Candidates draft directly onto the answer sheet without planning, and they equate length with quality.
What to do instead
Spend three minutes planning a skeleton (pembuka, dua paragraf isi dengan satu ide utama masing-masing, penutup) and use explicit connectors (pertama, selain itu, sebaliknya, kesimpulannya) to signal structure.
Using the wrong register or text type, for example writing an informal letter full of 'gue', 'nggak' and abbreviations when the task specifies a formal letter or article.
Candidates learn colloquial Indonesian from media and songs and do not distinguish it from the formal written style expected in examinations.
What to do instead
Maintain two separate phrase lists (formal: 'saya', 'tidak', 'oleh karena itu'; informal: 'aku/gue', 'nggak', 'jadi') and practise rewriting the same short message in both registers, then match register to the specified audience.
Making systematic affix errors that distort meaning, such as confusing meN- with di-, ber- with ter-, or dropping ke-...-an and peN-...-an in nominalisations.
Candidates memorise vocabulary as bare roots and have not internalised how affixes change transitivity, voice and word class.
What to do instead
Keep a root-to-derivative table (tulis → menulis, ditulis, penulis, tulisan, tertulis) for high-frequency roots and complete 10 transformation sentences daily, checking voice and word class each time.
Running out of time in the writing section because the candidate drafts the long response first and leaves the shorter message or the reading section unfinished.
Poor allocation: candidates spend too long on reading texts and on perfecting the first draft of the extended response.
What to do instead
Rehearse with a timed plan (for example, reading within the allotted minutes, five minutes planning and checking for the extended response) and practise leaving three minutes at the end to check agreement, affixes and word count.