Comparative Study With EDCOM UNS
SURAKARTA-Together with EDCOM (English Department Community), The Association of English Letters Department students of IAIN Surakarta or commonly known as HMPS SI held an online comparative study program through Google Meet.
The event that had been planned in advance was finally carried out on Tuesday, August 4, 2020. Led by the moderator, Alviansyah from HMPS SI IAIN Surakarta, the event ran for 2 hours, from 3 to 5 p.m.
The meeting that went quite smoothly was filled with presentations by each organization about the vision, mission, and work programs. The presentation was delivered by one of the representatives from the two student associations, preceded by the Head of HMPS SI IAIN Surakarta, Dian Novita. Then from EDCOM by Nisman Faqih as Vice President of EDCOM UNS.
Subsequently, the event moved to a question and answer session and a discussion session on the constraints and solutions of organizations, either before the pandemic or after the pandemic. The event, which is also part of EDCOM's routine activities to build relationships between English literary organizations, namely EDCOM Wings, was closed with the submission of award certificates by each association. With the holding of this comparative study program, it is hoped that each association will be able to form a better organizational structure and forge better relationships in the future.



English Literature Student of IAIN Surakarta Won National Short Film Competition
SURAKARTA-Reva, English Literature Student of the State of Islamic Institute of Surakarta got achievement once again in the short movie competition held by the Ministry of Social Affairs (Ministry of Social Affairs) with the Education, Research and Social Counseling Agency (Badiklat Pensos) under the theme "New Normal Versiku". This competition was held on 11-20 June 2020.
On Friday (17/7) the Instagram account of Badiklit Pensos announced the winners of the competition. By adding education about the health protocols that must be considered when the new normal era, "Sumringah", The title of the short movie by Reva Alfi Trianto and the team succeed to be in the 10 best movies. The movie adapted the positive impacts of new normal prevailing on the economy of society.
The Indonesian government has run a new normal policy as the replacement of the previous policy, namely Large-Scale Social Restrictions (PSBB) to face the Covid-19 pandemic. The new normal is an attempt to let society do their activities as usual by doing several health protocols. Therefore, to support the policy, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Badiklat Pensos held this short movie competition and all at once also to provide the information about what is the real meaning of new normal.
"Alhamdulillah, I got an award as the 10 best movies and hopefully society can learn about how to do activities in the new normal era by always prioritizing the prevailing health protocols," said Reva when he was asked about his motivation for participating in the competition. His intelligence in seeing opportunities can also be used as an example for young people, especially students to not stop working even in the Covid-19 pandemic. (Sanjaya / WMM / MSI)
Source: https://fab.iain-surakarta.ac.id/reva-mahasiswa-sastra-inggris-iain-surakarta-juarai-film-pendek-nasional/ (Translate by Desi Rahmawati)
Congratz! The Winners of ACES 2019
As we know, ACES had three different competitions for every semester of English Letters Students. The first competition is G-Maps Description Competitions for the student of 2nd-semester, and there are the winners:
1. Kamila Yasmine Kusuma.
2. Muhammad Ardita Hafidh Zain.
3. Sastila Calista Sumbayak.
The second competition is News Anchor for students of 4th-semester, this is a group competition with three or four members of each group. The winners are:
1. Siti, Ahda, and Diah.
2. Febrilita, Riski, and Afifah.
3. Fidella, Faiz, Laily, and Riski.
3. Malvin, Ara, and Affina.
The last is Pre-Preposition for students of 6th-semester and every mainstream have their big best three as the winners of these competitions.
The winners from Literature Mainstream are:
1. Abdul Mughni Hammami Faiz.
2. Reza Aulia.
3. Ismi Fauziah.
The winners from Translation Mainstream are:
1. Winarsih.
2. Qory Khoirun Ni'mah.
3. Nafira Ayuningtyas
The winners from Linguistic Mainstream are:
1. Maulana Mahardhika.
2. Suci Oktaviana.
3. Yuanita Kusuma Murti.
Congrats to all the winners! You really deserved it and have done a great job. Hats off!




April 2019, English Letters' Month
SASTRATSUKI-English Literature Study Program of Culture and Languages Faculty re-enlivened this April with four grand activities, namely Practices of Creative Writing Skills, Annual Competition for English Students (ACES), guest lecturer lectures, and English Festival Drama ‘FAIRY TALE’.
This year, Creative Writing Skills Practice was approved in content writing with Content Writing, Effective Writing as the theme. Guided by Mr. Fathi Abdullah Mansur, the 6th-semester students of English Letters study for 11 days from April 15 until 26 to make a digital short story that would be polished read in such a way as to be monetized.
ACES, the inter-level English Letters student competition organized by the English Letters Student Association, began on April 22-24. The competition competed at ACES is a creative extension of three courses, namely Intermediate Integrated English (Speaking) with G-Maps based Descriptions, Integrated English with Islamic Broadcasting, and Entrepreneurship Competitions with Studentrepeneur. In addition to competitions, ACES is also collected by PREPOSITION (Pre-Proposal Seminar Presentation), a parallel seminar showcase 6th-semester students in presenting their thesis proposal before they discuss the seminar proposal.
In the evening, English Literature assisted by LSO Tentacle held an annual drama festival FAIRY TALE XIII: Mist. This festival presents six shows with three titles. This event will be held from April 22-30 with a break on April 27 and 28. On April 30, a FAIRY TALE Award was held, an arena of appreciation for drama presenters and those who had been approved in ACES. (Source: Oyaji)



English Literature Study Program of Language and Culture Faculty Provides Students with Creative Writing
SASTRATSUKI-English Literature Study Program at the Language and Culture Faculty conducts Expertise Practice activities (Monday, 15/04). Located on the 4th floor of FAB Building of IAIN Surakarta, approximately 91 students of 6th semester of English Literature program participated in this activity. The activity was opened by the Dean of Language and Culture Faculty, Dr. H. Giyoto, M. Hum. All participants of the Literature Study Program 1 skill training activity in 2019 were equipped with the knowledge of "Creative Writing". The English Literature study program invited Fathi Abdullah Naseer Al Mansur, MSE., as the speaker.
Keynote speakers shared several things related to Creative Writing which complemented with Content Writing and Effective Writing.

1st TUNNEL
SASTRATSUKI-Nineteen lecturers of English Letters with laptops and notes in their hands braced themselves to embrace a fresh from the oven instructional technology in PGMI Lab. They attended the so-called TUNNEL (Technology Upgrading for the Novelty of Education). Lilik Untari, the head of English Letters, said that TUNNEL would be a binnual agenda for the lecturers before they engaged in the classroom. She added that the event would always be set right before a new semester started so the lecturers were expected to have some time to prepare their technology before implementing it in the classroom.
The host for this 1st TUNNEL was SF. Lukfianka Sanjaya Purnama or often hailed as Pak J. He shared his self-made template based software called Livin Maker 2 to the lecturers. Using the software, the lecturers enabled to create visual novel based video games effortlessly. Any subjects were possible to come into a design through the use of Livin Maker 2. (Oyaji)



EMILY 2014/2015 Final Meeting

SASTRATSUKI-Some relieved and tensed faces from EMILY, English Education Student Guild, and PGMI Student Guild crowded EMILY's headquarter. Invitation dated 18 February 2016 brought them to that small chamber to attend their annual agenda on yearly reports before the new handlers of EMILY come to election.
A strong and dense air of tension succumbed the place. After hours of discussion, the council arrived to a legal decision they transcribed on In. 15/HMJ SI/PAN LPJ/2015 saying that they accepted the reports from EMILY 2015 with revisions on Eco Culture's financial reports. It was expected that after the report was revised, the new generation of EMILY would soon take their seats.
(Aris)


Three Studium Generale, One A.N.G.E.L
SASTRATSUKI-English Letters, Arabic Letters, and Islamic History Departments with the assistance of EMILY Student Guild held a Studium Generale. 'Technopreneurship with English, Arabic, and History contents' is the theme backgrounding the event. The theme, based on the committee, was selected to provide insights to the students of the three departments regarding with entrepreneurship based alternate vacancies they might take in the future. Muhammad Rosyid, the creative manager of CV Kedawung, was invited to transmit his skill and knowledge in animation and flash based game technopreneurship to the students.
The Studium Generale was divided into three parts. They were Studium Generale, Meet the Dept, and Cultural Showcase. The Studium Generale was aimed at sharing knowledge and skills for the three departments, Meet the Dept at providing private time for the lecturers and students to share about their department, and Cultural Showcase at entertaining the audiences with Janger dance from TRAMODISKA, FITK's dancing club, and English drama from TENTACLE, FITK's English drama club. For Meet the Dept, English Letters presented A.N.G.E.L (Acknowledging New Generations for English Letters). In the event, Lilik Untari, the head of department, and SF. Lukfianka Sanjaya Purnama presented and launched the department's site www.velis.xyz and LENS (Lecturer EvaluatioN by Students), an app based lecturer monitoring system.
(Oyaji)




SPARRING-Briefing
SASTRATSUKI-SPARRING (Student's Peer Learning for Reading and Writing), a peer learning program designed for the students of English Letters 2015, will mark its first execution on April 4th, 2016. Thus, the department gathered the mentors from English Letters students 2013, previously selected through a test, in English Letters office on Thursday 24 March 2016 for a briefing. Lilik Untari and SF. Luthfie Arguby Purnomo guided the mentors on how to select the materials, focusing on Children Literature, and apply them on the discussion with reading and writing skill as the emphasis in the context of peer learning. The two lecturers also explained about the schedules, the procedures, and the the operational processes of SPARRING. The head of deparment added that SPARRING was expected to trigger the willingness of the students to engage in creative writing. She added also that the short stories second semester students would compose would be uploaded to velis.xyz and to EMILY-IKASKA, the alumni's Google Playstore account.
(Oyaji)




The Best Graduate Goes to Siti Kurniati Rasyad of English Letters
SASTRATSUKI-IAIN Surakarta Commencement XXXIII opened a special curtain for English Letters. Siti Kurniati Rasyad or best known for her nick name Nia stepped the stairs to reach the podium to deliver her commencement speech implying a mark that Nia is the best graduate in the Commencement. In her speech the Celebese expressed her gratitude to the lecturers of the institute especially those of English Letters for sharing their knowldge and skills and guiding her to reach one of her dreams. In the interview with Sastratsuki, the girl with GPA 3,81 said that she would never forget the memories she had when she studied in the deparment as those memories were one of the prettiest to reminisce.
(Oyaji)



Photo Session of FAIRY TALE X
SASTRTSUKI-Tens of students crowded E lobby FITK on Saturday morning 16 April 2016. Fourteen directors from thirteen classes of English Letters and English Education along with their actresses and actors attended the first phase of FAIRY TALE X promotional sessions, a photo session. With a full assistance from Tentacle, FITK's English drama club, the actors and actresses had to walk through three photographing phases. They had to perform the session in solo, pair, and group. The photo taking session was wrapped based on FAIRY TALE X's theme, La Famiglia (the family), said Imam Septianto, the chief of FAIRY TALE X. The next rounds of promotional sessions would be teaser production that would take place on 23 April 2016 and live ticket sale from 16 May-2 June 2016, explained Aprilia Arta Rini, the chief of Tentacle. The English drama festival itself would hit the stage from 20 May-4 June 2016.
(Oyaji)




English Letters Graduate Tops Bilingual Mentoring Test
SASTRATSUKI-In the result of Bilingual Mentoring Test disseminated to EMILY's Facebook page, Aris Hidayatullah rose the highest among the other 40s contenders. In the test, the participants were examined by the Bilingual Unit of FITK on their English skills with primary focus being on oral proficiency. Gaining 35 for the score, Aris was eligible to claim his right as the mentor for non-English students in FITK to share his knowledge and skill in English.
(Oyaji)

Six English Letters Students, One Big Project


SASTRATSUKI-Muhammad Wiku Chandra, Luki Refandri, Adam Bisma, Setya Santosa, Jamik Choiriyah, and Malik Prayogi directed the teaser filming for FAIRY TALE (Theatrical Application for Learning English) this year. Taking place in Balekambang Park, the teaser making saw fourteen actors from thirteen classes of English Letters and English Education. "We're trying to adjust the teaser with FAIRY TALE X's theme, La Famiglia, and thus, our focus is to create a family feel of the acting.", said Luki Refandri. After editing and adjusting the teaser with FAIRY TALE X's soundtrack, composed by Rizky Herlambang, English Letters students 2012, the teaser will mark its launch on the opening of the English drama festival on 19 May 2016.
(Oyaji)


English Letters 2013 Short-Storying Project Starts!
SASTRATSUKI-Around 50 dwellers of English Letters 2013 A and B infested PGMI Lab to learn the art of short story making. Winarti, S.Hum., the alumni of English Letters 2008, shared her skills and knowledge on short story writing. The students did not only learn the theory of short-storying but also studied how to put those theories on practice. They learned the practice starting from the way to manage raw ideas into a scratch of topics and embodying it in a well-written composition. "After the completion of the short stories, the students will be taught how to convert them into a game format and sell them to Google Playstore.", informed Lilik Untari, the head of English Letters department.
(Oyaji)





#ProjectYue Makes a Start!
SASTRATSUKI-English Letters lecturers, English Letters students of 2013 and 2014, the alumni guild EMILY, Tentacle English Drama Club, and I After Smile Studio collaborated to design a role-playing visual novel game with theatrical atmosphere by the title Yue. On June 4th, 2016, with the lighting and background aid from Tentacle and the photographers, Koo Maru, Rizky Herlambang, and Maharani Nirmala, the lecturers and students played a motionless drama from which the pictures would be used as the game graphics. Lukfianka Sanjaya, the programmer and animator of the game, said that the game graphic would appear as if it was a brushed painting. Lilik Untari, the head of English Letters, said that this project was aimed at strengthening the relationship between the lecturers, students, alumni, and partners in a creative way.
Yue demo was played in FAIRY TALE X Closing Night on Saturday 4 June 2016. The responses from the spectators were overwhelming. They could not wait for the game launching on 17 June 2016 via Google Playstore.
(Oyaji)




Six Awards for English Letters
SASTRATSUKI-FAIRY TALE X Award marked the closing of fourteen days of English drama festivals in FITK IAIN Surakarta. Twenty dramatic categories were alloted for this year for thirteen performers. The judges scoring their shows hailed from Tentacle and Ms. Oktria, Mr. J, and Oyaji. English Letters A 2014 calling themselves Alive A Life won the Best Death Scene and the Best Actress for Lita Septiana Darsono playing as Salamander Seventy Two in Shin's Wives of the Iron. Meanwhile, English Letters B going by the name Elite B swept four awards for the Best BGM and SFX, the Best Costumes and Make Ups, the Best Props and Sets, and the Best Romantic Scene.
(Oyaji)



Congratz for the Champs!
SASTRATSUKI-ACES competition results were officially declared on Friday 22 July 2016 in Graha IAIN Surakarta. Speaking Material based Visual Novel competition saw Team Zubair, Team Eka, and Team Yuntari as the champion, runner up, and third place. Visual Novel-SPARRING competitions recognized Team Harum, Team Shi, and Team Resita as the first, second, and third winners. Meanwhile English Debate hailed Team Taufi raised their champion trophy with Team Khusnul and Team Wulan on the second and third place. In the awarding ceremony, Lilik Untari as the head of ACES committee said that the primary aim of ACES is to forge competitive mentality from the students and to develop soft skills in English scopes. Thereby winning or losing are not of importance. The courage to be competitive is what ACES is all about.
(Oyaji)






Expertise Program on Short Story Digitalization Commences
SASTRATSUKI-English Letters 2013 students commenced their dual expertise programs namely short story digitalization and TOEFL practice to boost both their creative writing skills for entreprenurial purposes and to enhance their academic skills on English. In the short story digitalization expertise, the students learnt how to transfer their paper based story into a digital version and how to monetize their digital products in an online domain. SF. Lukfianka Sanjaya Purnama, the speaker of the event, said that the short story quality the students had already indicated a good marketable value and to strengthen the value, the students needed to digitalize their products.
(Oyaji)





Expertise Program on TOEFL Practice Commences

SASTRATSUKI-English Letters 2013 A and B classes joined a TOEFL Practice expertise program on 8 August 2016. TOEFL Practice was a regular expertise program in English Letters IAIN Surakarta aimed at enhancing the English skills on proficiency test taking. The profeciency level the students of English Letters displayed showed a significant progress each year and thereby it was, as said by Lilik Untari, the head of the department, of neccesity for English Letters to develop the students' skills even more through a well-managed and updated expertise program.
(Oyaji)


Community Service on Promoting Children Literature through Digital Approach

SASTRATSUKI-All English Letters lecturers departed to Rumah Baca Tirai Ilmu for a community service program. They intended to promote children literature reading to tens of children who become an active participant of the reading house through digital approach. In the meeting with Mr. Onok, the owner of the reading house, and Aris Hidayatullah, a volunteer in the reading house and who was also an alumnus of English Letters, Lilik Untari described the plan the department had toward the children. She said that the department would ask the children to engage in a visual short story making process with them as the cast to promote them an interactive way to grow a love for reading literary works. With the assistance from the alumni of English and Tentacle English Drama Club, the visual short story making process will take place on September, 2nd 2016.
(Oyaji)



a Lie so Beautiful, Yue Episode 2
SASTRATSUKI-English Letters 2014 from A and B classes joined together to commence on the photo session of the first stage of visual novel design, Yue Episode 2: a Lie so Beautiful. Different from the first episode in which they acted based on the script, in this second episode, the students were given the stage direction and scene synopsis so they could write their own story and develop the plot based on their imagination. Yue Episode 2 will be presented in the upcoming expo VELVET (Venturing English Letters Via Educational Technology) on 5-9 December 2016 in Graha IAIN Surakarta.
(Oyaji)






They Call Her 'Fuu'
SASTRATSUKI-The complete name of this Shakespeare addict is Futiha Alambara Aaman Ahmada, a lengthy name with a lengthy vitae of achievements. This girl commonly hailed 'Fuu', 'wind' in Japanese, is one of the two graduates with the best GPA, 3.71, in the faculty. This achievement is one of her dozens. During her study in the English Letters IAIN Surakarta she had worked with I After Smile Studio and some lecturers from the department in various digital creative writing based projects and research. Her fluency in communication, acting, and illustration brought to those brilliant achievements. At the moment she is a part of a team for card battle visual novel project.
(Oyaji)



SASTRATSUKI-English Letters and English Education's technopreneurship expo, FAIRY SALE (Simple Applications for Learning English), will no longer be exhibited since English Education withdrew their participation. To keep the spirit of technopreneurship that has been sown since 2010, English Letters decided to preserve the expo tradition by holding VELVET (Venturing English Letters Via Educational Technology), especially designed to be literaturesque.
In constructing a literaturesque atmosphere, the meeting in 1 November 2016 between the lecturers and EMILY decided to hold seven events in VELVET namely (1) digital creative writing expo by the students of English Letters 2014 in which the students will exhibit their movies and video games to the public (2) visual novel competition for the mentees of SPARRING II (3) public speaking contest for Advanced Integrative Skill in English coursetakers (4) Arabic speech contest for Arabic Letters students (5) Short story writing competition for high school students (6) digital creative writing workshop for teachers and students (7) discussion with teachers on the establishment of AsESS (Asosiasi Edugames Se-Surakarta). VELVET will start on 19-22 December 2016 in Graha IAIN Surakarta.
(Oyaji)
Welcome VELVET!






Intellectual Property Workshop
SASTRATSUKI-On 21 November 2016 English Letters IAIN Surakarta invited Dr. Dedi Sualeman, M.Hum. from English Letters UIN Bandung to discuss and assist the lecturers at FITK in registering their creative works for an Intellectual Property (IP/Hak Atas Kekayaan Intelektual). In the occasion, Pak Dedi explained the necessity for every lecturer to register their works for an IP to secure their works from legal problems as plagiarism. He added that having an IP would benefit greatly to the holders especially for lecturers as they will gain several institutional privileges. For study programs, IP will help them with good points for accreditation. Four creative works by the lecturers and students of English Letters namely Yue, MAKTUM, SABARUCI, and peer learning model for bilingual program are registered for IP. Hopefully those four creative works by English Letters IAIN Surakarta will be officially IPed.
(Oyaji)





IP Certificates for Sastra Inggris
SASTRATSUKI-Sastra Inggris IAIN Surakarta stepped one level higher in language based creative industry. Works by the lecturers and students of the department namely role-playing visual novel Yue, visually impaired-linguistics aid MAKTUM, and accreditation aid app SABARUCI were officially IP-ed (HAKI) by the Ministry of Law and Human Rights. "Since the certificates were IP-ed for the department, the students of the department are eligible to attach the certificates on their CVs.", explained Lilik Untari, the head of the department. Her words imply that any graduates of Sastra Inggris are already equipped by HAKI certificates to aid their vocational endevour.
(Oyaji)



IARC Certificates from Google Play Received
SASTRATSUKI-Sastra Inggris IAIN Surakarta always aimed higher. The department did not stop on national level but aiming for an international acclaim. Yue, MAKTUM, Malin Kundang, and SASTRATSUKI received IARC (International Age Rating Coalition) certificates. IARC is a coalition board of world rating organizations consisting of ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board) of the United States, PEGI (Pan European Game Information) of the European Union, the USK (Unterhaltungssoftware Selbskontrole) of the Germany, and Generic. This certificate implies that the products certified by the IARC have undergone an examination by those world rating board organizations.
(Oyaji)


They Hit the Big Stage
SASTRATSUKI-Tentacle FITK IAIN Surakarta hit the stage ground of Greater Solo's most prestigious theater, Taman Budaya Jawa Tengah. They perfomed two drama genres namely absurd by the title Bullshitism and visual drama, The Dead Draw. These two titles, though different in genres, share a similar message that every man had a chance to repent for their sins. The message was well conveyed by the players hailing from Sastra Inggris IAIN Surakarta, Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris IAIN Surakarta, and Pendidikan Bahasa Arab IAIN Surakarta under the direction of Nur Rohmah and Dimas Perdana. The performance successfully attracted a hundred of spectators from every corner of Greater Solo.
(Oyaji)



Sastra Inggris' Second Advergame
SASTRATSUKI-In the need of modern method for a wide range of vision and mission dissemination, Sastra Inggris IAIN Surakarta initiated a project called 'Sastratsuki'. This project was an advergame, functioning to promote and to advertise Sastra to global audience and this game would be the second advergame Sastra Inggris had designed. Led by SF. Lukfianka Sanjaya Purnama, MA, M.Hum., this collaborative project between the department, students, alumni, and I After Smile Studio planned to hit Google Play on June.
(Oyaji)



Hashtag-ging Student Assignment

SASTRATSUKI-In 3rd TUNNEL (Technology Upgrading for the Novelty of Education in English Letters), every lecturer was introduced to hashtag-based assignment, an assignment which served two functions namely as assignment and promotion. Uploading the assignments to sastratsuki.rocks by hashtagging them, public was expected to have an access to the assignments.
(Oyaji)
Storial-ize Your Stories
SASTRATSUKI-English Letters brought a grad-turned-novelist Ulfa Fauzi to the department to share her knowledge and skills in creative writing for digital publications. 2014's students would learn all the necessary skills in four meetings. In the end of the meeting, the students would be requested to write stories and upload them to story sharing sites with Storial as the primary focus.
(Oyaji)



That 'Valkyrie', the Best Graduate
SASTRATSUKI-Isna Iniyati or better known as Isna was the dept's best graduate with GPA 3,56. This was the third time, student from literature mainstream in the dept to ever bear the title and all was a lady. When she was a student, Stage life was synonymous to her student's life. Isna was active in FITK's dancing club, the Tramodiska (Traditional and Modern Dance of IAIN Surakarta). Besides dancing, she also marked her name on drama life. Her role as the Valkyrie Eir in Ludger's Rhapsody der Walkure earned her a praise. Her talents in stage life were in line with her comprehensive abilities on comprehending literary works. It was seen from her analysis on ethics on Dickens' Oliver Twist. These complete practical and theoretical abilities equip Isna to face the real world as a fully-armed 'Valkyrie'.
(Oyaji)




FAIRY TALE XI: Even a Demon Has a Heart
SASTRATSUKI-The biggest annual English drama festival in Greater Solo, FAIRY TALE (Theatrical Applications for Learning English), commenced. This year marked the eleventh year of the festival since 2006. The theme for this year was Even a Demon Has a Heart implying a message that even the most sinful of man still had a chance to repent for his sins. The festival will run from 12-23 May 2017. Nine performers with three titles to play will entertain the audiences in D building of IAIN Surakarta from 19:00-22:00. Grab the tickets!
(Oyaji)