Foreigners mind their language with Indonesian courses<\/p>\n
By R. Kristiawan<\/p>\n
YOGYAKARTA (JP): The usual definition of a language course in
\nthis country is, naturally, Indonesians studying a foreign
\ntongue, usually English but also German, French, Dutch, Mandarin
\nand others.<\/p>\n
In Yogyakarta there are also many foreign language courses
\nteaching Indonesian or Javanese, and even Tetun (a language of
\nEast Timor) and Madurese.<\/p>\n
There are four main Indonesian language centers in the city:
\nColorado, Puri Bahasa, Wisma Bahasa and Realia; two universities
\nwith Indonesian language centers are Gadjah Mada and Sanata
\nDharma.<\/p>\n
Courses teaching Indonesian and other local dialects have
\nboomed in popularity since the 1980s. People studying Indonesian
\ncome from various backgrounds. Many are business executives,
\nforeign embassy employees, military personnel, international NGO
\nstaff members, researchers or missionaries.<\/p>\n
\"Mrs. Gloria Soepomo began the Indonesian course in the homes
\nof language teachers at the end of the 1970s,\" Erma Haryati,
\nowner and director of LB Colorado, said, referring to the wife of
\nlinguistics professor Soepomo Poedjosoedarmo.<\/p>\n
\"There was no name for this type of course at the time.\"<\/p>\n
Erma originally ran an English language course, but after
\nGloria decided to discontinue her Indonesian course, Erma
\ncontinued teaching Indonesian in her house, assisted by some of
\nher colleagues. This led to the establishment of the Colorado
\nLanguage Course in 1990.<\/p>\n
Realia was founded in 1987, Suara Bhakti Foundation set up in
\n1987, Wisma Bahasa and Puri Bahasa in 1995.<\/p>\n
The story of Realia began when England's Voluntary Service
\nOrganization (VSO), in cooperation with students of the English
\ndepartments of Sanata Dharma University and Gadjah Mada, ran an
\nIndonesian language course at the Realino building, then a
\nstudent dormitory owned by Jesuits.<\/p>\n
In 1982 Daniel Pearlmen, a volunteer in the Peace Corps from
\nBerkeley, California, established the Indonesian Language Center
\nFoundation. It was later decided to use Realino for other
\npurposes, which led some of the teachers to establish Realia in
\nFebruary 1987, and some others to set up Wisma Bahasa.<\/p>\n
According to Agus Suharjono, director of Wisma Bahasa, the
\nfoundation was named the Suara Bhakti Foundation in 1987.<\/p>\n
Puri Bahasa was founded by former teachers of Wisma Bahasa.<\/p>\n
\"The separation was due to a different vision,\" Joseph
\nCahyono, current manager of Puri Bahasa, said.<\/p>\n
Competition<\/p>\n
As all of the courses have ties with each other in some way or
\nanother, their owners say there is no unhealthy rivalry between
\nthem.<\/p>\n
Many foreigners are interested in learning Bahasa Indonesia,
\nparticularly in the cultural center of Yogyakarta, and a kind of
\nmarket segmentation has developed among the courses.<\/p>\n
Wisma Bahasa, for example, has traditionally handled the
\nteaching of Indonesian to employees from the Japanese Embassy.
\nRealia handles the U.S. Embassy and Australian military; Colorado
\nhandles German GTZ staff, members of Korean religious
\norganizations and staff from the Australian Embassy.<\/p>\n
The segmentation is, however, not absolute as these
\ninstitutions usually send their people to two language centers at
\nthe same time.<\/p>\n
For foreigners, Wisma Bahasa is well known for its reliance on
\ninformal expressions, Realia is noted as a \"center of
\nlinguistics\", while Colorado is recognized for courses tailored
\nto the needs of its students.<\/p>\n
And many of these students say the classes pay off.<\/p>\n
An employee from the Australian Embassy, Rebecca, is taking
\nclasses at Colorado after studying Indonesian in her homeland.<\/p>\n
\"I feel that I have been helped by Colorado. In the beginning
\nof the lessons, the teachers trained me with simple sentence
\nstructures. It was very fundamental to understand simple
\nsentences. Then I did not get confused when I had to use more
\ncomplex sentence as I knew the pattern of the sentence,\" she said
\nin quite fluent Indonesian.<\/p>\n
Rebecca said Indonesian classes in Australia did not teach her
\nparticular expressions that would be used in a real-life
\nsituations.<\/p>\n
\"Here I can understand many particular verbal expressions
\nsince I have to speak Bahasa with almost all the people I meet. I
\nfeel spontaneous when I speak Bahasa Indonesia. So I understand
\nBahasa not only grammatically, but also practically,\" Rebecca
\nsaid proudly.<\/p>\n
Classes<\/p>\n
Usually the size of a private class is less than four
\nstudents. With a small number of students, teachers can use an
\nindividual approach.<\/p>\n
Usually, one teacher handles one student for intensive study
\nof the language. The intensive course is held five days a week,
\nwith three sessions a day. A session takes two hours with a 15-
\nminute break.<\/p>\n
For foreigners, Indonesian is not a matter of theory,
\ntherefore direct use of the language is the most important thing
\nfor them. The class is a simulation of real situations. By using
\nthis method, foreigners will comprehend the language quickly and
\nmaster expressions for actual situations.<\/p>\n
For those who have never studied Indonesian, it takes
\napproximately between 60 hours and 90 hours to develop fluency.
\nPuri Bahasa, for example, promises fluency in 60 hours, and
\nRealia 90 hours.<\/p>\n
In addition to classes, there are also outbound activities
\nlike visiting important sites and meeting people in which
\nlanguage can be used. The purpose is to practice Bahasa Indonesia
\nwith native people in real situations.<\/p>\n
All of the centers design the atmosphere to be as informal as
\npossible, like studying the language in the familiar environs of
\none's home.<\/p>\n
To simulate a home-like situation, many foreigners are given
\nIndonesian names which sound like their own. Sugiyama from Japan
\nwill be Sugiyono; Didier from France is Didik; Jou from Korea
\nwill be Joko Kim.<\/p>\n
\"They always feel proud of the new names. They feel they are
\nsocially accepted by the Indonesian community,\" said a teacher
\nwho did not want to be identified.<\/p>\n
Teachers<\/p>\n
The teachers do not only come from language or letters
\nbackgrounds, because they must pass selection based on several
\ncriteria, some of which are not related to their facility in
\nlanguages.<\/p>\n
For Realia, the first requirement is that a teacher should
\nhave a good style of speaking. If candidates fail in this
\nrequirement, they cannot continue with the selection process.
\nThen they undergo training designed by the center.<\/p>\n
The tuition also varies. Realia's fee is US$8 per hour per
\nperson for the course, plus the cost of lunch and the homestay.
\nWisma Bahasa's rate is more than $6\/hour\/person, more than
\n$8\/hour for two people, more than $10\/hour for three people, more
\nthan $12\/hour for four people. Prices are usually negotiable;
\nColorado provides a special price for members of social
\norganizations planning on establishing charity projects in the
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
All of the centers also provide Javanese language classes.<\/p>\n
\"They need to learn Javanese because they think Javanese
\nculture is very important if they want to understand Indonesian
\npolitics,\" said Iba Noor, business director of Realia. \"The
\ncourse was popular during Soeharto with his Javanese hegemonic
\ntype of New Order government.<\/p>\n
\"Now, although the president is Gus Dur (Abdurrahman Wahid),
\nthe course remains interesting to them as many Indonesian
\npolitical idioms are in Javanese.\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/foreigners-mind-their-language-with-indonesian-courses-1447893297",
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