English first? Spanish gains ground among young Indonesians

Mar Centenera, Contributor, Jakarta

"Where do you come from?" When the answer is Spain, the response is, almost always, the same here: The quick mention of at least one famous soccer player or Spanish team, the title of a popular South American telenovela aired on local TV or an entertainer.

Yet apart from pop culture icons like Antonio Banderas and Real Madrid, some Indonesians also seem interested in learning a bit more about Hispanic language and culture. In the last three years, universities like Atma Jaya, the University of Indonesia and Trisakti University as well as private language schools, such as Language Corner and Inlingua, have added Spanish language lessons to their class rosters.

Also coming on board is Aula Cervantes, the Spanish cultural center, which opened last March at Trisakti, and provides guidance for teaching Spanish as a second language.

Nevertheless, because of historical and cultural reasons, Spanish has always come behind other languages, such as Dutch in the past and English today, for study.

"The highest priority is English, everybody wants to speak it, then French or German," Kukuh Sanyoto, vice president of Circulo Latinoamericano (CLA), a group for promoting relations between Latin Americans and Indonesians, said.

"For example, students of technical or scientific subjects want to continue their studies in Germany because university fees are free. Then, you have those students that think they should study Japanese or Korean to work in certain companies, or Mandarin for business. Then you have Arabic for those that go to work in the Middle East. At the end of the list, we would find Spanish and Portuguese."

Almost all teachers and students interviewed agreed that the profile of the typical Spanish language student is someone who already has a high knowledge of English and, often, a third language. They recognize that Spanish proficiency may stand them in good stead for their future, particularly for exploring business options in South America.

Intan, who holds a bachelor's in economics and has studied Spanish for a few months, said she wanted to apply for a job at the United Nations, where Spanish is one of the required languages.

Another student, Rafi, said he wished to travel in Latin America one day, and eventually open a trading company with countries in the region.

The unstoppable growth of Spanish in the U.S. is one of the most cited reasons to explain the growth in interest. Trisakti University rector Thoby Muthis said in his speech at the opening of Aula Cervantes that the idea of a joint venture with the Spanish institution came from Trisakti's students in the United States.

There are many other reasons to study the language of Quixote: interest in Hispanic cinema and music, or because it is easy to learn, having the same alphabet as Indonesian and being pronounced as written. There is, of course, also interest in knowing about popular song lyrics, the beauty of Latinos or because it is considered a "sexy" language.

The majority of teachers of Spanish in Jakarta have not received specific training to teach a second language. Anwar Luthan, a teacher at Trisakti Language Center, was at the Indonesian Embassy in Buenos Aires for 15 years.

He returned home after the monetary crisis struck in the late 1990s, applying for a job as an English teacher but asked to teach Spanish classes instead. It led to other jobs, including translating the soaps from Mexico and Latin America that became popular in the last few years.

Other teachers came upon their jobs by accident, such as accompanying their spouses who have been relocated here.

Administrators of the institutions say that a lack of previous training does not stop the teachers from being good at their job. Aula Cervantes is organizing training courses for teachers of Spanish as a second language and arranging the official exam of excellence in Spanish as a foreign language (DELE), equivalent to the TOEFL.

Advent Tambun, who is enrolled in the training classes, said he was learning strategies to offer more active and participative classes focused on conversation. He also noted the difference in the teaching approach from the traditional rote learning of languages in the Indonesian education system.

"I like motivating my students, I want them to enjoy the class, imagining real situations for them to speak in. I want them to understand grammar little by little. I think in Indonesia we put too much emphasis on grammar, and it happens that the students know all the grammar but they simply can't speak (well)."

Outside classes, teachers often invite their students to meetings to practice their language skills. CLA and El Club Latino de Mujeres (Latin Women's Club), both clubs that promote cultural and social interchange between Latin Americans and Indonesians, meet once a month.

CLA often manages to gather more than 150 people that attend a dinner and dance to Latin music.

Claudia de la Vega, a member of the Latin Women's Club and a teacher at the University of Indonesia, tries to maintain communication with her students via e-mail so that they do not lose what they have learned, and also facilitates contact with Spanish-language speakers.

Six of her students from the advanced level have already been invited to receptions given by the Chilean Embassy. It's an indication, perhaps, that those willing to go out of the mainstream of language learning stand to gain attention -- and rewards -- down the line.

-- Circulo Latinoamericano (CLA) http://www.cla-indonesia.org/