Foreigners mind their language with Indonesian courses

Foreigners mind their language with Indonesian courses

By R. Kristiawan

YOGYAKARTA (JP): The usual definition of a language course in
this country is, naturally, Indonesians studying a foreign
tongue, usually English but also German, French, Dutch, Mandarin
and others.

In Yogyakarta there are also many foreign language courses
teaching Indonesian or Javanese, and even Tetun (a language of
East Timor) and Madurese.

There are four main Indonesian language centers in the city:
Colorado, Puri Bahasa, Wisma Bahasa and Realia; two universities
with Indonesian language centers are Gadjah Mada and Sanata
Dharma.

Courses teaching Indonesian and other local dialects have
boomed in popularity since the 1980s. People studying Indonesian
come from various backgrounds. Many are business executives,
foreign embassy employees, military personnel, international NGO
staff members, researchers or missionaries.

"Mrs. Gloria Soepomo began the Indonesian course in the homes
of language teachers at the end of the 1970s," Erma Haryati,
owner and director of LB Colorado, said, referring to the wife of
linguistics professor Soepomo Poedjosoedarmo.

"There was no name for this type of course at the time."

Erma originally ran an English language course, but after
Gloria decided to discontinue her Indonesian course, Erma
continued teaching Indonesian in her house, assisted by some of
her colleagues. This led to the establishment of the Colorado
Language Course in 1990.

Realia was founded in 1987, Suara Bhakti Foundation set up in
1987, Wisma Bahasa and Puri Bahasa in 1995.

The story of Realia began when England's Voluntary Service
Organization (VSO), in cooperation with students of the English
departments of Sanata Dharma University and Gadjah Mada, ran an
Indonesian language course at the Realino building, then a
student dormitory owned by Jesuits.

In 1982 Daniel Pearlmen, a volunteer in the Peace Corps from
Berkeley, California, established the Indonesian Language Center
Foundation. It was later decided to use Realino for other
purposes, which led some of the teachers to establish Realia in
February 1987, and some others to set up Wisma Bahasa.

According to Agus Suharjono, director of Wisma Bahasa, the
foundation was named the Suara Bhakti Foundation in 1987.

Puri Bahasa was founded by former teachers of Wisma Bahasa.

"The separation was due to a different vision," Joseph
Cahyono, current manager of Puri Bahasa, said.

Competition

As all of the courses have ties with each other in some way or
another, their owners say there is no unhealthy rivalry between
them.

Many foreigners are interested in learning Bahasa Indonesia,
particularly in the cultural center of Yogyakarta, and a kind of
market segmentation has developed among the courses.

Wisma Bahasa, for example, has traditionally handled the
teaching of Indonesian to employees from the Japanese Embassy.
Realia handles the U.S. Embassy and Australian military; Colorado
handles German GTZ staff, members of Korean religious
organizations and staff from the Australian Embassy.

The segmentation is, however, not absolute as these
institutions usually send their people to two language centers at
the same time.

For foreigners, Wisma Bahasa is well known for its reliance on
informal expressions, Realia is noted as a "center of
linguistics", while Colorado is recognized for courses tailored
to the needs of its students.

And many of these students say the classes pay off.

An employee from the Australian Embassy, Rebecca, is taking
classes at Colorado after studying Indonesian in her homeland.

"I feel that I have been helped by Colorado. In the beginning
of the lessons, the teachers trained me with simple sentence
structures. It was very fundamental to understand simple
sentences. Then I did not get confused when I had to use more
complex sentence as I knew the pattern of the sentence," she said
in quite fluent Indonesian.

Rebecca said Indonesian classes in Australia did not teach her
particular expressions that would be used in a real-life
situations.

"Here I can understand many particular verbal expressions
since I have to speak Bahasa with almost all the people I meet. I
feel spontaneous when I speak Bahasa Indonesia. So I understand
Bahasa not only grammatically, but also practically," Rebecca
said proudly.

Classes

Usually the size of a private class is less than four
students. With a small number of students, teachers can use an
individual approach.

Usually, one teacher handles one student for intensive study
of the language. The intensive course is held five days a week,
with three sessions a day. A session takes two hours with a 15-
minute break.

For foreigners, Indonesian is not a matter of theory,
therefore direct use of the language is the most important thing
for them. The class is a simulation of real situations. By using
this method, foreigners will comprehend the language quickly and
master expressions for actual situations.

For those who have never studied Indonesian, it takes
approximately between 60 hours and 90 hours to develop fluency.
Puri Bahasa, for example, promises fluency in 60 hours, and
Realia 90 hours.

In addition to classes, there are also outbound activities
like visiting important sites and meeting people in which
language can be used. The purpose is to practice Bahasa Indonesia
with native people in real situations.

All of the centers design the atmosphere to be as informal as
possible, like studying the language in the familiar environs of
one's home.

To simulate a home-like situation, many foreigners are given
Indonesian names which sound like their own. Sugiyama from Japan
will be Sugiyono; Didier from France is Didik; Jou from Korea
will be Joko Kim.

"They always feel proud of the new names. They feel they are
socially accepted by the Indonesian community," said a teacher
who did not want to be identified.

Teachers

The teachers do not only come from language or letters
backgrounds, because they must pass selection based on several
criteria, some of which are not related to their facility in
languages.

For Realia, the first requirement is that a teacher should
have a good style of speaking. If candidates fail in this
requirement, they cannot continue with the selection process.
Then they undergo training designed by the center.

The tuition also varies. Realia's fee is US$8 per hour per
person for the course, plus the cost of lunch and the homestay.
Wisma Bahasa's rate is more than $6/hour/person, more than
$8/hour for two people, more than $10/hour for three people, more
than $12/hour for four people. Prices are usually negotiable;
Colorado provides a special price for members of social
organizations planning on establishing charity projects in the
country.

All of the centers also provide Javanese language classes.

"They need to learn Javanese because they think Javanese
culture is very important if they want to understand Indonesian
politics," said Iba Noor, business director of Realia. "The
course was popular during Soeharto with his Javanese hegemonic
type of New Order government.

"Now, although the president is Gus Dur (Abdurrahman Wahid),
the course remains interesting to them as many Indonesian
political idioms are in Javanese."