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."