Japanese getting popular here ...

By Primastuti Handayani

JAKARTA (JP): Some knowledge of Japanese is a major advantage in today's fiercely competitive job market in Indonesia, although English and computer skills are more in demand.

The difficulty of learning Japanese, given that it uses the Kanji characters rather than the Roman alphabet, is still not a barrier for the thousands of Indonesians now flocking to Japanese language courses and schools.

If their parents or grandparents learned the language because they were taught it during Japan's military occupation from 1942- 1945, now they are doing so voluntarily or due to market pressures.

Sheddy N. Tjandra, a Japanese language consultant at the Japan Foundation, told The Jakarta Post that the growing interest in learning Japanese could not be separated from the stronger economic ties between Indonesia and Japan.

He pointed out that as more and more Japanese industries relocate to Indonesia, there will be a growing demand for workers as well as executives who can speak their language.

"Lately, the Japanese have been moving their factories to Cikarang or Bekasi. They bring their capital and technology, but the workers are Indonesians," he said.

According to the Japan Foundation, in 1993 there were a total of 73,000 people learning Japanese at 460 institutions, including 350 senior high schools where Japanese is a foreign language option.

The foundation is active in providing financial and material assistance to universities and schools that teach Japanese. It is also providing scholarships to Japanese language teachers.

Japan is Indonesia's main trading partner, both as a major export market and a major supplier of goods, particularly capital goods. Japan tops the list of foreign private investment in the non-oil sector and it is also Indonesia's largest aid donor country.

Tjandra said more senior high schools are introducing Japanese as an optional foreign language along with German, French and Arabic.

He listed more than 130 language schools in 16 provinces in Indonesia, and 40 universities, both private and state-run, where Japanese is being taught.

Some of the bigger universities have established their own Japanese departments, running five-year degree or three-year diploma programs in Japanese studies.

Padjadjaran

Padjadjaran University in Bandung, West Java, heads the pack with two diploma programs and one degree program in the Japanese language. The University of Indonesia follows with one diploma program and one degree program. Two private universities that offer both diploma and degree programs are Darma Persada University in Jakarta and Yapari Foreign Language High Education Institution in Bandung.

Other universities and colleges that have their own Japanese programs are North Sumatra University in Medan, IKIP Bandung, Gadjah Mada University, IKIP Surabaya, IKIP Manado, IKIP Ujung Pandang, Swadaya Foreign Language School in Medan, Harapan Foreign Language School in Medan, Bung Hatta University in Padang, Nasional University in Jakarta, Borobudur University (Jakarta), Maranatha University in Bandung, Puragabaya Tourism Academy in Bandung, Dr. Soetomo University in Surabaya, Satya Widya Foreign Language School in Surabaya, Malang Foreign Language School, Akpari Tourism Academy in Malang and August 17 Language Academy in Semarang.

Other universities have also introduced Japanese as an optional foreign language subject. They include Sriwijaya University in Palembang, the Bogor Agriculture Institute, Bandung Technology Institute, Diponegoro University in Semarang, Brawijaya University in Malang, Udayana University in Denpasar and Hasanuddin University in Ujungpandang.

The prestigious University of Indonesia has seen a growing interest in Japanese language studies, especially for the short diploma program, which is shorter than the degree program with an emphasis on the practical use of the language.

In 1994, for example, the Japanese language diploma program admitted 74 new students. By comparison, during the same year, the English language diploma program admitted 82 students, the French diploma program 45 students, German program 39 students and Chinese Mandarin 55 students.

Ermah Mandah, head of the Japanese Department at the University of Indonesia, said because of the growing interest, her department has increased the annual intake to 120 new students for its diploma program this year. The size of the degree program remains limited to 30 students each year.

Tjandra, who also teaches Japanese at the University of Indonesia, said there were 1,600 applicants for the 120 seats for Japanese language diploma programs this year.

Alumni

Darma Persada University, an institution established by the association of Indonesian alumni of Japanese universities, has also been expanding its Japanese studies department.

Irawati Agustine said Darma Persada admitted 120 students for degree programs and 75 for diploma programs each year. "It is obvious that there is a relationship between growing Indonesia- Japan commercial relations and interest in the language here," she said.

Darma Persada, which was founded by the Melati Sakura Foundation, was originally a Japanese language school called Nippon Bunka Gakuin before it became a university in 1986.

Nandang Rahmat, head of Japanese Language Studies at Padjadjaran University, said his university accepts 40 new students each year for its degree program and 120 students for its diploma program. There is also a third program, which admits 60 students annually and emphasizes translation.