Learning Bahasa Indonesia a rewarding endeavor
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
An Indonesian woman patiently escorts a middle-aged expatriate around a museum. They chat in Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian language), though not fluently.
Once a while, they refer to their dictionaries for guidance.
The expatriate is a language student and the woman his instructor.
"We arrange outdoor class to avoid a monotonous learning process. Sometimes we go to the museum or to the Mangga Dua shopping complex. We create fun," said Johan Kristantara, marketing manager of Realia Jakarta.
Realia is a privately run Indonesian language training center.
Established in Yogyakarta in 1987, Realia opened its branch office in Jakarta in 2002.
Unlike the students in the Yogyakarta center, most of whom are from other countries, the Jakarta office mainly teaches non- nationals who work at a managerial level and above.
They may be embassy staff, the executives of foreign companies or country directors of non-governmental organizations or the United Nations.
"Some of our clients work for the WHO, UNHCR or UNESCO," Johan added.
Of course, Realia is not the only institution that specializes in Indonesian language training.
The University of Indonesia (UI)'s school of cultural studies has an Indonesian language program for non-native speakers (BIPA) and so does the Ministry of National Education through its Center for Language Development (PPPB).
Ganjar H. Wijaya of the PPPB said the center ran two types of classes for people wishing to learn Indonesian.
Through the regular class, students learn the Indonesian language for 46 hours divided in 16 weeks. While, in the special class, it is up to the students how long they wish to study.
Currently, the PPPB has four students, one Japanese national, two Koreans and one Egyptian.
"We will have seven more participants soon. They are from the Russian Embassy," Ganjar added.
Ganjar acknowledged that there was no standard curriculum for the Indonesian language learning process. This condition means all language training centers develop their own curriculum.
"So far, we have our own standards," he told The Jakarta Post.
Because there is no standard curriculum, each institution, including the PPPB, makes some adjustments. The PPPB, for example, assigns students to classes according to their capabilities.
"Those who have poor Indonesian language skills must attend a series of basic classes first," Ganjar said.
Johan sees the process of learning a language as part of a greater experience.
"Our clients do not only learn the Indonesian language, but also learn about the culture, the lifestyle and the habits of Indonesian people.
"Language is important, but making a language a means of communication is no less important," Johan told the Post.
Given the strategic position of Indonesia in the global community, both Johan and Ganjar are optimistic that more non- nationals will be encouraged to learn the Indonesian language.
Data from the UI's school of cultural studies shows that the number of expatriates learning the Indonesian language has increased year-by-year.
Started in 1960 to assist 10 South Korean researchers, the participants in BIPA increased to 25 in 1988.
In August 1995, the number of participants was 313 and rose to 379 in 1996.
BIPA participants come from all over the world, including Japan, South Korea, Turkey, Australia, Hungary, Poland, Canada, the United States, India, Algeria, Finland, Sweden, Germany, Iran, Iraq, the Philippines and France.
Hard work and cooperation between the instructors and students is well rewarded.
One example of a student whose diligence paid off is former British ambassador to Indonesia Richard Gozney, who once studied in Realia. In 2003, Gozney received an award from the Ministry of National Education's language center for his fluency in the Indonesian language.
For the instructors, of course, his achievement is a source of pride.