Learning Bahasa Indonesia a rewarding endeavor
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.