Slowly but surely, Mandarin becomes second foreign language

Slowly but surely, Mandarin becomes second foreign language

Evi Mariani
The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

After four years of freedom for the expression of Chinese
culture, the Mandarin language has started attracting
Indonesians, as private schools begin to provide Mandarin courses
in response to popular demand.

"The interest in Mandarin is growing in Indonesia. Not very
fast, but steadily," said Michelle Vivi, the owner of Hua
Mandarin Language School.

However, she added, although growing slowly, Mandarin had
become the second-most favored foreign language after English.

"I believe the growth will accelerate after 2008, when the
Olympic Games are held in China. All eyes will be fixed on that
country and they will realize its growing role," she said.

Michelle, who established her Mandarin school in West Jakarta
in 2001, has witnessed a healthy growth in her own school.
Starting from 11 students in 2001, the school now has about 100
students and five teachers from mainland China.

"Most of my students are Chinese-Indonesian schoolchildren.
Their parents put them in the course because they think Mandarin
will be useful for their children's future," she added.

However, her school has also received some requests from
private companies to provide in-house training for employees.

"For companies, we have a business conversation program,"
Michelle said.

For the regular program, one term at her school costs at least
Rp 500,000 for 16 one-hour sessions.

"My course, perhaps, costs more than those at many other
schools. But we provide teachers who are really Mandarin teachers
from China, not just Chinese people who can speak Mandarin but
cannot teach it," Michelle added.

Michelle's teachers are also hired to teach Mandarin at the
upmarket private school Tunas Muda, West Jakarta.

"Due to parents' growing demand, we provide Mandarin classes.
They say that Mandarin has become popular everywhere so they want
their children to learn early," Elly Kusumastuti, a marketing
officer at Tunas Muda, said.

The use of Mandarin characters was banned from publication and
books by the New Order government.

This regulation, along with others that banned any public
expression of Chinese culture, distanced Chinese culture from the
younger generation of Chinese-Indonesians.

This ban was in effect for more than 30 years until, in 2000,
then president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid lifted the ban on
public celebrations of the Chinese New Year.

Gus Dur's action paved the way for subsequent administrations
to lift other bans on Chinese culture.

Shortly afterward, Mandarin courses began flourishing in big
cities and the mass media began catering to audiences who wished
to know Mandarin.

A broadcast of popular Taiwanese serial Meteor Garden has also
helped to spread the popularity of Mandarin.

Catherine Keng, a producer for the Mandarin news program at TV
station Metro TV, said the ratings for her program had been
encouraging since the start in 2001.

"The rise is positive, although not dramatic," she said.

Keng added that the program, which was designed for Chinese-
Indonesian audiences, also attracted non-Chinese.

"We have received requests to provide subtitles on our
programs," she said. "Responding to audience feedback, we
recently launched a new program to introduce daily conversation
Mandarin."

The program displays a short scene with actors conversing in
simple Mandarin, like "ni hao" for "how are you?".

"China's economy is getting stronger so Mandarin will be a
valuable asset for your career," she added.