Language School

Since arriving in Indonesia, language learning has been one of my main focuses, and much of that has happened through the language school I attend.  The school is only teaches Bahasa Indonesia and is run by all Indonesians, which makes it nice because we get to learn the language from native speakers, many of which have been there for years and know how to teach foreigners.  All students at the school are foreigners here for varying reasons, but the majority are here for business and community development work, both of which require learning the language first.  I have heard the nationality of students varies from year to year, but right now the approximate statistics are as follows, Koreans (50%), Americans (35%), with a mix of Aussies and Europeans to finish it off.  The age of students probably averages out in the upper 30s with several young families attending.

The school has 9 units total, each four weeks long with a three day to one week break following.  The number of students in each unit vary, with the average around 7 students in the earlier units and dropping to around 3 or 4 in the later units.  My group started with 9, has added some and lost some, and is now at 4.  This makes it nice to have a lower teacher to student ratio, thus more individual time with the teachers.  I am in a class with a couple from Belgium and a mother/wife from Korea.  We enjoy learning and laughing together!  Many of my closer relationships with foreigners are with students at language school, especially since we are having similar experiences.

The early units at the language school focused on listening and speaking, the same way we learn our first language.  We learned the basics and tried to practice our language every day with other Indonesians.  This continues to be the practice now that I am in Unit 5, but there is an added emphasis on reading and writing.  We start most classes with singing Indonesian songs, then a student gives a presentation followed by correction, and finish with the remaining and majority of the class time focused on the text for the day in smaller groups.  Here's a couple photos from school!

Unit 1 - a classmate giving his introduction or sharing his experience from the day before.

Unit 1 - One of my teachers instructing the class.  Notice the Christmas decorations.
Yes we celebrated together after school one day.

Unit 5 - Me giving a presentation to a few of my classmates.  One male student is taking the picture and the teachers are in the back noting my mistakes, so we can correct them together later.