Language Make Connection

Today, on the 5th of August 2009, we, the Surabayan delegation and year eight students from Melville Senior High School went to the Indonesian Consulate by bus. The Surabayan student delegation sat beside the eight year students. We passed many things along the road. We saw the “Canning River” and the “Swan River”. We also saw great buildings such as “The Swan Bell Tower” and the “Concert Hall”. They are very great buildings. They had a unique structure that will get attention from new-comers.

I was sitting with Keegan. He is a year eight student from Melville Senior High School. He has been learning Indonesian for 2 years. He has just moved from Sydney few years ago. When he’s learning Indonesian, he has some difficulties remembering the words. I have tested his abilities in speaking Indonesian and he is pretty good with Indonesian numbers. He and his family, planned to go to Indonesia (Bali Island). He would love to go to Indonesia sometimes. That is the same as me, as I would like to come back to Australia, especially Perth.

He loves to learn Indonesian and even though he finds some difficulties with it, he would love to learn some more of the language. His spirit to learn Indonesian is the same as me, as I love to learn English and improve my English. I found this as a connection between me and Australian people.

Why not Surabaya ??

Why not Surabaya ??

The delagation had an excursion to the Indonesian Consulate with the students who learn Indonesian at Melville High School. We were very interested when we saw a video about Indonesian culture. There was a lot of culture shown on the video, but the Surabayan delegation felt disapointed because there was no part of the video about Surabaya. That was alright, because we were very satisfied when we played the gamelan and angklung. It was amazing to play the traditional music from Java with the students from Melville SHS .

We also had a good experience when we interviewed one of the students who learn Indonesian. We asked, " What do you know about Indonesia? and What Indonesian words can you say?". Then, he answered," I know that Indonesia has a lot of culture and it's very popular with its history. Now, I just can say Selamat pagi, Selamat siang, Selamat malam, Terima kasih and nama saya Zac." All of Indonesian people must be proud because Australian people know the history of Indonesia.Then, we asked him again," Why do you want to learn Indonesian?",He answered ," Because, it's a challenge for me to learn a cool country's language and it will help me when I grow up, because I want to stay in Indonesia someday." That was a cool and weird answer for us because actually most Indonesian people want to live in a better country than Indonesia. On the other hand, all of us felt very satisfied on this trip. We saw positive sides of Indonesia in this excursion to the consulate.