IPB University Students Become Friends Learning Indonesian for Foreign Speakers

IPB University students who are members of Pondok Inspirasi have the opportunity to become friends learning Indonesian with foreign speakers. This opportunity was obtained when Bahasa Kita and Pondok Inspirasi held an online class for foreign speakers of Indonesian language learners, some time ago.

Also present were Omar Danishwara a teacher and practitioner of Indonesian for Foreign Speakers (BIPA) with 13 years of experience teaching foreign speakers from 20 different countries, and Risky Sherly Putri, an alumnus of IPB University as well as the coordinator of Bahasa Kita article contributors as teaching assistants in the class.

This online class for beginner-level learners aims to train Indonesian speaking skills. The class was interesting and interactive. The topic of the class was 'My Hobby'. 

During the class, participants were asked to introduce the uniqueness of each of their habits or hobbies, starting with their favorite food or drink, reading activities, sports, and playing Guess the hobby as a vocabulary repetition at the end of the class.

"It's great to be a BIPA learning buddy. Besides being able to share experiences, I can also get to know more about the habits of neighboring countries about hobbies and favorite Indonesian dishes for foreign speakers who learn Indonesian," said Aziz, one of the IPB University students giving his impression after attending BIPA classes.

Uniquely, not only is the material provided, but it is also equipped with practice in its use and pronunciation. Christine, one of the foreign speakers from Perth, Australia at the end of the class said that from the session she got new vocabulary to use in speaking Indonesian. Likewise, Sherly hopes that this session will be a good first step toward achieving her dream of globalizing the Indonesian language. (*/Rz) (IAAS/TNY)