Indonesian News 

Indonesia is a great holiday destination for Australians to visit, and many members of our Scotch community frequently do so especially during school holidays.  Our focus across all year groups in Semester 1 was to learn practical language that students can use during their travels to Indonesia.

Year 8 Indonesian students have been learning about Bali as a popular destination for Australian tourists.  They learned about interesting places and cultural activities not to be missed on the island paradise.  Students also learned the practical skills of giving and taking directions in the unit "Lost in the City".  As part of their learning, they worked on a virtual travelling activity where they have to navigate Indonesian streets using Google Maps and virtual reality goggles. They were enthusiastic in completing the direction challenges and learned about the differences between streets in Indonesia and at home.

Students in Year 7 Indonesian have learned about the very useful language of ordering food in an Indonesian restaurant.  Students were really motivated to learn about traditional dishes. They also had the opportunity to do food tasting in class, trying an Indonesian drink called es campur (mixed ice drink), Indonesian crackers kerupuk, and surprisingly many of the students were up for the challenge to try sambal, an Indonesian spicy sauce! 

Our Year 6 students had a smooth start in their journey of learning a new language in Semester 1.  Not only do they now know basic greetings, which they can use on their travels to Indonesia, but they also have learned about Indonesian culture through dressing up in traditional costumes and wearing peci hats.  They also got competitive playing the traditional game of congklak, enjoyed singing and dancing, and had the chance to show off their moves to Indonesian tunes. Students also indulged in Ibu Suri's nasi kuning (yellow rice) dish.

  

We hope that the practical language that they have learned can be used in their travels to Indonesia. I would also encourage our students to use it in school with their language learning peers and their Indonesian teachers. They can also speak with staff members that can speak the language, such as Mr Ledger and Mr Faint. In fact, there are quite a few Indonesian staff members around the College, including the canteen and cleaning staff. All in all, using Indonesian language is easy to do at Scotch, and practicing regularly will improve fluency in no time.

Pak Francesca Gabby Surijata
Middle School Indonesian Teacher