Year 8 - 10 Indonesian

Joel Backwell is a dynamic speaker on Australian/Indonesian relations.  He was invited to visit the Year 8-10 Indonesian classes to share with them his journey of studying the Indonesian language and the unique opportunities that has provided him. He began his Indonesian studies at Secondary School, then continued studying Indonesian at University, finally becoming a Lawyer and representing Australians in need of legal help in Indonesia, including the Bali Nine.  He is an encouraging speaker as to why one would want to pursue a pathway of learning Indonesian at the Secondary level. 

Sharon Tromp 

Year 8 Indonesian Teacher 

Student Reflection

On Tuesday, the 24th June, Pak Joel came to talk to some of us in Years 8, 9 and 10. He told us that choosing to keep learning Indonesian after Year 8 could actually change your life. At first, I didn’t really get it, but then he explained how it helped him get an awesome job, travel, and connect with heaps of people in a totally different country. He also got the chance of being the ‘Bali Nine’s’ lawyer only because he spoke Indonesian. He made it sound way more exciting than just school stuff—it’s like learning Indonesian gave him real-life superpowers. Overall, Pak Joel taught us so many things and made most people think twice about dropping Indonesian. 

Eli Year 8 

Photo: 

Emily, Olivia and Isabel gave a little speech and said ‘terima kasih Pak Joel’, thanking him for coming to speak with us. They presented him with a gift voucher to an Indonesian restaurant in the city.