Bahasa News
Indonesian Lunch Excursion
Indonesian students have been learning about the various Indonesian foods, their tastes and descriptions, including ordering food and making payments. Students then went for an Indonesian lunch excursion to have a better understanding and a ‘hands-on’ experience with Indonesian foods. The excursion provided them with an authentic experience tasting the different Indonesian foods and also using the language learnt to make conversations.
Students had the opportunity to taste various entrees, mains, desserts and drinks. At the restaurant, students used Indonesian to order food and describe the tastes and smell of the dishes.
It was great ending to the unit on Food with an utterly delicious Indonesian lunch in a lovely restaurant with authentic cultural Indonesian setting. The students found the excursion absolutely helpful for their learning and the food was absolutely fabulous! It was a day that we will certainly remember especially for students who has never tasted Indonesian foods before.
These are some of the feedback from the participating students:
“I ate a huge bowl of curry noodles which was so hot and spicy but tasted delicious. I had banana fritters with ice-cream and it was one of the best dessert I have ever eaten. I wish we could go for Indonesian lunch more often!” Alina, Year 11.
“Saya makan pisang goreng dan es-krim. Teman saya makan nasi goreng dan ayam. Enak sekali!” Nichola dan Lexie, Year 9.
“The food and the place were lovely. There were lots of amazing cultural pictures of Indonesia decorated throughout the walls of the restaurant”, Paige, Year 11
Feedback from the restaurant owner:
“It was a pleasure to have Heathmont College students and teachers coming in for lunch. Please thank the students because they were all very courteous and well-mannered throughout the service”, Donnie from Junior Tan restaurant.
Sayembara Indonesian speaking competition
A number of our students recently participated in the State-wide Sayembara Indonesian Speaking Competition. This is a very competitive and prestigious event sponsored by the Victorian Indonesian Language Teachers' Association and the Asia Institute, University of Melbourne, and supported by the Department of Education. Participants have to carry out oral interview with two examiners, speaking in Indonesian for the entirety of the interview. In the preliminary round, the following students have performed very well and represented the Eastern region to compete in the finals. Congratulations to the following state finalists:
- Oliver Alway Y9
- Andriana Szabo Y9
- Willow Holy Y8
- Shanelle Jong Y8
- Tahnee Miller Y8
- Daniel Harris Y7
- Brooke Robertson Y7
- Jett Webber Y7
We also wish to acknowledge two state winners as below:
- Oliver Always for securing the highly commendable 4th place in the year 9 Advance category and
- Willow Holy for securing the highly commendable 4th place in the year 8 Advance category.
They received their awards from the Indonesian Consul General at the Awards Ceremony.
Here are some student feedback of the event:
“I learnt a lot of new words while preparing for the competition”, Tahnee M.
“It was a great experience participating in this event. It was lots of fun and I would love to try again next year”, Jett W.
“I learnt so much whilst preparing for the competition and I was so excited to compete in the finals”, Brooke R.
We are very pleased with all students who participated in this competition. It is wonderful to see our students being so enthusiastic and confident in demonstrating their knowledge and skills in speaking the language.
Prema Devathas
Indonesian Curriculum Area Leader