Indo Info

Last week Grade twos put on puppet shows where they applied their prior knowledge of how to ask someone ‘how are you?’ {Apa kabar?}  and ‘What is your name?’ {Siapa nama kamu?’ with their new understanding that in Indonesian culture it is rude for children to refer to adults outside their immediate family as ‘you’ {kamu} and they should instead use their titles {Ibu or Bapak}. Students chose puppets from a selection of ages and genders that were all wearing various styles of traditional clothing. They had the puppets chat to each other choosing language that reflected the gender, age and expression of the puppets.

Last week I was away for a day to attend the annual Victorian Indonesian Language Teachers’ Conference.  As one of the people helping to run the conference, I was also invited to a celebration of Indonesian Language and Culture at the Consulate for the Republic of Indonesia. Both events were very inspiring and I have returned with a head buzzing with new ideas and awareness of resources to access. Did you know there are more than 20,000 Indonesian born people living in Victoria? It is a quiet but sizable and rapidly growing diaspora. If you know of any events being organised by our Indonesian groups that are open to the broader community, please let me know so that I can share information about these events in our school newsletter.

Meanwhile, if you would like to give your children an opportunity to try out someone of their Indonesian language skills in an authentic setting without travelling to Indonesia, why not check out Laguna, an Indonesian supermarket in High Street Preston, you can check out the Indonesian products and exchange greetings with the friendly staff there. A few doors down is an Indonesian café with lots of child friendly meals – but watch out for the sambal (chilli sauces) on the side – they are authentically spicy!

Try: Selamat siang (good day, usually used 11am – about 3:30 pm) , selamat sore (late afternoon until dark). Terima kasih – thank you   Siapa nama Ibu? – What is your name Mam?   Apa kabar? How are you? Baik-baik saja – just great 

Here is a resource you can practise greetings with https://www.education.vic.gov.au/languagesonline/index.html?l=indonesian