Indonesian Local Immersion Camp
Seven fearless Deakin students, two brave teachers and 57 fantastic Year 9 and 10 students came together for a week of Indonesian language activities over the school holidays.
The Centre for Teaching Asian Languages and Cultures delivered a six day camp for students of Indonesian LOTE to provide language practice, cultural knowledge and enthusiasm for continuing with Indonesian through secondary school and hopefully beyond.
Use of Indonesian language was built into fun activities as well as day to day conversation with the leaders. Some of Melbourne's tram travellers were bemused to see a group of young people speaking to each other in Indonesian as we travelled around the city.
Highlights of the week included:
- Learning about modern Indonesian culture including pop music and soap operas
- Having a go at sepak takraw at Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre
- The Village - a strategy game where teams worked to earn rupiah, buy supplies and build the most creative Indonesian village
- Big Day Out visiting some of Melbourne's sights and attractions - Melbourne Zoo, Old Melbourne Gaol, ACMI, Etihad Stadium and Eureka SkyDeck
- Visiting the Melbourne Burwood Campus for a Language of Technology session delivered by Associate Professor Ismet Fanany and sms'ing young people in Indonesia
- A traditional Balinese banquet
- Making batik t-shirts
The closing ceremony was hosted by the Indonesian Consulate on our last night of camp. The Acting Consul General Hadi Sapto Pambrastoro attended to watch our campers perform items they had developed and practiced during the week including dance, drama, singing, Voki, visual art, Angklung and Wayang.
The campers and leaders all had a great week together, best summed up by a quote from camper Lauren - "This is really fun, but I'm learning at the same time".
Terima kasih to Associate Professor Ismet Fanany (SIPS) for his work on the camp program, to the DEECD teachers who attended (Rina Hadi from Wallan SC and Dwi Rochfort from Gisborne SC), to the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development LOTE Unit for funding the camp, and to the Deakin students who were volunteer leaders:
Jason Kumar, Master of Teaching
Maya Treacy, Master of Teaching
Rhian Soedarsono, BLaw/BArts
Tegan Barber, BEducation
Jerome Ridgeway, BScience
Amy Johnston, BArts
Jamie Crabbe, BArts/BCom
