Immersed in Indonesian

Elisabeth Riharti, an Indonesian teacher at the Australian Defence Language School in Melbourne, told SBS how proud she was that her student had just won a speech competition conducted by the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia in Melbourne in cooperation with the Balai Bahasa dan Budaya Indonesia Victoria. Her student Brett Fletcher talked about his love of learning Indonesian.

Elisabeth Riharti and Brett Flecther, Melb Jun 2017 Source: Private collection

How can we reconcile the declining number of students who learn Indonesian with the enthusiasm shown by participants competing at the speech and story-telling competition held by the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia in Melbourne? Apart from studying in class what do learners of Indonesian need to do to improve their language? Elisabeth Riharti and her student, Brett Fletcher explain.