What will I gain from taking Indonesian?
The ability to speak Indonesian is a skill that will set you apart from the vast majority of other students who, if they choose to study a language, elect to learn one the romance languages (French, Spanish, Italian). In America, the ability to speak Indonesian is a rare talent; but the fact that Indonesia is the fourth most populace nation in the world, coupled with the increasingly close ties between the United States and Indonesia, makes the command of this language a valuable skill. Beyond these employment-associated gains, being able to speak Indonesian will also allow you to travel within and experience one of the most diverse areas of the world.
Casey.Sloan@colorado.edu
I am not good with languages. Will I have difficulties learning Indonesian?
As adults, we all have trouble learning new languages. Indonesian, however, is actually one of the easiest modern languages to learn. Unlike other Asian languages, Indonesian is written in Roman script (like English), which means you don't have to learn a new writing system. Indonesian also borrows many words from English, making these words easy to learn (e.g. filem, apel, radio, menu, organisasi). Indonesian verbs do not have complex conjugations or tense marking, and the usual word order is S(ubject)-V(erb)-O(bject), just like English. While there are some unusual sentence patterns and grammatical constructions (from an English perspective), it is actually quite easy to make significant progress in the language in a short amount of time. n.jay.williams@gmail.com
How will Indonesian help my career?
Indonesian will help my career because it gives me a head start on learning the language before I live there in the future. My career will hopefully be in Indonesia after I graduate, thus by
learning the language now I have a better chance of getting hired for a great job. Also, by learning Indonesian I can learn not only the language, but also about social, cultural, and political issues. This is preparing me for the cultural adjustment I will have to face when working there. It has been the best class I have taken at CU to prepare me for my future.
Jan.Goerzen@colorado.edu
What is so interesting about learning Indonesian at CU?
For me the most interesting part about learning Indonesian is the class activities, weather it takes place inside or outside the school. Inside the school we do fun activities such as playing bingo, watching Indonesian videos, interviewing the local Indonesians and learning the informal/everyday language. Outside of school I can meet new people during potluck, Asian Language night and especially Asia Day. The people who are taking Indonesian are very supportive of each other in order to learn better and that also help Indonesian class to be more fun and interesting. BroncosAdrian@yahoo.com
