Travelers, I have decided that if/when my hopefully, maybe, possibly Tasmanian Labor Senatorial dreams come to fruition, the first self-funded overseas trip Ill make will be to Jakarta, Indonesia. I have always been interested in Languages other than English, (as can be seen from my use of Google+-Translate) & it is probable that of the two High Schools I attended, no other male studied more in this area than yours truly. Like all of my cohort at Kurri Kurri High School, I studied each of French & German for 70 Minutes per week for a Semester, & I continued this until the end of Year 9. When I changed to Maitland High School in Year 10, I had to study French by Correspondence due to it not being offered at this school. My dear departed (adopted) Mum had assisted in this pursuit because she had some knowledge due to both completing French to Leaving Certificate Level, & also returning to study the French-Beginners HSC Level Course at Maitland TAFE in 1988, in which she scored in the top 10% of the State. I suspect that it was via a sort of vicarious learning, at this young age that hard-wired my brain in French to the extent that though most of the grammar & vocabulary has gone, my ability to speak in quite a good (much better than Mr Abbott) accent remains. This was very, very, very, helpful when I spent a few days in Paris in late 2006 on a very, very, very small Northern-Hempispheric vacation with my Guardian-LNP-Angel that some of you may be familiar with. At the outset of Year 11, I had sensibly decided that continuing on with French via Correspondence was unwise & instead decided to be one of only 2 students studying Japanese Beginners (for me it was insanely, a 7th Subject) out of school time in a composite class along with 3 students continuing Japanese from Year 10. Though due particularly to the reading & writing elements, it was rather challenging I was quite good at it & was disappointed that the (admittedly very good) Principal Kerry Bugden decided in her wisdom that myself & the other Japanese Beginners student would study it by correspondence in Year 12. Thus, it was not for me & not to be and not completing Japanese Beginners is perhaps my only abiding regret in relation to undertaking my Higher School Certificate. I decided to have another go at studying (Intensive Beginners) French when I enrolled in the first year of my Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of New England, Armidale in 1996. It was a full year unit & I lasted one Semester as Im ashamed to say I did not dedicate the required out of class time to practice that studying LOTE at tertiary level requires. I still remember vividly the conversation I had with this subjects very kind & supportive lecturer, Dr Hillary Hutchinson, when I informed her of this decision. Ian she said, there are some students one just never forgets! The next, most recent & last time I attempted studies in LOTE was at Newcastle TAFE in 1999 when I enrolled in a Certificate 1 in German, which also was only sustained for 1 semester. Yes, there was much (possibly partially depression induced) procrastination, but I also noticed that my brain seemed to struggle to create a German-Box alongside the existing English, French & Japanese Boxes I already had. I recall a constant internal struggle in all respects (Grammar, Pronunciation & Vocabulary) of studying German whereby my brain was being torn between the English-Box & the French-Box, unable to construct its own zone, obviously being so different to all of the above meant that a separate Japanese-Box was there. Which brings me back to Indonesias Capital Jakarta, & my intention to make it my first overseas travel destination in my hypothetical imaginary future. It being almost 15 years since Ive undertaken any LOTE Studies, I feel it near time to have another crack & have found an intensive course* in Jakarta costing IDR 5,300,000 or in AUD terms, about $ 430. Itll be interesting to see if I can construct an Indonesian-Box in my brain, but Im not aiming for academic fluency, merely the ability to be able to initiate conversation & get myself around the city. Im of the belief that we dont need for example, to have Kevin Rudd level Mandarin competency to construct positive relationships for example, with our Chinese Friends, as discovered in Paris, the fact that one makes the EFFORT to communicate in the Language of ones destination is exponential in its dividends. As Ive said previously, in the Post Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono era, & the Post Abbott era, it is my hope that Australia & Indonesia will become BEST FRIENDS, so this will be my first contribution to laying down that foundation. Memiliki Hari Yang Baik! (Have a good day!) ~IMC..:) ialf.edu/learningindonesianinjakarta.html Quite.
Posted on: Sun, 27 Jul 2014 02:18:55 +0000
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