Language students taste Indonesian life

Students have immersed themselves in Indonesian language and culture during an in-country learning program on the island of Lombok.

More than 20 Indonesian language students recently travelled to Lombok in Indonesia’s West Nusa Tenggara province as part of Charles Darwin University’s Lombok In-Country Program.

Along with Indonesian language, students also took part in other cultural actives such as traditional cooking and dancing, while studying at the University of Mataram in Lombok.

CDU Indonesian lecturer Nathan Franklin said students gained firsthand experiences of everyday life in Indonesia during the program.

“The program is very localised and designed to reflect the local culture so the students gain a sense of where they are,” he said.

“CDU has always had a strong engagement with the Indonesian Government and the community, as part of the larger engagement the Northern Territory has with the country.”

Diploma of Languages student Claudia Hudson said the program allowed her to further engage in the culture and language of the region.

“The constant exposure to Indonesian language greatly improved my ability to communicate and helped me develop relationships with Indonesian people during my time in Lombok,” she said.

The Lombok program has been running at CDU since 1997.

The next Indonesian in-country program will take place in the capital city of the East Nusa Tenggara province, Kupang, in July. Ten scholarships will be available for the Kupang In-Country program.

CDU also offers scholarships for the in-country language programs in Greece and China.