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East Jakarta ‘kampung’ teaches foreigners to understand Indonesians
Kampung Bahasa Bloombank in Ciracas, East Jakarta is the place where foreigners could learn not only Bahasa Indonesia but other aspects of the Indonesian people.
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Foreigners learn the Indonesian language through songs with local children at Kampung Bahasa Bloombank (Bloombank language kampung) in Ciracas, East Jakarta, during a summer camp on June 23. (Courtesy of/Kampung Bahasa Bloombank)
L
anguage is a “window” to understand human nature, so say linguists, and a woman in East Jakarta has provided the window for those who want or need to understand Indonesian people.
Kampung Bahasa Bloombank (Bloombank language kampung) in Ciracas is the place where foreigners could learn not only Bahasa Indonesia but other aspects of Indonesians.
The owner, former lecturer Niknik Kurtanto, decorates the establishment on a 7,500-square-meter plot of land with ornaments belonging to various local cultures. There are angklung (bamboo music instruments), traditional clothes like kebaya and koteka and Balinese statues.
Not only are there plenty of trees to make the area tranquil and pleasing to the eyes, there is also a fish pond in the middle that is rented out to the public for angling.
That morning, a 21-year-old South Korean, Nam Kee Hyeon, was attentively listening to his Bahasa Indonesia teacher's explanation inside a small classroom. Being the only student there, Nam had more than enough confidence to talk and even joke with his teacher in the Indonesian language.
“I like learning the language, although I will not live here for too long. Once I'm back to Korea, I’ll use this skill to help people,” he said in Bahasa Indonesia quite fluently. Nam is to return to his country this month to start his mandatory military service.
In another classroom next to Nam’s was a female foreigner, also from South Korea, named Kong Yeon Jeong. Kong was in a conversation program and that morning she was learning Indonesian grammar.
