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Mobilizing Indonesia’s netizens to promote language learning
In Australia, many universities have closed their Indonesian programs due to the sharp decline in student enrollment.
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Foreigners learn the Indonesian language through songs with local children at Kampung Bahasa Bloombank (Bloombank Language Village) in Ciracas, East Jakarta, during a summer camp on June 23, 2019. (Courtesy of/Kampung Bahasa Bloombank)
W
hile we may be tempted to think that learning a second language is redundant due to Google Translate and new artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, we cannot rely on these devices alone. People need to understand other cultures to promote geopolitical stability and language learning is key here.
Could Indonesian studies be inspired by the impact that K-pop has had on motivating students to learn Korean?
Per a Modern Language Association report, the study of Korean in the United States has skyrocketed from around 5,211 in 2002 to nearly 14,000 in 2016, and continues growing. The same is true in other countries, such as in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and other countries.
It is a global phenomenon where the Korean language has seen an upsurge in students wanting to learn it and the major reason is Korean popular culture.
Many students now are non-heritage, which differs from a decade ago when Korean-language classes were filled by Korean-heritage learners. Having non-Korean heritage students in a Korean class in a US university back in the 1990s was a rare phenomenon, as reported by Forbes in 2019.
The rise of Korean-language teaching is correlated with the popularity of Korean popular culture, Korean dramas and bands worldwide. Korean-language learning globally has a close link with the Korean government’s investment in soft diplomacy.
Now, the Korean sector has reaped the benefits and one of these is the influx of Korean-language learners learning Korean. In Monash University, Australia, thousands of learners have enrolled to study Korean in recent years.
