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January to June in Indonesia - possible?
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ghost



Joined: 30 Jan 2003
Posts: 1693
Location: Saudi Arabia

PostPosted: Tue Jul 27, 2004 4:34 pm    Post subject: January to June in Indonesia - possible? Reply with quote

Folks - will be looking for work somewhere from January to June 2005.

Is there any possibility of a six month contract somewhere in Indonesia?

My qualifications include a B.A., B.Ed. (Certified Teacher from Ontario, Canada), M.A., and Post Graduate Certificate in T.E.S.L.

Fluent in six languages (Eng., Fr., Span., Ital., Germ., Port.) and decent level also in Turkish and Tagalog with some knowledge of Arabic.

Ghost travelled on a fact finding tour of South East Asia recently (Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Sri Lanka) but turned down teaching offers in Hanoi, because the general traffic and chaos there did not appeal.

How advantageous is it to gain some knowledge of Bahasa Indonesian language when teaching there? Have many of you picked up the language, and through what kind of method?

Last year worked in Turkey, and was getting around $1000 U.S. per month with free accommodation thrown in. Would hope for around the same in Indonesia.

Thanks for any info.
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ls650



Joined: 10 May 2003
Posts: 3484
Location: British Columbia

PostPosted: Wed Jul 28, 2004 12:50 am    Post subject: Re: January to June in Indonesia - possible? Reply with quote

ghost wrote:
Is there any possibility of a six month contract somewhere in Indonesia?
How advantageous is it to gain some knowledge of Bahasa Indonesian language when teaching there? Have many of you picked up the language, and through what kind of method?


The last I heard, Indonesians work visas are always for a one-year period, and the employer generally has to pay the whole cost (what, about $1200 US) up front. For that kind of investment most employers are uninterested in signing anything less than a 12-month contract.

Indonesian is an easy language to learn. In my year I learned to maybe a high beginner level, and I have to admit I didn't put a whole lot of effort into learning. That said, now I'm finding Spanish a LOT easier to pick up, simply because the language is closely related to English.
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zpivat



Joined: 15 Jul 2004
Posts: 9
Location: Toronto/Budapest

PostPosted: Wed Jul 28, 2004 9:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Personally, I do think that it is very valuable if you have some skills in Bahasa Indonesia. The majority of the populations only speak Bahasa Indonesia, and hence understanding the language will benefit you in the long run. In addition to that, the Indonesian people REALLY appreciate foreigners who are at least able to just converse in it. I don't know if this is true, but I heard that by speaking the language, you'll also save yourself from being lied to, such as when you're shopping, especially in the low-class areas. Of course not everyone is a crook, but things happen, and we never know right?

I agree with ls650, Bahasa Indonesia is, in fact, very easy to learn. As a matter of fact, it's considered to be one of the world's easiest (if not the easiest) languages. It doesn't use strange scripts like many other Asian languages do. It has no genders and all the nitty gritty. Many of the vocabularies are extremely similar to their English (or even Spanish, German, Portuguese, etc) equivalents. Of course, you cannot master it overnight, but in about a month you should be able to pick up quite a few words. I think you should also be able to get the gist of news-related passages (such as those of www.kompas.com ).

How can you learn the language? Well, you can sign up for some Indonesian courses there in Indonesia, or you can read some online tutorials. As immersing yourself with the native speakers of a particular language is the best way to learn a language, interacting and mingling with the Indonesian people is also a good way to learn. I knew someone from the Czech Republic, who had the chance to study it for only 1.5 years, yet he was able to converse in it very fluently. Not only did he speak it very well, but he could also speak it supremely quickly! I am sure that he has quite an exceptional intelligence, but then again, if you're diligent and practise well enough, you should be able to get by.

Learning by listening is also recommended. Nowadays it's pretty hard to find online sources from which you can listen to well spoken and easy-to-comprehend Indonesian. Radio Sonora used to have an online radio, but for some reasons it's now no longer working. I did, however, find a pretty good substitute, NHK's live radio programs. Check it out at:
http://www.nhk.or.jp/rj/index_e2.html
Scroll down, and you'll find the Indonesian version.

I guess that's all for now. Good luck! Smile
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ls650



Joined: 10 May 2003
Posts: 3484
Location: British Columbia

PostPosted: Wed Jul 28, 2004 10:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

zpivat wrote:
I don't know if this is true, but I heard that by speaking the language, you'll also save yourself from being lied to, such as when you're shopping, especially in the low-class areas.


Ha ha ha ha! Laughing Er, no, I would not agree with that.
A couple of the teachers I worked with were fluent in Indonesian but it didn't keep some of the locals from trying to rip them off.
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ghost



Joined: 30 Jan 2003
Posts: 1693
Location: Saudi Arabia

PostPosted: Thu Jul 29, 2004 3:02 pm    Post subject: More on Indonesia Reply with quote

Thanks for the fillers on Bahasa Indonesia language. Having picked up decent level Tagalog in the Philippines during a two month stay there in 1999, it should not be a problem to pick up the same with Bahasa.

Poster is a fanatical sports guy and likes to run daily (3-4 miles), play basketball and tennis. How easy is it to practice those sports in Indonesia? and what are the facilitities like? Indonesia does not seem to be dominant in any sport, and one is curious as to why that situation should be?

One understands that motorbike traffic is pretty bad in Indonesia. How would you compare it with motorbike traffic in Thailand and Vietnam, which Ghost found were horrendous....?
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zpivat



Joined: 15 Jul 2004
Posts: 9
Location: Toronto/Budapest

PostPosted: Thu Jul 29, 2004 5:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

One little tip, I personally think that it's better to just call it "Indonesian", or "Indonesian language".
"Bahasa Indonesia language" is rather redundant, because "bahasa" itself literally means "language", he he Smile

You're right ghost, you should have no trouble learning Bahasa Indonesia, having *mastered* Tagalog. Why? Well, Indonesian is even easier than Tagalog!

Excellent questions about sport. It's very easy to practise those sports you mentioned in Indonesia. There are sport-centres in the big cities such as Jakarta or Bandung. In Jakarta there's this area, or real estate, whatever you prefer to call it, called Kelapa Gading, inside which there's what's called "Sport Club" wherein you can practise all kinds of sports. There are also a lot of open fields where you can play soccer or basketball. The Indonesians love soccer, so I think it shouldn't be hard to practise it.

I'm not sure why many people don't know it, but Indonesia is well known for badminton. Two players, Alan Budikusuma and his wife Susi Susanti were Asian champions for a couple times. There was also this badminton player in the 1970's who was also very well known throughout the world, I forgot the name.
Rudi Hartono, also a badminton player, was the first to hold the world record for winning the All England 8 times.

I'm not sure how motorbike traffic is compared to those in Vietnam and Thailand, since I've never been to these two countries. Despite the fact that Indonesia is quite a large country (in fact, it's the biggest archipelago country in the world), it also has a very large population, which makes it very crowded, especially in Java. Jakarta's traffics are quite crazy during the rush hour, and I can imagine it being the same way in Thailand and Vietnam, at least from my educated guess. So I agree with Ghost, horrendous traffic there, and don't forget the "pedagang asongan", as well as the squeegee kids!
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ls650



Joined: 10 May 2003
Posts: 3484
Location: British Columbia

PostPosted: Thu Jul 29, 2004 5:44 pm    Post subject: Re: More on Indonesia Reply with quote

ghost wrote:
One understands that motorbike traffic is pretty bad in Indonesia. How would you compare it with motorbike traffic in Thailand and Vietnam, which Ghost found were horrendous....?


I owned a Suzuki 100cc scooter in Indonesia. I've never been to Thailand or Vietnam, but I've toured on motorcycle in India; India was a tranquil breeze for riding in comparison on Java.
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Winmar



Joined: 11 Feb 2003
Posts: 125
Location: Melbourne

PostPosted: Fri Jul 30, 2004 2:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Indonesian's pretty easy to pick up, but if you want to learn formal written Indonesian it gets a lot trickier.

The motorcycle traffic isn't too bad, but it could be a lot better! Traffic's bad in Jakarta full-stop, but is ok elsewhere. It's rather dangerous at times riding down to the beach on a bike, as the coach drivers on the roads are lunatics.
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ghost



Joined: 30 Jan 2003
Posts: 1693
Location: Saudi Arabia

PostPosted: Fri Jul 30, 2004 2:58 pm    Post subject: Transport in Indonesia Reply with quote

How practical/dangerous would it be for Ghost to travel around by bicycle in Indonesia? Do many people use bikes there...? Ghost found in Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia that the natives only used motorbikes....creating a lot of noise, pollution and traffic problems in the cities. One could never understand why people only earning around $30 a month would spend the money on petrol, when a bike would have saved them money and increased their health capital...

Ghost hates to use motorbikes, and loves to use a bike. But are the drivers in Indonesia used to bike riders, and give them adequate space for moving and passing..?

Just checked up on Basketball in Indonesia, and found out that Indonesia actually has a Professional Basketball League, which is more than Canada has..!

Any recommendations on which towns/cities to work in? I think Jakarta would be out, bearing in mind the horrendous traffic and pollution. A friend worked as a transport planner in Surabaya. Any scoops on that place?

How easy is it to travel around the country by public transport?
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Winmar



Joined: 11 Feb 2003
Posts: 125
Location: Melbourne

PostPosted: Fri Jul 30, 2004 3:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Is ghost talking about inter-city or intra-city? You could do either on a bicycle, but it'd be a pain in the botty at times.

Indonesian drivers are used to motorcyclists, and probably cyclists as well.

I'd personally give Jakarta a miss, and have heard bad things about Surabaya. There are nicer, smaller places in Java. There's a place that starts with B and ends with andung, but I won't say what it is, as I'm starting to sound like a broken record.
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zpivat



Joined: 15 Jul 2004
Posts: 9
Location: Toronto/Budapest

PostPosted: Fri Jul 30, 2004 3:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Say Bandung Winmar! Don't be shy! Very Happy

Ghost, I wonder why you address yourself by "Ghost"? That's really a unique way of writing....he he Cool
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ghost



Joined: 30 Jan 2003
Posts: 1693
Location: Saudi Arabia

PostPosted: Fri Jul 30, 2004 4:00 pm    Post subject: Bandung - cool place? Reply with quote

Thanks for the tip on Bandung, which one just checked out through `google.``

The climate at 700 metres above sea level would be nice, and it seems to be a very dynamic place with all the factories and technolog institutes. Also some beautiful parks and buildings in the area.

One can imagine that because of the climate, etc...Bandung would be a favourite spot for E.F.L. teachers, and the competition for jobs consequently harder?

Are there any other `highland towns` to be recommended for living and teaching in Indonesia?

Thanks for the info.
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AsiaTraveller



Joined: 24 May 2004
Posts: 908
Location: Singapore, Mumbai, Penang, Denpasar, Berkeley

PostPosted: Thu Aug 05, 2004 4:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bogor is a true highland town, located near Bandung.

Malang is another rather large city that is in the east of Java, not too far from the hellhole of Surabaya. Malang's climate is a bit more temperate than the true lowlands, and it's close to many mountain sites and lots of volcanoes. Malang is known for its excellent teacher-training college (IKIP), which has a fine English program.
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TEAM_PAPUA



Joined: 24 May 2004
Posts: 1679
Location: HOLE

PostPosted: Thu Aug 05, 2004 7:59 pm    Post subject: * Reply with quote

Hey Buddy I can offer you comments on bikes & 'bahasa'.

I don't feel that a knowledge of 'bahasa' (so rightly translated as language) is truly necessary as once you land you'll soon pick it up. Sadly, I was there for 2 years & only learned what I considered necessary ie: asking, ordering, going, buying, repairing (bikes) returning, shopping etc (inc very bad chat up lines and money negotiations with dubious girls Embarassed ) I only learned some basic conversation stuff, namely as my GF & friends all spoke English. Nevertheless, as posted above, the indonesians love it if you can sit down in a Warung & speak some Indo (regardless of how badly you do this - this is also the best place to learn it). It's not rocket science at basic level & the indonesians are very good at reading between what you are trying to say (unlike here in china where everything has to be exact). Learning Indo 'classroom' for me was awful, yet thrown in at the deep end, it's easy as anything & fun! Although I did 2 years there I reckon if you put the time in to mix with the locals you'll have it in 6 months. I am looking forward to returning soon, and this time I'll immerse myself in it!

Bikes: I had a Honda Tiger 200cc (the standard 'rich man's bike) I took it through east Jave, Bali & Lombok and back again - no problems) I also bought a Honda CBR 400 RR - but sold it once I understood that i couldn't stay alive if I continued to take it to Sangri-La hotel every night, drink 10 Bintangs, nip down to the 'red light' and get home safely!! Shocked

When I go back I'm taking my MTB & buying a Tiger again - can't wait!

It's safe, but does take some getting used to!

Enjoy Indonesia my friend as it's like nothing you could ever imagine!


T_P Cool
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ghost



Joined: 30 Jan 2003
Posts: 1693
Location: Saudi Arabia

PostPosted: Fri Aug 06, 2004 3:03 pm    Post subject: Pedal bike, not motorbike! Reply with quote

Sorry guy - not interested in motorbikes, but pedal bike. Interested to know whether it is safe to get around on a conventional 21 speed mountain bike throughout Indonesea, and whether this mode of transport (the normal pedal bike) is used in Indonesia?

Thanks for the tips anyway. Your comments about Chinese being much less forgiving to foreigners who try to speak Chinese in comparison with foreigners trying to speak Indonesian rings true.

When would be a good month to start in Indonesia? January or February ok?

Thanks again.
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