We all remember that moment very vividly, once we told ourselves: “This is it! I am gonna learn Indonesian.” And off we go researching online about Indonesian language schools / tutors in our area. To ensure your motivation, time and energy will not go in vain, here is a few things to consider and think about before choosing a Bahasa Indonesia language school or program or tutor.
If you haven’t even started in your Indonesian language learning journey, Claire’s experience is something to think about. If you have taken an Indonesian language course before, we sure hope you aren’t able to relate to Claire’s experience, because that would mean you have spent X number of hours being taught Indonesian the wrong way.
Frankly speaking many Indonesian language schools and teachers are still doing this – focusing on grammar and the vocabulary, and spare insufficient time to focus on the students’ conversational skills.
At Think Bahasa, our focus has always been to get our students able to THINK in Indonesian and SPEAK Indonesian. Our approach is to do 30% theory and 70% conversation practice. We are committed to get our students to achieve the language fluency they desire, and for this particular reason, we do not host a public group course – unlike the rest of Indonesian language schools you may know.
A public group course typically will have people with a very diverse set of background, ability, and language goal objectives, and with these differences, it will be nearly impossible to get everybody in the group to succeed. We all know there is no one approach that can suit all.
Think Bahasa is the leader of transformative Indonesian language education, and we are committed to remain that way with our distinctive approach.
The lack of speaking ability does not point to a lack of intelligence, but to a misunderstanding of the proper “thinking” habits necessary for success. Unfortunately many Indonesian language learners may have realized that they’ve been using the wrong approach to learn Indonesian once they hit their 1st year and even 2nd year, and not sooner.
As a language learner, measuring your progress learning Indonesian to stay on track with your language goals is important. All Indonesian language learners need to have a good set of strategy to suit their preferred learning style. At Think Bahasa, we have a variety of learning resources catered for visual, auditory, and tactile learners, accessible to our students anywhere and anytime they need them.
With a one weekly course commitment, being conversationally fluent in 4 months is in fact an attainable goal.
So remember: you must “think in Indonesian” in order to learn Indonesian. Before you enroll yourself in a course, you deserve to know:
- How can your Indonesian language instructor or school teach you to think in Indonesian? What are their approaches?
- What resources and access do they have that will be made available to you once you decided to enroll in their course?
- What do the students typically get out of the X weeks program? What’s their fluency level is like?
Speak to a former student who has taken the course you’ve been eyeing for. If they have taken the course for 4 months and yet are not showing their Indonesian language skills, you may want to consider a different language school or instructor.
When you’re deciding which program to choose, make sure you’re not gonna be taught using the wrong approach and even worse, by an unqualified / novice instructor. Do your homework a ka do your research well is the first smart step you can take. Do a trial test if you can.
‘Undoing’ the wrong approach you’ve grown accustomed to will be a painful process. Save yourself an invaluable time right from the start.
