UNAIR NEWS – As one of best universities in Indonesia, UNAIR is not only a place of learning for local students. Hundreds of international students from various countries also studying in here. In addition, international students also take advantage of this opportunity to learn bahasa Indonesia.
As a form of appreciation, UNAIR Language Center (PUSBA) held a BIPA (Foreign Language Indonesian) festival on Tuesday, April 30. The event were attended by 47 foreign students from various public and private universities from East Java, Central Java and Yogyakarta. These students seemed very enthusiastic participating in poetry reading, singing and storytelling competition.
Furthermore, international students come from twelve different countries. Starting from Asian countries such as Thailand, and, China and also Mexico. Some of them even wore Indonesian traditional clothes and brought various properties.
“The main purpose of this event is cultural exchange medium, international students will learn about Indonesian culture and vice versa.” said head of UNAIR Language Center Dr. Eko Supeno, Drs., M.Si.
The competition held outdoors. Thus, they can be more comfortable and all of UNAIR students can enjoy it.
Eko added, BIPA festival was also held as a comparative study between universities in managing BIPA. Hopefully, the event can be a break through for international student in learning bahasa Indonesia.
“Activities such as reading poetry and storytelling have a fairly high level of difficulty. So with this, we will know their capabilities in learning bahasa Indonesia” explained Eko.
In the future, BIPA festival will be held again. Even Eko hopes that PUSBA UNAIR can hold bigger festivals for wider community. Furthermore, PUSBA UNAIR will continue in facilitating international student to learn bahasa Indonesia.
“We will continue to evaluate and strive so BIPA Festival can be held again on a national scale.” said Eko.
Bahasa Indonesia, Eko continued, is actually a simple and easy to learn language. He also encouraged foreign students to learn more about the culture and languange.
“We hope that the number of international students who can speak Indonesian will increase.” he concluded. (*)
Author: Sukma Cindra Pratiwi
Editor: Binti Q Masruroah
