Indonesian Defense Attache Colonel Sunaryo, in a statement received by ANTARA here on Tuesday, stated that the program to teach Indonesian language was an annual agenda that has been implemented on an ongoing basis for the Cambodian army members in the form of training, courses, and education programs in Indonesia.
The Indonesian language teaching program, which is part of the Defense Cooperation or the Army to Army Talks to be held for four months, began on October 2, 2017.
During the 2015-2017 period, the Cambodian Army has sent 51 participants to attend courses, training, and education programs with the Indonesian Army.
The Indonesian language classes are held every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for nine hours a week, with lecturers from the Center for Linguistic Diplomacy Development and Strategy, the Ministry of Education and Culture.
Earlier, the same program was held from September 29 to December 5, 2014, and 20 Cambodian soldiers, sent to Indonesia to learn special military skills, attended it.
Some 20 students of the Footprints International School had visited the Indonesian Embassy in Phnom Penh to gain a better understanding of traditional Indonesian musical instruments, such as angklung, West Javas instrument made of a varying number of bamboo tubes attached to a bamboo frame; gendang, a percussion instrument made of different animal parts but mostly the skin of animals, such as goat and buffalo; sasando, a harp-like traditional musical string instrument native to Rote Island of East Nusa Tenggara; sape, a traditional flute from Kalimantan; kolintang, a row of small, horizontally laid gongs that function melodically, accompanied by larger, suspended gongs and drums from North Sulawesi; and gamelan, the traditional ensemble music of Java and Bali.
"I am sure that these students will learn a lot about Indonesias cultures," Recy Heyres, a music teacher at the junior high school level, noted.
For Cambodians keen on learning Bahasa Indonesia, the Indonesian Cultural Center in Cambodia, managed by the Indonesian Embassy, provides free Indonesian language classes from Monday to Thursday.
Since its establishment in 2007, the center has taught over 800 people, and currently, 80 students have enrolled. They learn Bahasa Indonesia and practice traditional Indonesian music and dance forms.
Learning Indonesian language skills will open opportunities, such as obtaining a scholarship to continue studies in Indonesia and to conduct business in the country.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2017
