To strengthen the relationship between Indonesian Language Learners for Foreign Speakers (BIPA) and the Indonesian diaspora in Germany, the Indonesian Student Association in Germany (the PPI Jerman) has organized the Tandem ID x DE program. This program started on 28 May 2022 to 29 July 2022, for two and a half months. The participants meet online once every 2 weeks via Zoom meeting to help each other in Indonesian and German, through games and discussions that have been prepared by the committee. The total number of the meetings is 6 times.
The first meeting, on Saturday, May 28, 2022, began with the opening of the program by the chairman of the PPI Jerman, Reza Khasbullah, the Cultural Education Attache of the Indonesian Embassy in Berlin, Prof. Dr. Ardi Marwan, and the Head of the Center for Language Strengthening and Empowerment of the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture, Iwa Lukmana. After the opening of the first meeting, the participants were asked to introduce themselves and answer some of the questions that have been provided. This is so that the participants can get to know each other and can find a suitable tandem partner.At the second meeting on Friday, June 03, 2022, the participants collaborated with each other in describing a person’s physical characteristics in Indonesian and German. At the end of the second meeting, the participants were asked to meet each other in Zoom divided rooms and describe the physical characteristics of their tandem partner.
On Friday, June 17, 2022, the joy of learning got higher in the third round, that is when the participants discussed interesting tourist attractions in Germany and Indonesia. At the end of this meeting, the participants were asked to prepare their travel plans together.
At the fourth meeting, on Friday, July 01, 2022, the participants played interactive games on the theme of numbers. At this meeting, the participants helped each other in saying the numbers which were quite difficult and complex in Indonesian and German. The participants were very enthusiastic because the material on complex numbers is quite difficult.
On Friday, July 15, 2022, all participants were asked to discuss with each other about cooking ingredients in Indonesian and German for their fifth meeting theme. They were introduced to vegetables and fruits in German and Indonesian. At this meeting, the participants were prepared to get to know the ingredients for making Gado-Gado, a typical Indonesian food. In addition, at the end of the meeting, the participants tried to pretend-play, as the roles of the buyers and sellers of the vegetables.
Tandem ID x DE 2022 officially ended on the sixth meeting, on Friday July 29, 2022 . At the last meeting the participants celebrated the completion of the Tandem ID x DE program by cooking together. The participants made a virtual Gado-Gado, this cooking was guided by Boy Tri Rizky. Boy is our moderator from the Department of Arts and Culture of PPI Germany, he is also the person in charge of the Tandem ID x DE program. At the end, the participants succeeded in making Gado-Gado with ingredients that are available in Germany.
At the last meeting, the Chairman of the PPI Jerman, Reza Khasbullah, and the Education and Culture Attaché of the Indonesian Embassy in Berlin, Prof. Ardi Marwan congratulated the team and participants. Reza thanked the Indonesian Embassy in Berlin and RBI for the support given to this program and to the participants of Tandem ID x DE 2022 for their participation. Prof. Ardi also expressed his appreciation for the participants and the team from the Department of Arts and Culture of the PPI Jerman who initiated and ran this program.
The BIPA participants on this program were dominated by students studying Indonesian at the university level, while the Indonesian diaspora participating in this event was dominated by students and au pairs. Maren, one of the BIPA students in Germany, is very happy to be able to participate in this activity. She said “Thank you very much, through this activity I can learn many new things”. Maren is a student at the Hochschule of Bremen. On the other side, one of the Indonesian diaspora in Bayern, Andini, is also very grateful to be able to participate in this activity. “Through this activity I can have new friends to practice my German language skills,” said Andini.
This activity was closed with a group photo and the announcement of the best Tandem participants. For the 1st best Tandem pair, Filiz and Khadijah won, then the 2nd best Tandem pair was won by Luca and Andini. The best Tandem participants get prizes in the form of vouchers that they can spend.
This activity was made possible thanks to the collaboration of the Department of Arts and Culture of the PPI Jerman, the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Berlin, and the Indonesian Cultural House (RBI) in Berlin. We are looking forward to this activity being continued in the future.