Jakarta-born Karina Utomo is forging musical links between Australia and Indonesia with a heady mix of heavy metal punk as her soundtrack - and she's winning fans in both countries.

An interesting short story about Sharia police in Banda Aceh enforcing regulations that young people say is excessive.

Nicole Wells at Port Macquarie High School is looking for ideas for a unit of work on teenage life in Indonesia, in particular, the language of texting and places to go out.

If you have any ideas, resources, websites etc that you would recommend, please share them by using the 'Add Comment' function below.

It has been a busy and exciting few weeks for Indonesian students at Vincentia High School. Year 10 students, Sarah Kenny and Tiffany Reilly, placed 1st and 3rd respectively in the NSW Indonesian Writing Competition, Kompetisi Siswa. Year 11 student, Jay Edwards was awarded the prestigious title of Australian Indonesian Student of the Year and travelled to Deakin University in Melbourne to attend the Presentation Ceremony.

Last week the school received a visit from the Australia-Indonesia Youth Exchange Program (AIYEP) group, accompanied by ABC International, which has become known as one of the best days ever at VHS. All students studying Indonesian in Years 8, 9, 10 and 11 attended a cultural performance by the group, which was both fun and interesting. We then hosted a lunch for all participants with an Indonesian feast. A huge thanks to the Year 10 Hospitality students who helped with the lunch. The theme of the day as Menemukan Teman-Teman Baru and this was well received by all, as many new friendships were made and Facebook details exchanged. This is the first time that Indonesian students have visited Vincentia High School and after the success of the visit, will certainlly not be the last.

Kerri Edwards
Vincentia High School

News reports about the Australia-Indonesia relationship in the wake of phone tapping and spying allegations have reached fever pitch in the media. Are your students disucssing this in your classrooms?

It is interesting to see how the news is being reported in each country. Below is just a small selection of recent news items from both the Indonesian and Australian media. Follow the topic on Facebook, Twitter and other social media for instant updates.


PM Abbott Tolak Minta Maaf atas Isu Penyadapan

Australia-Indonesia spy standoff more than just ‘gestural’ politics

Phone tapping: Indonesian media react with fury

Dr Ross Tapsell on the relationship between Australia and Indonesia after the recall of the Australian ambassador

Media Australia Bikin Karikatur Penyadapan Telepon Presiden SBY

Indonesia Tells Australia It Needs to Act to Save Relationship

Indonesia recalls ambassador to Australia over spy claims - as it happened

Last week Channel 10's The Project reported on Asian language learning in Australian schools and showcased the Chinese Bilingual program at Richmond West PS in Victoria. Some interesting viewpoints on why our students should be learning Asian languages. Click below to see the full report.

As we countdown to the end of the school year, have you started planning your professional learning activities for 2014? Would you like some of that PL to take place in Indonesia with other teachers of Indonesian from across Australia and Indonesia? Then this conference is for you.

The next National Conference for teachers of Indonesian will be hosted by the IALF Bali, 29-30 September 2014. This is the tenth national conference for Australian teachers of Indonesian organised through the Australian Society for Indonesian Language Educators (ASILE) following on from conferences in Salatiga in 2012, Canberra in 2010, Sydney 2009 and the Sunshine Coast in 2007. 

The conference will provide a fantastic opportunity to immerse yourself in Indonesian language and culture, share some of the innovative and engaging strategies being used in Indonesian language classrooms, strengthen your professional networks, deepen your knowledge of contemporary Indonesia and contribute to the growth of the Indonesian teaching profession in Australia and Indonesia! And you could always add a tropical school holiday break to your itinerary.

Do you have something that you would like to share with your Indonesian teaching colleagues?

A Call for Papers has been announced at www.ialf.edu/asileconference.html#CallforPapers 

Registration is also open at www.ialf.edu/asileconference.html#Registration

For more information and updates go to www.ialf.edu/asileconference.html 
Don’t forget to bookmark!

Bapak Ibu yth.,

Open High School akan mengadakan Lokakarya new Extension Course untuk Film LP yang akan diadakan:

Tanggal: Selasa 26 November 2013
Jam: 12 - 4:00 sore
Di: Open High School, 78 Avoca St Randwick

Program :
12:00 - 1:00 makan siang (disediakan)
1:00 - 200  diskusi tentang isu-isu
2:00 - 3:00 berbagi sumber-sumber pelajaran
3:00 - 4:00 berbagi teknik mengajar film (film teknik, membuat soal-soal latihan dan ujian) dan tanya jawab.

Kalau bapak ibu ingin hadir dan berpartisipasi tetapi belum memberitahu kami, silakan email Ida (untuk catering). 

Kami tunggu selambat-lambatnya tanggal 22 November 2013.

Sampai jumpa pada hari Selasa, 26 November.

Ida Harsojo dan Ilian Yang
Open High School
Ph. Ida (02) 9381 4812/ 0413 382 883 ida.harsojo@det.nsw.edu.au 
Ph. Ilian (02) 9381 4932 ilian.yang@det.nsw.edu.au

Click on the links below for news items about AIA CommBank scholarship recipient, Maire Playford from Macarthur Anglican College and Indonesian Student of the Year awardee, Jay Edwards from Vincentia High School. Congratulations once again to these students for their excellent achievements.

Keep posted for news about the winners of the AIA Lottie Maramis Scholarship and the MLTA NALSSP Indonesian scholarships, which will be announced shortly.

Why not share this information with your students and encourage them to apply next year?

Greetings

I teach Year 9 Indonesian at a small country school in Victoria, and I would like to develop an online collaborative project with another Year 9 Indonesian
class.

I would love to develop a two week project focusing on "Our place in the World" and hopefully resulting in a skype session and other forms of online collaboration.

If this is something you are interested in, please contact me via email at mheintze@wmyc.vic.edu.au

I look forward to working with you.

Michelle Heintze