Surya Dharma
New Member
Hi Balibule,
Thank you for your message, and I'm glad I got your reply by email so I could respond right away while I was still online. No, I am not an employee or get commissions, I don't think they would do that (maybe I should ask, he he). I'm an expat living in Ubud, for the past several years, and I guess I just got fed up with so many, pardon the derogatory expression, bules, can't speak Indonesian here.
I have some friends who have been here 30 years and still can't hold a 5 minute conversation with an Indonesian. And I don't mean ordering their staff to clean the toilet better or iron the clothes, I mean a real human-to-human conversation. All my expat friends who live in Java speak Indonesian, why not my expat friends in Bali?
So to go to a bar or somewhere and listen to someone spout off about how much they know about Bali because they've lived here so long blah blah, and then turn and insult the Balinese or Indonesian for their cultural ways which are different from ours, because they can't understand it because they can't speak Indonesian, this really **** me off.
It's not right, nor fun, for me to go around berating bules who can't speak Indonesian. My approach is to join forums like this and encourage expats to learn Indonesian. It's important, learn it properly with a good school, and don't let a lousy teacher turn you off from learning. I have a bunch of friends who learned privately or at the other place in Ubud who tell me they've given up because their teacher, well to put it kindly, wasn't good. So they've given up learning and stick with their 50-100 word vocabulary.
Cinta Bahasa is a formal school, with classrooms, and certifications. They get training from the ministry of Education and they train their teachers. They're serious about teaching foreigners to speak Indonesian in as short a time as possible. They aren't fooling around with anyone's time or money. A lot of people are looking for the cheapest way to learn a new language, but I know that learning Indonesian properly is worth the investment. It was painful for me, I had to study hard, but it was worth it.
I'm from Ubud so I know Cinta Bahasa. If there are any other good schools, why aren't their students saying something? And if they're good, can these people speak Indonesian, or did they just happen to find the teacher pleasant enough to spend hours and hours with them?
Thank you for your message, and I'm glad I got your reply by email so I could respond right away while I was still online. No, I am not an employee or get commissions, I don't think they would do that (maybe I should ask, he he). I'm an expat living in Ubud, for the past several years, and I guess I just got fed up with so many, pardon the derogatory expression, bules, can't speak Indonesian here.
I have some friends who have been here 30 years and still can't hold a 5 minute conversation with an Indonesian. And I don't mean ordering their staff to clean the toilet better or iron the clothes, I mean a real human-to-human conversation. All my expat friends who live in Java speak Indonesian, why not my expat friends in Bali?
So to go to a bar or somewhere and listen to someone spout off about how much they know about Bali because they've lived here so long blah blah, and then turn and insult the Balinese or Indonesian for their cultural ways which are different from ours, because they can't understand it because they can't speak Indonesian, this really **** me off.
It's not right, nor fun, for me to go around berating bules who can't speak Indonesian. My approach is to join forums like this and encourage expats to learn Indonesian. It's important, learn it properly with a good school, and don't let a lousy teacher turn you off from learning. I have a bunch of friends who learned privately or at the other place in Ubud who tell me they've given up because their teacher, well to put it kindly, wasn't good. So they've given up learning and stick with their 50-100 word vocabulary.
Cinta Bahasa is a formal school, with classrooms, and certifications. They get training from the ministry of Education and they train their teachers. They're serious about teaching foreigners to speak Indonesian in as short a time as possible. They aren't fooling around with anyone's time or money. A lot of people are looking for the cheapest way to learn a new language, but I know that learning Indonesian properly is worth the investment. It was painful for me, I had to study hard, but it was worth it.
I'm from Ubud so I know Cinta Bahasa. If there are any other good schools, why aren't their students saying something? And if they're good, can these people speak Indonesian, or did they just happen to find the teacher pleasant enough to spend hours and hours with them?