Program Description

  • Classroom Activities
    A typical day would consist of classes on language skilles (reading, writing, speaking, and listening), discussion of readings from the textbook or stories that are chosen by the program, and a grammar lesson or discussion led by students on the articles from newspapers or magazines. The size of the classes is kept small (typically 3-5 students each) to allow for better interaction and greater effectiveness of learning. The typical workload (for language classes) is 4.0-5.0 hours a day beginning at 8:00 am, 4 days a week. On Monday, participants do a local field study by visiting places such as government/provate offices and agencies, museums, and schools.
  • Off-Campus Activities
    • Orientation: Upon arrival in Salatiga, participants receive orientation to the program, the University, and the community. They also take a pre-program proficiency test and obtain housing.
    • Weekly visits: In addition to language classes and related experiential activities, half-day field trips are scheduled periodically. In past programs participants visited places such as the office of an environmental non-governmental organization, a textile factory, a local radio station, a traditional market, and a high school (shown in picture). Participants conduct interviews with people working at these locations. Participants may also suggest places they would like to visit, and the staff will try to accommodate these interests whenever at least three persons would like to visit a given site. 
  • Individual projects: Participants conduct a project of their choice often but not necessarily related to their field of study. Working with each participant is a mentor from the UKSW permanent staff with whom the participant meets weekly to discuss the project and its implementation. One week towards the middle of program is designated as a field-work week, during which the participants concentrate all their energies on their project. All participants write up their project in Indonesian. Both the participants' individual language mentors as well as their project mentors help them revise their papers. During the last two weeks of the program, the participants present their projects to an audience consisting of the other participants, the teaching staff, and other interested persons from UKSW.
  • Homestay: Students must live with local families while in the program. Living with an Indonesian family provides students with a unique opportunity to practice and improve their communication skills, as well as to experience the Indonesian way of life. The students will take most of their meals with their host families and typically have an opportunity to attend family events and to join their host families on day trips and various activities. Usually the students will live in a single room in a family residence.

updated May 22, 2009