LEAP
LEAP or the Language Exchange Affiliate Program is the Language Exchange Arm of the ANU Indonesian Studies Association. It’s a program that facilitates the learning of Indonesian for all non-native speakers.
The below information outlines all important background information about LEAP. If you require any further information, please do not hesitate to get in contact with us through the ‘Contact’ tab above.
Vision:
Every student of Bahasa Indonesia at the Australian National University will have easy access to native Indonesian speakers within Canberra so that they may “continue the conversation” outside of classrooms and into the real world.
Mission:
- To engage students of Bahasa Indonesia at the Australian National University with Indonesian students that live within the Canberra community for the purpose of increasing language skills.
- To promote intercultural communication and understanding between Australians and Indonesians through regular conversation groups, a language-learning buddy system and events and seminars.
- To engage students of Bahasa Indonesia at the Australian National University who have an interest in Indonesian business and political affairs with Indonesian professionals from within the Canberra community towards the purpose of networking and future career guidance.
Conversation Group
The Bahasa Indonesia-English Conversation Group will meet on a weekly basis for two hours. Food will be provided.
Participants will be invited to meet in a single, comfortable location within the Canberra CBD or nearby, and the location for each meeting will be agreed upon and advised at the conclusion of the previous meeting. The first meeting will take place on campus at the Australian National University.
Participants will be invited to discuss a range of topics that are of interest to them. This may range from news items to pop-culture articles. The LEAP Group Coordinator will also provide activities for the group to participate in. These will include ice-breaking activities for new members. Non-Indonesian participants will be expected to talk in Bahasa Indonesia as much as possible so as to ensure a rapid increase of skills in this area.
Buddy System
The LEAP Buddy System is the framework upon which LEAP has been developed. This system encourages further interpersonal and cross-cultural relationships to develop between participants. The aim of the buddy system is to extend the speaking of languages outside of the academic learning space, so as to “continue the conversation” outside of the classroom.
At the end of every second general conversation group, group participants will be divided into smaller groups of two persons. Each group should have at least one native Indonesian speaker and at least one native English speaker. Where there are an uneven number of participants, the program coordinator will make other arrangements towards the greatest benefit to the members present (e.g. placing one advanced Australian speaker of Bahasa Indonesia with a beginner Australian speaker of Bahasa Indonesia).
For the ensuing fortnight, the pair will be considered “buddies”. This presents an opportunity for friendship, communication and language assistance where appropriate. By agreeing to be another participant’s “buddy”, the participant agrees that they will make themselves available for at least one hour each week outside of regular LEAP meetings to talk in Bahasa Indonesia. It is expected that a native speaker of Bahasa Indonesia or a native speaker of English will both converse in Bahasa Indonesia and assist the non-native speaker with language learning.
