West Java Speaks Up for Its Language

Bandung, West Java - Officials on Saturday renewed a push to preserve the Sundanese language, which is spoken widely in West Java Province, as Unesco observed International Mother Language Day in the provincial capital of Bandung.

The event was held a day after the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, or Unesco, warned that at least 169 of Indonesia`s 742 languages had less than 500 speakers and were therefore listed as being under threat.

Teddi Muhtadin, a Sundanese language expert from Padjajaran University, said the use of local languages, or mother tongues, in everyday life was important because there was valuable cultural information in the language.

“[The celebration] has become very significant for Indonesia because we have plenty of local languages,” he said on Sunday.

Teddi said the celebration would also acknowledge current preservation efforts on the national level as well as the provincial level.

“We need to preserve it because it represents the local wisdom of the Sundanese people. For example, how do they deal with nature and their experiences in accepting outsiders,” he said.

“We have to consider our mother tongue to be just like our forests — something that we need to preserve.”

Efforts to save the Sundanese language were much more progressive compared to those of other languages in Indonesia because the preservation programs were supported by the local government, Teddi said.

In 2003, the provincial government issued a regulation that required the use and teaching of the Sundanese language in West Java Province.

“There are lessons to learn the Sundanese language in schools, and those courses are now considered to be as important as Indonesian and English,” he said.

Multamia Retno Lauder, a linguistic expert from the University of Indonesia, said ideally, Indonesians should be able to master at least three languages: their local language, Indonesian and English.

“We will need to master the local language because it is our identity, the Indonesian language which would be necessary if we want to step foot on the national stage, and English because we want to be part of the world,” she said.

Teddi said that Sundanese was being taught to younger people in ways that better engaged them. Previously, he said, Sundanese language teachers would be unforgiving about its complex structure and grammar.

On Java Island alone, there are four main local languages, including Betawi, Javanese, Madurese and Sundanese, each of which has their own dialect.

Source: TheJakartaGlobe.com
Photo Credit: justrhe.blogsome.com

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