Awareness raising

This introductory activity is written for two classes working collaboratively, but could be adapted easily for a single class. 'Buddy classes' could be students of about the same age studying Indonesian in two different schools. The advantage of working with a buddy class is that it provides reasons and opportunities for communicating in Indonesian.

There are two sections:

Finding out about shopping for food in our local community in Australia:

Present one of the following scenarios to students:

A: You are in charge of preparing the meals for the next week. Research what you need to have in stock and what you need to buy, and decide where you will buy those things.

B: You have been asked to find out about shopping for food in our local community and that of our buddy class, to compare that with shopping for food in Indonesia. What would we need to know?

Students may suggest that they survey people to find out the places they shop, how often they shop, the types of foods most commonly bought, etc. Display these as questions. You may need to explain survey 'etiquette' if students want to ask questions that are too personal or invasive eg about amounts of money spent.

Explain that students from the two schools are going to survey each other over the phone or internet to find the answers to those questions, or compare their planned menus for the week.

Have students work in groups. Have each group think about one of the focus questions. They should:

• list the options in English and then use dictionaries or word lists to add the Indonesian.  For example, one group may brainstorm the different places that people buy things eg market, supermarket, small shop, shopping mall, online, through the paper. Then work out the Indonesian names for these places.
• think about how they might set out the survey questions about this and decide on the wording for their questions. This could include 'yes / no' questionnaires, or it may be a series of questions such as 'Where does your family buy vegetables?' with the list of possible places to choose from. Students may attempt to write their questions in Indonesian, however you will need to support students with translating their questions into as simple Indonesian as possible.

The finished survey should include vocabulary of places where foods are sold, names of basic food types, frequency of shopping. It may be only a few questions. See this sample survey (Word or PDF). Share your finished survey with the teacher from the buddy school. Combine your ideas to form one survey.

Ask students to conduct this survey at home, so that they are able to find out about their own family shopping patterns. In class, sit students in two concentric circles, facing each other. One circle of students will ask the questions while the others will answer.  Have students greet the person sitting opposite them in Indonesian, and ask if they can ask a question (May I ask you some questions? Boleh saya bertanya?) Then ask the survey questions and record the answers on their survey sheet. Rotate one circle to the right so that new pairs of students are formed and repeat the process. Swap roles at some stage so that all students have practice at both asking and answering.

Collate the class results. Can you make any generalisations about shopping for food in your area? Display these in English and Indonesian.

By telephone or email, have students survey the buddy class. As before, share the roles of asking and answering.

Collate the buddy school responses. Can you draw any conclusions? Are their similarities or differences between the two areas?

If there is a local food market, organise a visit for students to experience an Australian market.

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Finding out about shopping for food in Indonesia:

Explain to students that they are going to find out about shopping in Indonesia. Have them view pictures and a video such as Mau Beli Apa? from Mari Menonton or others as listed in the  Resources section. While students view the video, have them take notes on similarities and differences with shopping in their local area, and any points of interest. (You may like to have students use a graphic organiser such as a Venn diagram to organise their ideas).

Collate their ideas and discuss. Points to draw out are:

In Indonesia, there are many people who don't go to the market to  buy their groceries because sellers come door to door with fresh produce for sale. These sellers might push a cart (kereta dorong - kereta means 'cart' and dorong means 'push'), or they might ride a motor cycle with lots of baskets of produce tied in place. In some places where the houses are a little further apart, the vegetable seller (tukang sayur)  may stop in one place at the same time each day, and local people come and buy there. Regular customers can even order particular foods from the tukang sayur.

Most homes will have a refrigerator these days, but Indonesian people enjoy being spontaneous about what they will cook and eat and like to shop every day instead of planning their week's meals in advance.

In the markets, middle-aged women from nearby villages sell produce that they have grown themselves. They often sit near each other selling very similar things, and buyers can pick and choose, then bargain for the best price.

Goods are often displayed in large baskets, and buyers handle the goods to choose for themselves. The seller will put it in a clear plastic bag, or the buyer will bring their own basket.

Supermarkets are very similar to Australian supermarkets, with fixed prices.

Extend this discussion by asking students to consider:

        Why do many Indonesian people shop every day?
        Where / when does bargaining occur in Australia?
        What advantages are there to bargaining (tawar-menawar)?
        What advantages are there to fixed price (harga pas)?
       
       
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