Kris Season 4, episode 7, Fiel here, Indonesia, and Indonesian.
Hey everyone, it's another episode of the Actual Fluency Podcast. This time episode 7 of the fourth season. And today we're exploring the very trendy topic of Indonesia. And at the current Polyglot Gathering, it was a very trendy language. A lot of people are learning it. And also because the Polyglot Gathering Berlin is located right next to the Indonesian Embassy where they also had an Indonesian food festival this year. So a lot of people were very excited.
And I thought, you know, let's hear a little bit more about it because as as I am the poster boy for European ignorance, I thought it would be a good idea if I got someone with a bit of knowledge on Indonesian to come on and just explain what the whole culture is about, the language, why people are so interested in it all of a sudden, and reasons for visiting the country.
And to do that, I've got Fiel on, and he's an interesting person because he actually was born in Indonesia but grew up in America. So he's got this dual perspective on things so he can really explain it so us stupid Westerners like myself understand everything. So, really grateful he came on, and if you want more from Fiel, you can visit his new blog that he just started, and it's called Between Three Worlds, which is kind of a title leading to the effect that he's, you know, of different cultures. And you can find that on BetweenThreeWorlds.com, and it's the numeral three. So check that out and enjoy this episode on Indonesia and Indonesian.
All right, we're back with another episode of the Actual Fluency Podcast. And on the show today, I've got somebody who I met at the Polyglot Gathering in Berlin. In fact, we had lunch together at the Indonesian restaurant. So that it's a little clue for what the topic's going to be about today. But Fiel, thank you for coming on the show. And why don't you give the listeners a little brief introduction to yourself, how you got into language learning, and where you where you come from in the world?
Fiel Awesome. So, it starts with my dad, a boring car ride, and a horrible Spanish teacher. And so, I come from New York City, but I was born in Portland, Oregon, and one time we were coming home from this family vacation, and I was just really, really bored because I didn't understand what was going on. The adults were laughing the whole way there. And me and my sister were just really kind of like, "Well, what do we do?" No iPads back then, right? So, we just kind of had to sit there and endure it. My dad translated a few things. And but each time he translated a joke, there were two, three other ones.
But my dad, ever since I was younger, he would always have maps in my room and he would sit with me and draw the flags of these countries with me. And he was a he's a polyglot himself, of some sorts. He speaks a few Indonesian languages and dialects. And that just always inspired me to see how he communicated with people. And being in the States, back then, there weren't that many Asians, especially in Portland, Oregon. And so every time we saw an Asian person, my dad would just go up to them and just the extrovertedness is just so amazing and rare. I can't do that myself. But it's an inspiration.
And so from there, I knew I wanted to learn Spanish, and I had that in elementary school. But I moved to New York, and then in the eighth grade, I had this lady who, unfortunately, was a horrible, horrible Spanish teacher, and I just did not understand what a conjugation was. I I did pretty bad in the class, and I barely passed. But it's because of her that, in a weird way, I am who I am today.
So, going to high school, I I was done with Spanish. And I said I will take Japanese, but the school didn't allow me to because I wasn't in the special languages program. So instead, I went to French. And I had this awesome lady from Ivory Coast who was a passionate teacher, and she kind of instilled in me, and you know, when you get in your first year of high school, I don't know how it is for you guys in Denmark. But when you go in your first year, you're really excited. And you just go all out and try to do everything that the teacher tells you to. And so that's what I did. I brought Paris to my bedroom.
And you know, as an American, Europe is this sort of distant place that only rich people go to for some reason, for a lot of people. It's just really interesting. And especially because being a child of immigrants, whenever your family has money, where does it go? It finances your trip to visit your family back home. So, going to Europe was completely out of the question. But that's just the basic start. Do you want me to go on and with other things on that?
Kris Yeah, yeah, please, please continue. It's always interesting to hear people's backstories.
Fiel Sure. And so, one year I decided, "Hey, I want to I want to go travel the world." But I'll have to do it on scholarship. So I found this this travel organization called Putney Student Travel, and it's a it's a travel organization for young students in middle school and high school that you can still check out today. And they had this trip to France that I was interested in. So I applied for the scholarship. I got this call, and the lady said, "Wow, congratulations. We have a scholarship for you. But unfortunately, we can't send you to France for a month of immersion."
And I was kind of disappointed. But she said, "But we can send you to Senegal." And me, in my head, I'm thinking, "Why do I want to go to Africa?" You know? And that that's the normal question for a lot of people that don't know much about, you know, the world sometimes. And my mom said, "Go for it!" of all people. And I talked to my French teacher, and she said, "Don't even think about it. Go. Just go."
And so, I went, and I spent this one month in this village called N'Guisse in the in the southern part of Senegal, north of the Casamance, north of Gambia. And we just did community service for a month, and I met some incredible people there, including Steve Carell's children's babysitter, and a couple of other interesting characters, which is really weird. And we I there it was there that I learned to speak French. I actually speak French, rather, not learn to speak, but. And enjoyed time with the African people there, the Senegalese, speaking Serer and Wolof. Wolof is the lingua franca, but French is what's used in schools. And so that just set me on. And I don't know if I should talk about each and every language and story, but yeah, I think like a lot of polyglots say, you know, it's all about people. And so people inspired me and are the reason why I keep learning now.
Kris That's really great. And I mean, are there any of the languages that you did the same full immersion with? Or did you have to do those sort of from the bedroom in in in in America?
Fiel Uh, with Spanish, luckily, I had this friend that I was actually speaking French with 'cause he went to the what's it called? The Alliance Française in his town. And then eventually, I was just like, "You know, I really like flamenco music from the south of Spain. And I hang out with this guy all the time. Why don't I just just do it?" So I picked up Spanish. And, you know, within a week I was able to have basic conversation and talk about a lot of things. And in the States, as you know, there's lots of Latinos and and Hispanics. And so practicing Spanish was never really a problem. And uh, yeah, what was the question again? Sorry.
Kris It was uh, whether for the the other languages that you picked up, whether you use that same month-long immersion because that that seems like an ideal situation for language learners, but not of course, not always practical. So I was just curious if you tried to replicate that success to your other languages.
Fiel Right. I think I think really it's if there's a will, there's a way type thing. So, since I was really interested in French, I made that happen. And same with Spanish, not so much for German. But I that's what I did in order to get there since I didn't know any German speakers, which are which tend to be pretty rare in the States. So I did as much as I could. Yeah.
Kris Right. And of course, New York being a multilingual hot pot, as they say, how do you find or do you have any sort of examples of of you using your location to your advantage when you learn languages? Do you try and go out to find the, I don't know, the Spanish market or the how does it work?
Fiel Yeah, so, unfortunately, I learned Spanish after I left New York. So I did my bachelor's in Boston. And so whenever I was meeting Spanish people on the street, Spanish speakers on the street, for some reason, in New York, we no matter where in the Hispanic-speaking world you're from, we just call you Spanish. Right. But but usually they're never from Spain. That's the funny thing. So anyways, so if I ever met Spanish speakers on the street, you know, I'd kind of surprise them or whatever. And so when I got back to New York, I just kind of helped Spanish for people from Spain, tourists on the street if they needed help. And I did that with French as well.
With Indonesian, my family, so, my dad's a pastor and he has this church in New York, and it's an Indonesian church. And so I got to practice with the adults. And just meeting other people in general, if I met people on the street. I'm always interested in where people are from. And so I just use every opportunity, even if I didn't speak their language.
Kris That's cool. And did did you learn Indonesian when you were a child or did you have to do that later?
Fiel Oh, yeah, so, going back to the whole car ride story. I think that was about maybe nine or so, and that was 2011. And I because of that car ride, I told myself, "You know what, I'm done with boring car rides. I want to laugh. I want to enjoy the moment." And so, I decided and resolved to learn Indonesian. And when I went back in 2013 to visit family, I think that's when it really started, and I got to immerse myself in the culture and family.
Kris Right. So not as a child, as as many people try to have that legacy or heritage language. Sometimes they they have to go back and and and do it later, but I I suspect you've gained a lot of value from that, not just understanding jokes.
Fiel Yeah, yeah, it's it's pretty interesting 'cause uh, this is another part of the story, is we moved back to Indonesia because my dad was terminally ill with something when I was five in 1997. And when I went back, I only spoke English, and I refused to speak Indonesian. And something clicked within me, and I refused to speak Indonesian at all. And so,
