Indonesian Overseas Program (IOP)

There's no better program for students to learn Indonesian than through the Indonesian Overseas Program at Universitas Negeri Malang. The teachers at the BIPA (Indonesian language program) program at UM are incredibly dedicated and excellent teachers, and made class not only incredibly productive, but also engaging and fun. I came to class every day excited to learn from them, and they were able to challenge me just enough to grow fast without making me feel overwhelmed, despite conducting all instruction in Indonesian from the first day (even though I spoke no Bahasa Indonesia before I started the program). Despite the many disruptions over the course of the semester because of COVID-19 and a few health issues I faced, my teachers worked with me to make my semester enriching, even when it transitioned online. Additionally, my language partner was one of the main reasons that my language skills developed so quickly -- she was *so* patient, especially the first few months when I couldn't talk about a lot of topics, and helped me feel more confident in my speaking abilities and feel at home in Indonesia. Malang is an amazing city and is the perfect balance between a bustling college-town, while way less hectic than Jakarta. The city is also less-hot than other cities in Indonesia and has incredible hiking opportunities. If you're interested in obtaining a high proficiency of Indonesian quickly, this is the best program to do that.