To promote the Indonesian language and culture in Finland and Estonia, on March 28, 2022, the Ambassador of Indonesia to Finland, Ratu Silvy Gayatri, officially opened an online course in Indonesian for foreign speakers (BIPA). The course has a total of 41 foreign students from Finland and Estonia.

The Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is reporting this official publication that, according to Ambassador Ratu Silvy Gayatri, while students may have different reasons to join a language course, interact better with an Indonesian family and friends, work, for academic purposes, or simply for personal gain, they can speak a language spoken by more than 260 million people worldwide.

The ambassador added that in addition to learning the language and culture, students become friends with Indonesia and promote people-to-people contacts.

Despite the four-hour time difference, Iwa Lukmana, Director of the Center for the Strengthening and Validation of Languages, was present at the opening. Speaking, Iwa Lukmana expressed her appreciation for the BIPA course at the Indonesian Embassy in Helsinki and her commitment to always support language diplomacy.

The director of the center also encouraged the students. According to him, Bahasa Indonesia looks easy, but students still need to learn seriously, and professional BIPA teachers always help. The Agency for Language Development and Development’s (BPPB) support for the BIPA course at the Indonesian Embassy in Helsinki is reflected in the assignment of four professional teachers to teach the BIPA 1 course.

The BIPA course is one of the main programs of the Indonesian Embassy in Helsinki to promote the Indonesian language and culture in Finland and Estonia. The BIPA 2022 course is organized in cooperation with the Indonesian Embassy in Helsinki and the Language Development Agency of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology. In the first semester (spring semester) the course lasts from March 28 to June 16, 2022 every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, from 17:00 to 19:00 Helsinki time.

The Indonesian Embassy in Helsinki plans to hold a BIPA course for the fall semester from September to December 2022.