What’s for Sale?

I always learn a lot from my students – they teach me about themselves, their culture, and life. A few weeks ago, I posted about some of my students’ hopes and dreams. This week, I want to share a little something different.

Towards the end of this past school year, Bu Isna and I asked our students to make advertisements in English. They could choose to advertise anything they wished, but we encouraged them to think about the kinds of things they see and use in their daily life. None of you will be surprised that a group of 13 year olds came up with a lot of food and many cellphones. But the kinds of food and other items also struck me as so very Indonesian. Here are some of the best…

“Tahu” is tofu…guess we should have covered that in class. Here you can see two advertisements for tofu and one for fried bananas – staples of Indonesian snack food.

Here are some more favorite foods – ice cream and bakso meatballs. And what’s Indonesia without a healthy serving of some fresh fruit?

Every day before school, my students read from the Qur’an, so these advertisements seem particularly useful.

Finally, every successful student needs a good English dictionary and a sturdy pair of shoes.