Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang

Dawid teaches FTTE students at UMM.

Do you still remember Hanna Szymanszka, a student from Poland who studied at the University of Muhammadiyah Malang (UMM)? If you have forgotten a little, check out the story of the sweet girl who claimed to have become "Javanese" on this website edition of January 11, 2011.

In addition, this year, UMM again receives a Polish citizen, Dawid Spzakiewicz. Similar to Hanna, Dawid (read=David), has felt directly at home since the first time he set his foot on this campus.

Dawid is a participant of “Internship Indonesia Scholarship Program” who is hired as apprenticeship lecturer at UMM. He teaches English at the English Department of FTTE for one semester. The graduate from Tourism Department at Wyższa Szkoła Teologiczno-Humanistyczna, Poland teaches speaking class for the first year students.

"I’ve been trusted to teach 18 credits which spread over nine classes. This is a wonderful opportunity for me to develop my teaching skill and English language skills of students in particular," said the man who likes to play basketball.

According to him, learning English is not as difficult as most people imagine. Deepening English knowledge can be done by frequently viewing movies and listening to music in English. Besides, the courage to communicate using English should be trained slowly, especially communicating with foreigners. Thus, the skill would be continuously improved.

The story of Dawid’s coming to UMM began from his desire to return to Indonesia. Earlier, in 2009 Dawid also had been to Malang, but as a tourist. In 2010, he also briefly taught in SMA 2. When following the selection for Internship Indonesia funded by the European Union, Dawid chose UMM based on his compatriot’s recommendation, Martin, who had already known about UMM.

"Truly, it’s indeed not a mistake for me to be here. In Poland, my campus has only 300 students. I was quite amazed at the number of students when I first came here as well as the very exotic building. Large pool and lush trees make me feel at home," he said of being very impressed.

Through the program, Dawid admitted that he is now a volunteer in the field of education. The mission is to help students improve their English. As a volunteer, of course he should pay all his necessities in Indonesia from airline ticket to living cost.

He admitted that he is very happy to be in Indonesia. This country has not only rich cultural diversity, but also a wonderful natural wealth. He was so much impressed when he arrived in Indonesia, especially at UMM. He said he had got a very friendly welcome and good service.

"UMM appreciate my arrival. It provides me a place in Puncak Tidar. I live with students from Australia and America. In addition, a friend from Indonesia has lent me his bike to support my activities at UMM," said the man who loves Malang grilled fish.

Moreover, UMM image as an Islamic college is not a problem for him. According to him, this campus is open for academic affairs. He has never got even the slightest obstacle at the UMM, especially the issue of religion.

In fact, because he loves UMM so much, Dawid said of planning to extend his apprenticeship after visiting his brother and mother in Australia and England in December.

"I hope I can stay much longer in Indonesia. There are still many things I want to learn here," he concluded. (ren/nas/t_alf)