Ibu Bea Awiati has worked as a high school teacher in Australia since 1990 in both the International Baccalaureate and Victorian school programs. She studied a Diploma of Education and a Master of Computer Education at Melbourne University. Previously, she worked and studied at the University of Indonesia before moving to Australia.

For several years she has taught at AIAV’s evening classes at different levels. She has taken her school students to Indonesia to experience first-hand the language, school life and culture.

Her goal in teaching Indonesian to adults is to explore further their love of Indonesian and help them speak the language fluently without worrying about making mistakes.

Ibu Kelly Davies loves learning and teaching Indonesian. She completed a Diploma in Modern Languages (Indonesian) alongside a Bachelor of Education at the University of Melbourne. She has taught Indonesian in secondary and primary classrooms, and joined the AIAV team in 2021.

Ibu Widha Chaidir has been teaching Indonesian and French for almost 35 years. Her teaching career started in Jakarta at the French International and Jakarta International schools. After graduating from the Faculty of Education in 1984 in Jakarta, she studied at Nice University, France, and completed her Master of Teaching French as a Second Language. More than 20 years ago she came to Australia to teach French and Indonesian in a private school in north-east Melbourne, where she still works today.

Teaching is her passion. She is very happy to share her knowledge about Indonesia with her students, and enjoys meeting and interacting with people.

Born in Jakarta and a graduate of the Indonesian Christian University, Ibu Nani Pollard has dedicated her life to the field of Indonesian language and culture. After working for TVRI Pusat Jakarta in children’s programs, Ibu Nani decided to continue her career in Australia. She went on to teach Indonesian Language and Literature at the University of Melbourne from 1994 to 2017. She was also part of the writers’ group who published Bersama-sama 1 and 2 – Indonesian language textbooks for high school students.

Ibu Nani holds a BIPA teaching certificate. She has also taught at the RAAF Point Cook, Deakin University and the Supreme Court. Ibu Nani is the teaching coordinator at our City classes.

Bapak Edan Runge joined the AIAV Teaching Team in 2021. He works as an Indonesian Language Assistant at a Victorian secondary school and has worked as an Indonesian language tutor for secondary school students and adults since 2016.

Edan is a Melbourne University graduate with specialisations in Indonesian language, cultural study and journalism. He is a freelance translator and a member of the AIAV Newsletter Editorial Team.

As a foreign language fanatic, Edan is also a fluent speaker of French, Spanish and Italian, in addition to his first language, English.

Bapak Justin Wejak is an Indonesian language teacher by training. He has extensive teaching experience in tertiary institutions in Australia. Currently he is a lecturer in Indonesian Studies at the University of Melbourne (UoM), while also teaching Advanced Indonesian through zoom at the AIAV since 2020. As a language teacher at UoM, he has been coordinating and teaching a range of  subjects from beginners to advanced levels. Justin’s academic pursuits are multidisciplinary. He obtained a Bachelor of Philosophy in Indonesia, a Bachelor of Theology in Melbourne, a Master of Arts/Anthropology (The University of Melbourne), a Graduate Diploma of Education (Monash University), and a PhD from the University of Melbourne. For his PhD, he wrote a thesis on the culture of fear concerning the historical events of 1965 in Indonesia. Justin’s research interests have been primarily in the fields of culture and language, religion and politics in eastern Indonesia.

Bapak Paul Van Wessem joined the AIAV team in 2021. He has been teaching Indonesian to adults for 30 years and strives to make his lessons as colourful and varied as possible.  He enjoys examining grammar while keeping his lessons conversational and relaxed with a dash of humour.

Paul spent a year studying in Yogyakarta, participated in the Australia Indonesia Youth Exchange Program, and has travelled extensively throughout the islands.  He enjoys maintaining friendships with Indonesians in Australia and Indonesia.

Paul has a Masters in Applied Linguistics, a Bachelor of Asian Studies and a Graduate Diploma in Education.  He is also a certified Indonesian translator and a qualified ESL teacher.

Bapak Bede Herradine is an Indonesian linguist who has been enthralled with Indonesian since his first Indonesian class in the mid-1970s! For the past 15 years he has taught Indonesian full-time to Defence Force personnel, and now focuses on developing and managing foreign language assessment programs. An ANU graduate in languages and linguistics, Bede is a regular back-up teacher for AIAV classes, and enjoys passing on to others his passion for learning Indonesian.