One man's story:

My mother was at age 21 widowed (car accident) and with her two small children moved to Tamworth. Where I grew up. Those who gave my mother assistance/love (early 1950s) were people of difference - in Sydney survivors of the Holocaust/in Tamworth a Jewish dentist, a Chinese family. Our neighbours were Dutch, Italian, German - of long-term mid-19th century Chinese background - relatively recently arrived English and Scottish folk too. My mother's father was from rural Kent, my father's mother a teacher from Scotland. At school we were rigidly ranked post-primary into our high school classes - those into the "A" class were forced (that was the sense at some level - though cushioned by being called la crème de la crème) to study two languages: Latin & French. Of course I am now very grateful for that opportunity - indeed I recognised that within a few years of completing my university studies (over 40n years ago)! I became a teacher (my BA and my Dip. Ed were from Sydney University - the Dip Ed with two brilliant teachers: Dr David DUFTY and Dr Lee OWENS - David with a clear-eyed focus on the significance of Indonesia to Australia. My wife and I taught variously before our marriage in Hay and/or Deniliquin and in Inverell) before heading off to see the world more closely - spending time in Spain and Germany - and consequently developing some degree of communicative competency in the languages of those lands - and back to Australia - and post-grad studies - (TESOL) Multicultural Ed./Aboriginal Ed. - and a variety of for-travel language courses or other introductory language courses - Spanish, Viet-namese, Greek - followed. My wife and I moved from Sydney to Port Stephens where the school principal Norma SHEEDY invited me to consider studying - and at the same time teaching - Japanese - at age 40 - I joined the class of teachers at Newcastle University. I travelled to Japan with some limited funding support from the federal government (but squeezed smaller still) through the NSW government education department with a group of fellow teachers of the language from the Hunter region - to build up some classroom credibility/stories - though my wife and I had been there 14 years earlier - when I met up with the pen-friend I have had since I was 13 (and so it goes - Kurt VONNEGUT might be inclined to add at this point)! The following year I went to Matsue-shi in Shimane-ken on a NSW teacher two-year exchange. I learned a lot about Japan - my language skills became a little better, too. Friendships firmed. Back in Australia I continued further Japanese language studies, battled a kind of reverse culture shock, and sought ways of returning to Japan because I recognised that my abilities in Japanese were not of sufficient quality/strength to properly teach my students. The Human Resources Chief of the NSW Deptartment of Education suggested I write to the Japanese Embassy when I sought a year-long scholarship to go to Japan and study the language full-time. So that is the way Australia builds up its core of good teaching skills - have the individual teacher approach the embassy of the other country? Doesn't make sense! Anyway I went back. I found work (teaching English communication/conversation classes) and lost myself there for a total of 16 years - till my retirement age. When I came back here some three+ years ago. Full of understanding/broad perspectives/some linguistic competence built up over those years! Hoping to do some teaching - but there seems to have been a retreat from Japanese Studies (not totally - I understand that) from Indonesian Studies - a move towards Chinese (of course)! But it makes me wonder of what moment is the contribution that I made/might have made - according to national aims and objectives just as suddenly struck from the list as added - by political "vision" - or one might think "blindness"! Since being bad in Australia my wife and I have visited Indonesia, Thailand and China - thrilling all of those travels - our near neighbours - long-time friends - and with folk from those countries - and Japan, too - within my own family - we are truly connected! I take on board Tony XIAO's comments - and I am in agreement that Edward SAÏD's "Orientalism" might be a very good starting point!

And yes, Charis PALMER - thanks for raising this linguistic challenge as central to our national life henceforth. Best wishes in the endeavour!