Diponegoro: A Real Superhero

by Chris Hartman

Learn to read longer words through the syllable clapping game, while at the same time reading the exciting story of a real Indonesian Superhero, through this historic, true tale of Prince Diponegoro from Java. Every year, on August 17th, Indonesia celebrates its independence. As a teacher I felt it was my responsibility to offer my students a good view of the struggles that were had in the fight for independence. This is one of the stories that came out of the research for the classes. Prince Diponegoro was a real Superhero, as against the odds he fought the colonial invaders for righteousness, and more importantly, independence. At the same time it became a good lesson in trying to learn to read longer words, using the art of syllable clapping.
The Indonesian language does not shy away from using quite long words, especially for names. The most common way of beginning reading classes here is the memorization of lists of 2-letter syllables, consisting of a consonant and one of the 5 vowels. In the Indonesian language, vowel sounds hardly ever change depending on surrounding letters, so there is an element of memorization that cannot go wrong. And while that only counts to a certain extent for the English language, reading is still for a large part recognizing. In any language. The story also inspires students to undertake journeys to find out more about Indonesian history and the big celebrations that happen every August 17th.

25 pages, Paperback

Published November 16, 2022