I wrote this essay to join Goipeace essay competition last year,unfortunately I didn't success but I still want to share it to you :)

SPEECH LEVEL OF SPEAKING IN DETERMINING OUR RESPECT TO OTHERS

     I am an Indonesian and was born in Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta Province (we always say it as Yogyakarta),  21 years ago. I live in a town that still keep its original culture. As you know, Indonesia is a country that has many kinds of cultures because there are  many ethnic groups in Indonesia and each of them has its own culture.  My ethnic group is Javanesse (because I live in Java Island).

      One of the culture of my hometown I’m very proud of is the level of language that in Java called Unggah-Ungguh Basa Jawa (Javanese speech level).  In Java, especially in Yogyakarta generally there are 2 levels of language in speaking with others. The first level called Basa Krama (Krama Speech), it is a speech for making a conversation with others who older than us, such as our parents, our grandmother/grandfather, our teacher, etc. It can be divided into two, basa krama alus (the highest speech level in Java) and basa krama lugu (The second highest speech in Java). The second level of speech in Java called Basa Ngoko (Ngoko Speech). It is a language/speech for making a conversation with our  friends or person who younger than us. It also can be divided into two, those are Ngoko Alus ( A non formal speech but not the lower level) and Ngoko Lugu ( A non formal speech and the lowest level of speech in Java).

    Usually people from other region (out of Java) don’t have a level of speech, they only have one language/speech to others, wether it is for older people or for younger people. Maybe it doesn’t give any problem to them because it is the way they talk in their daily life. But if they live in Java it can be a big problem, for example if young people talking with older people using Ngoko Speech (the lowest level of speech in Java), the older people may become angry with them because it means that the young people don’t respect him. Yeah, maybe other people (especially out of Java) think that our way of speak is too complicated but I’m very proud of it.

     Why can this culture make a better future for us? Because this kind of culture give us a lesson that our way of speech is determining our respect to others. One of the way to communicate with others is through the language/way of speech. The good way in talking to others show them that we want to make a good relation with them. Everyone want to be appreciated or at least to be well treated by others. Remember that we have to be careful in talking to others, because usually if we don’t keep our words carefully, sometimes it can hurts the other’s feeling without our knowing. So our way in speaking especially in the community has to be limited with some criterion as we usually call it a tradition. The community with strong character will only be realized if the individuals in the community has a good  tradition, good tempered and well behaviour. In this context the Java Language is one of a tool to bulid a good character and moral education for people especially the young people. Java language will be one of the rides in growing our national identity and character. Javanese speech level is an example of culture to show our respect to others in order to build a good relation between people in all place of the world and create a better future for all.