Rahmat Hidayat, FLTA Indonesian

Born in a small town of Tasikmalaya in West Java, Indonesia, Rahmat Hidayat has always been curious about finding ways to improve the lives of his community. He found a new path to realize that interest when he pursued his Associate’s and Bachelor’s degree studies in Tourism at Universitas Gadjah Mada and Ambarrukmo Tourism Institute.

With his passion for learning languages, Rahmat is fluent in speaking Sundanese, Indonesian, English, and Spanish. He channels his expertise to work in various fields as a hotelier, a tour guide, an interpreter, and most importantly, as a teacher. He founded idiomaku, an online language learning course offering English and Spanish, to better engage with youth who are enthusiastic about learning foreign languages. His desire for professionalism led him to gain certification in TESOL from Arizona State University and tour guide competency certificates.

Through the Foreign Language Teaching Assistant (FLTA) program and especially his placement at Yale University, Rahmat hopes this would be a stepping stone for his dream career to improve how English is taught and develop a comprehensive and progressive curriculum in the Indonesian education system.