Jakarta – For many young people, more accustomed to slangy speech, having to revert to formal Bahasa Indonesia can be a daunting task, if not altogether impossible.

"Awkward," said Dea, 16, commenting on a friend using formal Indonesian during a conversation. "That sounds ridiculous," said Ricky, 16, Dea's classmate.

Both are second-year students at state high school No. 70 (SMUN 70) in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta. Dea says she rarely uses formal Indonesian when talking to friends. "I speak to my friends in a very slangy language," she said.

Ricky agreed that speaking in formal Indonesian was difficult simply because he was so out of practice. Although he said he earned good grades in his Indonesian language classes, Ricky said he rarely used formal Indonesian outside of the classroom.

"It's needed in speech, for scientific articles, in the classroom or when we talk to teachers or older people, but it's not necessary in conversation with friends," he said.

While Ricky and Dea still look at Indonesian as one of their easier classes, two third-year students at state vocational high school No. 13 (SMK 13) in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta, struggle with the subject.

Deni, 18, says Indonesian language classes are not as easy as some people think, while Agus, also 18, considers Indonesian a more difficult subject than English. "Sometimes we have to use words that are not at all familiar. I have better scores in English than in Indonesian," Agus said.

However, Agus and Deni agree formal Indonesian is needed for certain occasions. But when it comes to everyday talk with friends, they prefer an informal Indonesian. "I consider friends who speak correct Indonesian when talking to me arrogant and too tongue-tied," said Deni.

An Indonesian language teacher at SMUN 70, Lulu Inarti, 51, does not seem to mind the use of informal Indonesian in daily conversation.

"We have to use the Indonesian language properly and correctly. Proper means using the right language at the right time. That is, we have to speak formally in formal forums and speak informally in informal forums," Lulu said.

She said it would be improper for a person to use formal language in informal situations, and vice versa. "Many of my students still speak informally in what is supposed to be a formal forum, such as student organization meetings, but overall, I think they use the Indonesian language quite properly."

Separately, Pius Pope, a former announcer at Radio Sonora, said many students today were unable to speak Indonesian in a structured manner. Pius said the use of slangy language would gradually damage the language skills of young people.

"The media plays an important part in this. A lot of youngsters listen to radio and, somehow, they are affected by the way radio announcers speak Indonesian," he said. "If this continues, this will influence the way youth think, argue and speak."