Bahasa Englinesian

My teacher says many languages are like a pyramid. You start at the bottom level. At first it is hard to learn the new vocab, the conjugations, or tenses, or genders etc. But after that it gets easier and easier.

She says Bahasa Indonesia is like a pyramid...in reverse. You start at the point and it seems easy. But as you learn more and get deeper it gets harder and harder!

So here's something I put together to give a glimpse of grammar and the formidable prefixes and suffixes. What if we used them in English? Our conversation might sound something like this....

Person 1: Hi, my name is Mary. No one has memper-met-kan us, but I know brother you.

Person 2: Oh, hello! Yes, I have men-heard about you when I ber-met with brother-my.

Person 1: He was supposed to ber-meet me at hour 9:00, but it is already hour 10:10. Could you me-telephone him?

Person 2: Of course. Maybe he has not yet risen. Lately, he has not returned home until night-night and so sometimes I have to mem-rise-kan him. Per-business-an-he is me-rise a new building. So he is very busy.

Person 1: Oh, are they memper-big business their?

Person 1: Are you a pe-study?

Person 2: Yes. I be-study at the University down the street.

Person 1: What pe-study-an are you pe-study?

Person 2: Business.

Person 1: Do you want to become a peng-business?

Person 2: No. I just want to memper-deep my penge-know-an of business.

Person 1: I want to me-cook soup. Do you know how to cook?

Person 2: No. But my mother often me-cook-kan me soup.

Person 1: You should meng-send a letter to her and ber-ask how to me-cook soup.

Person 2: A letter was just di-sent-kan me by my sister to my mom. She said it was expensive.

Person 1: Me-see that! That computer is so thin it ke-see-annya like a piece of paper!

Person 2: Have you never me-see one before? I have one. I will memper-see-kan it to you. After one was diper-see-kan me by my friend, I me-buy one.

Person 1: Why did you move here? I thought you liked stay in that village.

Person 2: After my parents me-stay, I didn’t want to stay there more.

Person 1: Oh yes, ke-die-an is very sad.

Person 2: I me-stay-kan all my furniture there too. I me-die-kan the lights, meng-key the door and left.

Person 1: Have you bought a house here?

Person 2: Yes, but I want to memper-big it, because it is not big enough. It also needs to be di-clean-kan.

Person 1: You should hire a pem-help to mem-help you.

A Few Things You Should Know

A little more about my life here…

1.      1.  We had our first blackout last night. Actually, the electricity was off when I got back from class, but I didn’t notice much because it was afternoon. But last night, as I was waiting for my rice to cook, suddenly the power was gone. Luckily, the rice had just finished—the only part of my meal that needed electricity seeing that Ibu Leana has a gas stove top. So Ibut Leana busted out a few candles and I proceeded with my preparations by candle light. I cut up the carrots and beans, started stir frying the “bumbu” (seasonings) and successfully cooked Nasi Goreng. It was delicious, and the power came back on just in time for me to eat it.

2.      

2. Note about crossing the street: here in Yogya it isn’t “all or nothing.” If you can get halfway across the street, that’s a good start. Then you often have to wait in the middle for the other side to clear. Dangerous? A little. But one thing I’ve noticed is that everyone is VERY good at missing you here. It is a normal occurrence for pedestrians to randomly cross the street and all drivers are always on the alert for unexpected people or cars to dodge. Also, they do not drive as fast here as in the States. I have had my near death experiences…but so far so good. J

3.     3.   We do not have a washing machine or dryer. I am not sure how common it is to have them—probably only if you are rich. So I wash all my clothes by hand and hang them out to dry. (Ibu Leana sort of has a clothesline, but actually hangs up against a wall and so your clothes get a little dirty again as they dry!) On Saturday, a mouse had died down the drain pipe right where I needed to wash clothes. It smelled foul. I think it was worse than dead potcake, if possible. Ibu Leana insisted that I wash my clothes with a handkerchief around my face. So I spent a good hour or two squatting over my buckets, wringing out wet laundry while looking like a bandit.

4.   4.     Most days I walk to and from class. It is about a half hour walk one way—at least a couple kilometers. I can catch a public bus if I want to, but I am trying to save my budgeted “transportation money” for weekend trips like the one I took to Solo. Usually it is a pleasant walk and it’s a good time for me to pray.

-Once a becak driver rode away indignant because I offered him too low a price.

-I finally had salak! (snake fruit)

-The Sultan’s (or someone important) daughter is getting married next week and apparently she’ll be parading around the streets.

-I have an umbrella all ready for all the torrents of rain supposedly coming, but every day keeps dawning bright and hot. L

A Glimpse of Yogya