Learn five Indonesian phrases and their meanings that you most likely won't learn from an Indonesian teacher
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Fira: Hi everyone! I’m Fira! |
| Gina: And I’m Gina. Welcome back to IndonesianPod101.com! This is All About, Lesson 13, Top Five Phrases Your Indonesian Teacher Will Never Teach You! |
| Fira: I think this lesson is going to be a lot of fun. |
| Gina: Right. That’s because we going to go over some phrases that your teacher might not teach you! |
| Fira: Now, we don’t want you to get the wrong idea; you won’t find any swear words or anything here! |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Gina: Okay, Fira, what’s the first word? |
| Fira: Banget |
| Gina: It means “very” or “a lot”. |
| Gina: You’ll hear this word all the time. |
| Fira: Yeah, when young people want to express that something is really something, they use the word banget. For example, asyik banget! |
| Gina: "really fun!” or “sounds fun!" |
| Fira: You might hear some people put extra stress on the first syllable "ba-" of banget, like this; BAnget! |
| Gina: Okay, let’s go to the next word. |
| Fira: Kurang ajar! |
| Gina: This means “rude” or “improper”. |
| Gina: This means "uneducated" when literally translated. |
| Fira: That’s right. Kurang means "less" and ajar means "to learn". So basically, you say this to someone who is acting improperly or rudely. To emphasize it more, you can lengthen the first syllable of ajar, like so; Kurang a~jar! |
| Gina: Be careful when using this phrase. Depending on the situation and how it’s used, it can come off as either a playful joke or a strong insult. |
| Fira: Right. If you’re really angry and you say kurang ajar to someone, it can have negative outcome. But if you’re just joking around with your friends and you use it, it just comes off as playful. So don’t be surprised if some of your friends are laughing at you, and saying Kurang a~jar! That can be a good joke too. |
| Gina: Okay, what’s the next word? |
| Fira: Dong! |
| Gina: This is the word to express disbelief that someone doesn’t know something like “unbelievable!” in English. |
| Gina: You can use this word at the end of a sentence. For example, if you have an incredibly lazy roommate who never helps you clean, but one day you see him sweeping the floor, you can say... |
| Fira: Gitu dong! |
| Gina: It literally means “It’s like I cannot believe!” or “It’s like unbelieveable.” Okay, Fira, what’s the next word? |
| Fira: sial |
| Gina: It means “unlucky”. |
| Gina: When something bad happens to you, you can use this phrase. Depending on the tone, you can either convey a resigned mood if you say it slowly and calmly, as in sial. Or you can convey a rather agonized tone if you put more volume and energy into it, like sial! Overall, it’s a pretty negative word and you’ll hear people use this from time to time. |
| Fira: And remember, don’t use this in front of elders or anyone of a higher position. It’s quite informal. |
| Gina: And finally, we have… |
| Fira: Gua |
| Gina: Informal pronoun meaning “I”. |
| Gina: I think the listeners already know the pronouns meaning “I”. |
| Fira: That’s right! Saya and Aku are the formal words for “I”, but this one is like the Indonesian slang for “I”. Most people in Jakarta often use Gua or Gue when referring to himself. |
| Gina: This is definitely something that you always hear when you are talking to your Indonesian friends. Fira, when do people use this word? |
| Fira: Well, you use it when you are talking to your friends and peers. You shouldn’t use it when talking to your teacher, boss, or parents, because it sounds really disrespectful! |
| Gina: What about the pronoun “you”? Is there an informal version? |
| Fira: Yes. You can say Elu to mean informal “you”. |
| Gina: Well, that’s all for this lesson, listeners. Go ahead and start using these phrases in your daily conversations! |
| Fira: And see the lesson notes for further examples of their usages in regular conversation. |
Outro |
| Gina: See you next time, everyone! |
| Fira: Sampai jumpa lagi |
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