Learn how to attract the attention of a waiter
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| Hello and welcome to Indonesian Survival Phrases, brought to you by IndonesianPod101.com This course is designed to equip you with the language skills and knowledge to enable you to get the most out of your visit to Indonesia. You'll be surprised at how far a little Indonesian will go. Now before we jump in, remember to stop by IndonesianPod101.com. And there you’ll find the accompanying PDF and additional info in the post. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment. |
| Indonesian Survival Phrases Lesson 14. Restaurant Part 2 |
| Table manners are a must wherever you go! In this lesson we'll cover some basic table etiquette when it comes to sitting down for a meal in Indonesia. |
| Now, whether you're in a restaurant or at a dinner party with a group of people, it's important for you to know who the host is and follow his or her lead. When you're dining as a group, as soon as the food is set out, DON'T set off right away and start digging in—that's really impolite. Instead, wait for your host to invite you to start eating with the phrase Silahkan makan, which means "please go ahead and eat." |
| OK, fine so far—but what's this? There's a fork and spoon, but no knife. Hmm… What do you do? Well, in Indonesia, like in many Southeast Asian countries, when you have these eating utensils out, the fork is held in your left hand while the spoon is held in the right hand. Why? It's because you will scoop up rice plus little bits of the other dishes with your spoon and put it in your mouth—and remember that Indonesians consider the left hand really unclean. And the food is usually soft enough to cut with a fork, or already cut into bite-sized pieces, so knives are usually unnecessary at the dining table. |
| Alright, you can deal with that—but sometimes you'll find nothing but a small bowl of water at the table. What do you do then? This is great, because this actually signals that you can use your hands to eat! Well, just your right hand—remember the all-important taboo against the left hand. |
| The Indonesian style of eating with the hand called pakai tangan is a rather sophisticated technique. You should only use your fingertips and at no time should any of your fingers be actually put inside your mouth. Don’t lick your fingers either by the way. A useful thing to do is to observe some local people eating pakai tangan—you'll catch on to the technique, sooner or later. |
| As Indonesia is known for its great food, you are bound to get some really tasty food and therefore you need the word for "delicious!" |
| In Indonesian "This is delicious" is Enak! (slow) Enak! Let’s break it down by syllable. E-nak! Now let’s hear it once again, Enak! This is really easy, since the word Enak! simply means "delicious." |
| To say something is really delicious, the phrase is Enak sekali! (slow) Enak sekali! Let’s break it down by syllable. E-nak se-ka-li! Now let’s hear it once again, Enak sekali! We already know the first word Enak, which means “Delicious.”. Enak. |
| This is followed by sekali, which means "very." sekali. se-ka-li. sekali. So, altogether we have Enak sekali!, which means "Very delicious!" |
| Now, during your meal, it’s considered impolite to engage in lengthy conversation. There’ll be plenty of time to do that over coffee or tea afterwards. And you should also note that in a traditional dinner, the courses are serve all at once. There’ll probably be in a layer of sambal which is a paste with the base on the ground chili peppers. There are several varieties to choose from but most of them will be extremely hot and spicy for the chili nervous. If you get something wrapped in a banana leaves, do not eat the leaf! Simply unwrap the leaf, and eat the content inside. We’ll go over what happen when you pay the bill in the next podcast. |
| Okay to close out today’s lesson we’d like for you to practice what you’ve just learned. I’ll provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you’re responsible for saying the Indonesian phrase out loud or in Indonesian, dengan keras. You’ll have a few seconds before I give you the answer so selamat sukses, that means "good luck!" in Indonesian. |
| All right so here we go! |
| “Delicious!”. (enak. e-nak. enak.) |
| “Very delicious!” (Enak sekali. E-nak se-ka-li. Enak sekali.) |
| Alright, that's going to do it for today! |
| Remember to stop by IndonesianPod101.com and pick up the accompanying PDF. When you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment. |
Comments
HideHi listeners, do you know that chopsticks (sumpit) is also a common utensil used in Indonesia other than fork? They are normally used for eating noodles. Have you tried Indonesian Chicken Noodles? or Mie Goreng? it's highly recommended! :)
Hi Bryan,
We usually say "Terima kasih." in response to "Silakan makan." We can also say "Baik." that means "Readily." or "Alright." in response to imperatives such as "Silakan tunggu di sini." (Please wait here.) or "Silakan tanda tangan di sini." (Please sign here.)
I hope this helps!
Salam,
Sarah
Team IndonesianPod101.com
Hi Bryan,
Thank you for your questions.
You are right, "sekali" has multiple meaning, one of them is "satu kali" or "once" in English. "sekali" also means "very".
I hope this helps,
Sarah
Team IndonesianPod101.com
1. Is this sekali the same as the sekali that means once? that is satu + kali = sekali right? what about this sekali that means very?
2. In Indonesia, after silahkan makan, do the guests need to say anything in return?
Hi Tom,
You are correct! And there is no difference in pronunciation. Thank you for your comment!
Salam,
Sarah
Team IndonesianPod101.com
Halo, just a quick question, the word sekali we have seen before as 'once', as in "tolong diulangi sekali lagi". Here it is 'very' as in "enak sekali". When used as 'once' is this because it is the prefix for one (se-) followed by kali? If so is twice then dua kali? Is there any pronunciation difference for these two or is the meaning conveyed by context?
Terima kasih sebelumnya :)
Hi Sunny,
'Silakan makan' literally means 'please eat', but the phrase is quite uncommon.
'Selamat makan' is more common and natural :wink:
best,
Dipta
Team IndonesianPod101.com
Hi, Dipta~
It's kind of interesting to say 'selamat makan' with happy tone.:smile::smile:
Indonesian adds everything after 'selama'.
selamat pagi, sore, malam, jalan, tinggal, and 'makan'.
but in the textbook, host says 'silakan makan' not 'selamat makan'.
which one is much more used?
Hi Sunny!
interesting question!
the host usually say 'selamat makan'.
the people who eats also says the same, or even the shorter version: 'makaaan' or 'makan yaa'.
Make sure you say that in a happy tone :smile::smile:
selamat makan!
Dipta
team IndonesianPod101.com
when host say 'silakan makan', what do other people say in reponse of 'silakan makan' before starting eating?
for example 'terima kasih' or something?