Learn how to ask for directions
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Becky: Hi everyone, and welcome back to IndonesianPod101.com. This is Upper Beginner Season 1 Lesson 25 - Finding Your Way in Indonesia. Becky here. |
| Fira: Halo. I'm Fira. |
| Becky: In this final lesson of the series, you'll learn some phrases for asking about directions. The conversation takes place in front of a restaurant where the speakers had lunch. |
| Fira: It's between Sari and Agus. |
| Becky: The speakers are colleagues, so they'll be using formal Indonesian. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Sari: Agus, kantor pos letaknya jauh tidak ya dari sini? |
| Agus: Tidak terlalu jauh kok. Dari sini jalan lurus, sampai ke perempatan belok kiri, lalu jalan sampai ketemu bank BCA, seberangi zebra cross menuju ke minimart. |
| : Nah, kantor pos ada di sebelahnya. |
| Sari: Oke. Aku mau mengirimkan dokumen-dokumen ini dahulu ya. |
| Agus: Oke. Sampai nanti di kantor. |
| Becky: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Sari: Agus, kantor pos letaknya jauh tidak ya dari sini? |
| Agus: Tidak terlalu jauh kok. Dari sini jalan lurus, sampai ke perempatan belok kiri, lalu jalan sampai ketemu bank BCA, seberangi zebra cross menuju ke minimart. |
| : Nah, kantor pos ada di sebelahnya. |
| Sari: Oke. Aku mau mengirimkan dokumen-dokumen ini dahulu ya. |
| Agus: Oke. Sampai nanti di kantor. |
| Becky: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Sari: Agus, is the post office far from here? |
| Agus: It's not too far. From here, go straight up to the intersection and turn left, then walk until you find the BCA bank, then cross the crosswalk towards the minimart. The post office is next to it. |
| Sari: Okay. First I'd like to send these documents. |
| Agus: Okay. I'll see you at the office later. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Fira: Becky, did you know that in Indonesia, in addition to regular post offices, there are also vans that work like post offices? |
| Becky: They're kind of like mobile post offices, right? |
| Fira: Yes. For example, Pos Keliling is a mobile postal service that operates in a number of locations in the city and countryside. It functions just like a normal post office, where people can buy stamps, post letters, send parcels, and pay bills. |
| Becky: And usually, there is a fixed location for each van from which it operates. In big cities, mobile post office services are performed out of the backs of vans, but in some remote areas and villages, services are provided via motorbike or even motor boat! |
| Fira: These mobile post offices work much shorter hours than the standard post office. For example, some will operate Mondays to Thursdays from 9:30 to 1:30, and on Fridays from 9:30 to 11:30. |
| Becky: They sound very convenient! Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Becky: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Fira: kantor [natural native speed] |
| Becky: office |
| Fira: kantor [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fira: kantor [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Fira: jauh [natural native speed] |
| Becky: far |
| Fira: jauh [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fira: jauh [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Fira: dokumen [natural native speed] |
| Becky: document |
| Fira: dokumen [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fira: dokumen [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Fira: lurus [natural native speed] |
| Becky: straight |
| Fira: lurus [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fira: lurus [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Fira: perempatan [natural native speed] |
| Becky: intersection |
| Fira: perempatan [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fira: perempatan [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Fira: dahulu [natural native speed] |
| Becky: formerly, in advance |
| Fira: dahulu [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fira: dahulu [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Fira: menuju [natural native speed] |
| Becky: towards |
| Fira: menuju [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fira: menuju [natural native speed] |
| Becky: And last.. |
| Fira: jalan [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to walk, to go |
| Fira: jalan [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fira: jalan [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Becky: Let's have a closer look at the some of the words and phrases from this lesson. lets look at... |
| Fira: menuju |
| Becky: meaning "towards, to go in the direction of." You can use this word in formal situations to say “towards.” In informal situations this word is often left out. |
| Fira: menuju is made up of the root word tuju meaning “to head," or "to go in the direction of," and the prefix men- which is used to make verbs sound smoother. |
| Becky: Fira, if the root word is tuju and the prefix is men- wouldn't it be mentuju? |
| Fira: No, and here’s why. The prefix men- normally attaches to root words that begin with the letters 'c,' 'd,' 'j,' or 't.' But if the root word begins with a 't', this 't' is dropped when men- is added. |
| Becky: I see. Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Fira: Sure. For example, you can say.. Dia sedang berada di perjalanan menuju ke bandara. |
| Becky: ..which means "She is on her way to the airport." Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
| Becky: In this lesson, you'll learn some phrases that are handy for asking for directions. These will be helpful phrases to know, as Jakarta can be a difficult place for pedestrians to navigate, because of the poor pavement maintenance and missing sidewalks. |
| Fira: Right. Even areas with well-maintained sidewalks can be difficult because they are crowded with street vendors and benches or chairs for customers. Drivers also can be quite aggressive, and won’t always stop to allow pedestrians to cross. |
| Becky: Let’s get into it then. Our first key phrase for this lesson is... |
| Fira: Permisi, boleh tanya di mana letak...? |
| Becky: meaning “Excuse me, may I ask where …. is located?”. Listeners, this is a formal way to ask where something is. Fira, let's break down this phrase to see the meaning of each word. |
| Fira: Sure. Permisi means “Excuse me.” You can also replace it with maaf meaning “sorry.” Boleh means “may.” Tanya is a verb meaning “to ask”, and di a preposition meaning “at,” “in,” or “on.” Mana means “where” and letak is a noun that means “location.” |
| Becky: Once again, the phrase is... |
| Fira: Permisi, boleh tanya di mana letak...? |
| Becky: literally meaning…”Excuse me, may ask at where location…?”. After the phrase, you can add the name of the place you want to go. Fira, how would you say “Excuse me, may I ask where a toilet is located?” |
| Fira: It will be Permisi, boleh tanya di mana letak wc? |
| Becky: Great, what about the “bus stop”? |
| Fira: It's simple. Just replace wc meaning “toilet” with halte bus, meaning “bus stop.” |
| Becky: So altogether it will be… |
| Fira: Permisi, boleh tanya di mana letak halte bus? |
| Becky: This means “Excuse me, may I ask where the bus stop is located?”. Is there another way to ask for directions in Indonesian? |
| Fira: Of course. You can also say...Permisi, [place]___ lewat mana? |
| Becky: Meaning “Excuse me, which way is _[place]__?” |
| Fira: The first word permisi means “excuse me.” Next, you add the name of the place you want to go. After that comes the word lewat, a verb meaning “to go through” or “to pass.” Last we have mana, a pronoun meaning “where.” Permisi, the location’s name, lewat mana? |
| Becky: It's literally “Excuse me, which way to go to?” Fira, how would you ask, for example “Excuse me, which way is Gambir station?” |
| Fira: It will be Permisi, stasiun Gambir lewat mana? |
| Becky: What about “Excuse me, which way to terminal three?” |
| Fira: Just replace stasiun Gambir meaning “Gambir station” with terminal 3 meaning “terminal three.” Everything else stays the same. |
| Becky: So altogether it will be… |
| Fira: Permisi, terminal 3 lewat mana? |
| Becky: “Excuse me, which way to terminal three?” How can you answer this question and give directions in Indonesian? |
| Fira: It's simple. You can say...Dari sini, then add a direction, kemudian, and again add a direction. Dari sini means “from here” and kemudian meaning “then.” |
| Becky: So it literally means “From here..direction...then...direction.” |
| Fira: Right. For example you can say...Dari sini jalan terus, kemudian belok kanan. |
| Becky: “From here go straight then turn right.” |
| Fira: Dari sini belok kiri, kemudian belok kanan. |
| Becky: “From here turn left then turn right.” Listeners, you can find the full list of directions in our lesson notes. |
Outro |
| Becky: Okay, that’s all for this lesson and this series. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you in the next series! Bye! |
| Fira: Sampai jumpa lagi. |
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