SDLC 105: Discussion Post #9

[Casey Murano]

I have been writing in my target language since the first week in several different formats. Writing is my favorite of the different modes of communication because I like to be able to edit what I am trying to communicate. Speaking and listening are trickier because you have to be very focused at the moment, and it is easy to miss important information. In class, I take notes by hand, and for homework, I write sentences using the vocabulary. Our longer homework assignments are usually completed online, but I like to start by writing freehand. This helps me to use the vocabulary that I know rather than continuously referring to an online translator. I’m often impressed by what I come up with and can use the practice of circumlocution that we talked about during class a couple weeks ago. If I don’t know how to say the specific word, I can use other words that I do know to describe what I mean. When I was studying German and Italian, I found that journaling in the target language was a very helpful strategy for developing my writing skills. Several patterns are beginning to emerge in the structures between words, clauses, and sentences. For example, the subject always goes first, and then the verb, or an adverb, and then the object. Adjectives always follow the noun and are linked using the word “yang.” Verbs do not require conjugation based on the subject, but prefixes do change. We haven’t yet learned exactly when or why to drop the prefixes, but we did learn that “ber” means “to have.” There are also no definite articles. Indonesians, especially in informal speech, tend to shorten things. The sentence structures that I most often use are modal verbs (I want to eat pasta) and two clauses connected by a conjunction (I want to eat pasta, so I will cook some). I’m not sure how other complex sentences work if they don’t have conjunctions, so hopefully, we will learn more about that soon. Overall, grammatical structures are a lot more flexible than Indo-European languages like German. After having learned adjective endings that change based on gender and part of speech, Bahasa Indonesia’s grammar is a breeze. When we listen to audio lessons from the textbook, it seems like most of the speakers are using simple sentences (but that may just be to meet us on our level). Knowing parts of speech, government, and agreement supports my ability to communicate in written contexts because I can use context clues to figure out the meaning if I know which words are verbs versus nouns.
Here is an example of a culture journal entry in which I wrote about my reactions to some Indonesian films:
Di Ayat-Ayat Cinta, saya melihat empat orang bersama. Mereka punya pakaian yang formal. Ada buku dan lilin diatas meja dibawah tangan mereka.Ada laki-laki tinggi dengan kacamata, dan dia berbicara dengan laki-laki yang muda. Mereka berpegangan tangan. Banyak orang menonton dari luar. Kemudian mereka semua merayakannya bersama. Wanita melempar bunga yang merah. Mereka semua sangat senang.
Pertama kami pergi ke rumah Habibie. Kami melihat dia membaca buku. Kemudian dia berpikir tentang dia ketika muda. Ada wanita yang cantik, namanya Ainun. Badan Ainun kecil dan kurus. Rambut Ainun panjang dan berwarna hitam. Dia punya baju panjang. Ketika muda, mereka pergi ke sekolah bersama. Ainun belajar kedokteran Mereka teman, tapi tidak bisa menikah. Ainun mengatakan, Kami di buku sama, tapi halaman yang berbeda. Laki-Laki merasa sangat sedih.
This exercise was meaningful because it allowed me to practice expressing myself in the target language using the grammar that I have learned so far.