This week, we completed the A1 level of the textbook and are now starting A2. Hurray! I am very impressed that we have made it this far. The first thing we learned about in this new unit was Indonesian slang. When not in a formal setting like school or businesses, most Indonesians do not use the official Bahasa language structures for greetings. Instead of Bagaimana kabarmu? They may say ngamain? Slang is usually shorter and often includes leaving out the pronouns. Knowing slang will help us connect with students and teachers outside of class if we are ETAs in Indonesia. As of right now, though, I think I will focus on memorizing the official language rules because the patterns are much clearer and easier to internalize than the slang. Plus, I think it is better to accidentally speak too formally to teenagers than too informally to elders or professionals because they may become insulted.
We have also been expanding our language about the family this week. Now, I am able to talk about sisters-in-law, nephews, nieces, and cousins. This is good, because I personally have a very large extended family. I like that we are reviewing these lessons again more indepth because knowing how to address family members will be important for navigating interactions with my host community. I liked that Farida showed us a picture of her family for this lesson.
During language table class this week we got a list of kata hubung, which are conjunctions. These words were very helpful. I have already been pretty comfortable with dan (and), tapi (but), atau (or), and karena (because), but was excited to learn vocabulary for words like so (it’s begitu) that I always accidentally say in English. While conjunctions are not the most important part of speech for conveying meaning - one can speak in simple sentences and be able to communicate -- they definitely help the conversation flow more smoothly, and make speaking a bit easier.
On Friday, we chose topics for our final exam - conducting in interview in Bahasa Indonesia with a native speaker. Since I study geography, like to visit new places, and often paint outside when I go to new places, I decided to focus my presentation on tempat yang umum dan wisata, or public and tourism places. I think this is also a good topic, because I can ask my interviewee which places I should visit if I go to Indonesia. It was funny, because Madelyn chose a similar topic. I think we both like jalan-jalan di luar (walking outside). Our final exam will consist of three parts: 1) the reasons we want to choose this topic and drafting of interview questions 2) the interview itself for 10 minutes 3) a conclusion about what we learned from the interview. I appreciate that during the drafting phase, Farida provided real-time feedback on our questions, making sure they are grammatically correct and all set for the interview, which we will be conducting after Thanksgiving break.
During the next couple of weeks, we will continue meeting for lessons, with a special emphasis on preparing for our upcoming interview and final exam. I trust that we will be prepared to do well and am excited to meet some of Farida’s friends.
Comments
Casey, thanks for sharing this element of your class! I think it's awesome that you are learning slang in your language classes, as many language classes tend to teach more high-brow versions of the language that might be entirely useless were you to visit the countries in which they are spoken.