One of the great joys of teaching online is the magnificent encounter with strangers. One of my pair of students is a philosopher and a linguist from one of the best universities in the world. I thoroughly enjoy every single one of the class because of how utterly intriguing their questions are. Recently the philosopher asked me about the functions of the Indonesian prefix ter-. When paired with a verb, there are three main functions of this prefix: Stative: it describes a state or a situation as it is Buku ini terletak di meja. The book lies on the table. (the…
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Tak kenal maka tak sayang. Tak sayang maka tak cinta. Knowing leads to caring. Caring leads to love. – Indonesian proverb Upon choosing this proverb, I struggled to translate it into English. It’s a well-known proverb in Indonesia and it basically asks this question: “If you don’t try to get to know someone, how can you care about them?” Equally, if you don’t care about them, how can you love them? The reason why it’s tricky to translate is because of these words: tahu vs kenal (to know) and sayang vs cinta (to love). What’s the difference? Tahu vs Kenal…
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Kacang lupa kulitnya. Peanuts forget their shells. – Indonesian proverb This proverb is used to describe someone who has forgotten its roots. I’d just like to share some useful phrases to talk about our background, including our family, hometown, nationality, and heritage. Latar belakang: background 1. Kamu lahir di mana? = What’s your birthplace? You [were born] where? lahir (verb) = to be born Saya lahir di Bandung. I was born in Bandung. 2. Kamu lahir tanggal berapa? = What’s your date of birth? You [were born] date which? tanggal (noun) = date Saya lahir tanggal 31 Juli 1991. I…
