Judul	Resep Soto Mi
Penulis	Uli Kozok
Jumlah Kata	162
Tingkat Kesulitan	B2

Perkenalan

Soto

Soto mi is one of the many variants of soto – a soup-like dish that is found in many parts of Indonesia, particularly on Sumatra, Jawa, and Sulawesi. Soto is always meat-based, the most popular are chicken, beef, and tripe soto, and is usually served with a spicy sambal and kerupuk crackers. Soto mi is different as, unlike the other soto dishes, it is not served with rice but with fresh egg noodles.

The noodles (mi kuning) can be hard to find, but you can use, preferably fresh, Yaki Soba noodles. The spices, kerupuk and bawang goreng ‘fried shallots’ (often labelled as ‘fried onions’) can be easily obtained in most Asian groceries.

Sambal

A sambal is a chilli-based dish, which can either be the main dish, a side-dish, or just a condiment. Sambal can be based on potatoes, eggplant, tofu, dried anchovies and peanuts, tempeh, eggs, beef, chicken, liver, or shrimps. As a condiment it usually consists of ground chillies, red shallots as the main ingredients and can take a number of optional ingredients including tomatoes, tamarind juice, shrimp paste, lime juice, sweet soy sauce, and several other ingredients.

Sambal dishes are usually made of cabai merah, or cabai keriting – medium hot red chillies with a Scoville rating of about 40,000 (Jalapeno has a rating of 4,000 and Habanero of 250,000), but some sambal dishes are made from spicier or milder varieties, and also from green chillies.

Resep Soto Mi

CARA MEMBUAT

Daging dipotong kira-kira 2×3 cm lalu direbus dengan 2 liter air di api sedang selama satu jam. Masukkan bumbu halus, serai, daun jeruk, daun salam, dan seledri. Direbus selama 15 menit lalu masukkan wortel dan masak lagi selama 15 menit. Masukkan separuh daun bawang. Sajikan dengan sisa daun bawang, bawang goreng, kerupuk, dan mi (sebelum disajikan, mi diseduh dengan air panas).

Tata Bahasa 1

Classifiers

The Indonesian language uses a lot of classifiers. The most commonly used are orang (for people), ekor (for animals), biji (for small objects), and buah (for large objects), but there are many more and specialised classifiers such as batang (for stick-like objects like cigarettes, pencils), butir (small round objects like eggs, pepper corns), helai or lembar (soft flat objects), keping (hard flat objects like wooden boards), potong (for all kind of cuttings), iris (slices), and many more. Se- is used for the number one: seekor kuda one horse, dua ekor kuda two horses.

Tata Bahasa 2

Fill in the blanks with just the bare root word, no prefixes or suffixes attached.

Tata Bahasa 3

If you are not sure what active and passive voice are, read the rather lengthy Wikipedia article, or the more practical British Council article.

Arti Kata 1

Arti Kata 2

Latihan Pasif

Before you do the following exercises, familiarize yourself with active and passive voice. The best starting point is to get an understanding of active and passive voice in your own language. So, lean back and watch the following video:

You may also wish do read this basic introduction to passive voice:: Passive at Grammarly.

Excellent, now let’s turn to passive voice in Indonesian. Passive voice is far more commonly used in Indonesian than in English. It is also a little complicated as we have two kinds of passive, namely Passive Type 1 (the di- passive) and Passive Type 2. The differences are explained in this passive handout.
Once you have watched the video and read the two papers, do the following exercises:

Recipient/Patient in Initial Position Requires the Passive

Do the following:

1. Identify agent
2. Identify patient/recipient

If the recipient/patient is in initial position the passive is required. That’s the easy part, because after that you also have to decide whether to use Passive Type 1 or 2.

Kamar ini (I already rent).
Buku ini (he reads).
(We drank) es kelapa di toko itu kemarin.
Apa cerita itu sudah (he read).
Buku ini (you must read).
Di mana (he bought) kelambu itu?
Kelambu itu di mana (he bought)?

Pekerjaan Rumah (PR)

Watch the following video. Then write concise instructions on how the dish is prepared. Include all steps. Make ample use of passive voice and use the imperative as well.

Permainan Memori

If you can make it in less than 90 seconds and with the less than 40 moves, you’re good!

Aims

Students will learn culturally authentic ideas about food preparation and eating in Indonesia. They will discuss food preparation techniques, read and listen to an authentic Indonesian recipe.
Students learn vocabulary related to food preparation and cooking. Grammar focus is on the passive imperative, di- verbs and meN- verbs.

The Imperative

Imperative mode is used when you give an order: Read that book!. Imperative sentences are often followed by an exclamation mark. They appear most frequently in instructions such as a recipe: Cut the meat, peel the vegetables etc.

In Indonesian, the imperative is formed by using the verb without prefix meN-:

Kupas bawang merah, lalu cuci dan potong tebal-tebal.
Peel the red shallots, then wash and cut them thickly.

Sentences using imperative mode are often perceived as too straightforward and too blunt. To soften the imperative, you can either attach -lah to the verb: Kupaslah bawang merah itu!, but very often Indonesians choose another method: they use passive voice:

Bawang merah dikupas lalu dicuci dan dipotong tebal-tebal.
Peel the red shallots, then wash and cut them thickly.

The literal translation of the sentence would sound rather clumsy in English: The red shallots to be peeled, then be washed and cut thickly.

Kosa Kata

Here are some vocabulary items that you probably already know. Test yourself.

Nasi Goreng dengan Acar Timun

Nasi Goreng

Cara Membuatnya

Kocok telur, goreng, iris tipis-tipis. Tumis bawang merah bersama bumbu halus dengan dua sm minyak. Masukkan nasi dan kecap, aduk hingga rata. Angkat dari atas api.

Hidangkan dengan irisan telur, ketimun, dan tomat. Jika Anda suka, tambahkan acar, sambal dan kerupuk udang.

Berikut resep untuk membuat acar ketimun.

Acar Timun

Cara Membuatnya

Bawang merah dikupas lalu dicuci dan dipotong tebal-tebal. Ketimun dan wortel dipotong-potong 1 x 1cm lalu diberi garam dan dibiarkan selama 1 jam di kulkas. Gula dicampur dengan air hangat, tuang ke sayur, aduk. Tambahkan cuka, aduk. Masukkan ke kulkas dan biarkan selama beberapa jam, atau 1-2 hari.

Kosa Kata

Membiarkan

Membiarkan can be translated as ‘to permit; allow; let; leave alone’. In our reading it is used in the meaning ‘to let sit, marinate’

Putih & Asin

1. Bawang putih is ‘garlic’ and nasi putih is ‘steamed rice’. What is the meaning of putih?
2. Indonesians know two kind of soy sauces: kecap manis and kecap asin. What is the meaning of asin?

Bahan Nasi Goreng?

Select only items that are needed to make nasi goreng. Do not select ingredients for acar.

Indonesian Fried Rice

Nasi goreng is fried rice, a popular breakfast dish in Indonesia that is usually made from rice left-over from the day before. Of course, it can also be made from freshly cooked rice, which however, should be spread out for about an hour so that some of the moisture evaporates. For better results cook the rice the day before. You should use white long-grain rice, preferably Thai Jasmine rice. Short-grain, brown rice, or Basmati rice is not suitable for nasi goreng, and you should never use parboiled rice such as Ben’s Original, formerly called Uncle Ben’s, for any Indonesian dish! To cook the rice, wash it first, then put it in a pot with an equal amount of water (one cup rice and one cup water or 500g rice to 625ml water) and simmer for about 20 minutes. For superior quality transfer the rice into a steamer and steam for 20 minutes.

Acar

Read the following text and its translation. Then do the exercise.

Latihan

Look at the words printed in boldface. What is their meaning?

Vegetables contain large amounts of vitamins and minerals.
Cucumbers are among the most frequently used vegetables.
Vegetables cannot be stored for a long time because they quickly wilt.
Vinegar can be used as a preservative.
Cucumbers, carrots, and shallots are suitable vegetables to be pickled.
Pickled vegetables are commonly served together with fried rice.

Arti Kata 1

Arti Kata 2

Awalan meN-

Pasif

Adverbs

An adverb is a word or phrase that modifies or qualifies a verb. In English, mist adverbs are formed by adding -ly to an adjective: quickly, beautifully, etc. In Indonesian, adverbs can be formed using dengan, or secara.

Another way of forming adverbs is by simply reduplicating the adjective:

Bumbu atau Bukan Bumbu?

Kosa Kata

Bumbu

Isian

Pekerjaan Rumah (PR): Menulis atau Berbicara

You have opened an Indonesian restaurant in your town, and hired a new chef. Instruct him how to cook nasi goreng. Use imperative mode, or passive mode. Record your instructions.

Kosa Kata

Judul	Kapolri Ingatkan Polisi Jangan Sok Jadi Petugas dan Bertindak Kasar
Penulis	Abba Gabrillin
Disadur dari	Kompas dan Jambi Tribun, 16 Juli 2018
Jumlah Kata	184
Tingkat Kesulitan	B1

·

Polisi di Indonesia

In Wikipedia’s entry on the Indonesian police we read the following: “The Indonesian National Police (Indonesian: Kepolisian Negara Republik Indonesia, “POLRI”) is the national police force of Indonesia. It was formerly a part of the military. The police were formally separated from the military in April 1999, a process which was formally completed in July 2000. The organisation is now independent and is under the direct auspices of the President of Indonesia, while the Armed Forces is under the Ministry of Defense. The Indonesian National Police is responsible for law enforcement and policing duties all over Indonesia. The organisation is widely known for its corruption, violence and incompetence.”

Watch the following video recorded by a Dutch tourist in Bali with a hidden camera.

Sok

The dictionary defines sok as ‘to act as if, pretend to, not really/genuinely’. The word can be used alone, or in combination with another adjective or verb:

Bacaan

Kapolri: “Jangan Sok Jadi Petugas dan Bertindak Kasar”

1. Kepala Polri Jenderal (Pol) Tito Karnavian marah besar ketika mengetahui AKBP M Yusuf, seorang perwira menengah polisi, menendang seorang ibu karena mencuri dua kotak susu di toko miliknya di Pangkal Pinang, Bangka Belitung. Tito mengingatkan agar polisi jangan sok jadi petugas dan bertindak kasar.
2. Tito meminta agar penganiayaan yang dilakukan polisi tidak terulang. “Bagaimanapun juga, orang yang sudah menyerah, tidak mengancam keselamatan petugas dan orang lain, itu tidak boleh dilakukan dengan kekerasan. Itu prinsipnya,” kata Tito.
3. Seorang ibu dan anaknya di Pangkal Pinang, Bangka Belitung dianiaya pemilik minimarket karena mencuri. Pemilik minimarket tersebut adalah seorang perwira menengah polisi di Polda Bangka Belitung. Akibat tindakan penganiayaan, perwira menengah polisi tersebut kini dinonaktifkan sampai proses pemeriksaan selesai.
4. Peristiwa penganiayaan terjadi pada Rabu malam 11/7/2018. Ibu dan anak kedapatan mencuri dua kotak susu di Apri Mart milik AKBP M Yusuf di Kota Pangkal Pinang. Namun tindakan itu ketahuan. Karena emosi, AKBP M Yusuf menganiaya si ibu dan anaknya.
5. Tindakan penganiayaan ini direkam oleh seseorang dan segera beredar luas di dunia maya.
6. Selain M Yusuf polisi juga memeriksa ibu dan anak yang mencuri di minimarket Apri Mart.

Latihan Mendengarkan

Pertanyaan Pemahaman

Isian

Tata Bahasa: The Adversative

In most cases, the circumfix ke-…-an is used to form abstract nouns. The circumfix ke-…-an can also be used to form adversative verbs. They indicate that the subject undergoes an unpleasant or undesired experience or event.

Adversative verbs explicitly focus attention on the adverse effect of the event on the subject:

Here, kehujanan has the explicit meaning “be adversely effected by the rain”.

In our text we have two adversative verbs with nearly the same meaning: kedapatan and ketahuan ‘be adversely effected by the fact that something was discovered/found out’.

For more information about the adversative consult 1.276-84 of Sneddon’s grammar.

Pekerjaan Rumah (PR)

Did you once had an unpleasant encounter with law enforcement, or have you heard or read a story of police brutality that you remember? Write a short essay of at least 150 words. You may want to add the following words or phrases: petugas, mengancam, menendang, memukul, menganiaya, penganiayaan, menyiksa.

Kartu Bolak Balik

Mencari Kata

Judul	Diriku Diputus Pacar Gara-gara Golput (Jawaban)
Penulis	Agus Mulyadi
Disadur dari	Mojok, 31 Maret 2018
Jumlah Kata	187
Tingkat Kesulitan	B1

Colloquial Indonesian

Agus Mulyadi’s answer is written mainly in formal Indonesian with only a few colloquialisms. Match the colloquialisms with their formal Indonesian counterparts.

Curhat

Curhat is a portmanteau formed by combining curahan ‘outpouring’ and hati ‘heart’. It can be translated as ‘outpouring of the heart’, or ‘venting (ones feelings or concerns)’. It may happen to you that an Indonesian friend suddenly tells you Saya mau curhat ke kamu ‘I want to share my story with you.’ Bear in mind that even though we translate hati as ‘heart’, it is actually the liver. The liver, not the heart, is where emotions are located in Indonesia.

Bacaan

Diriku Diputus Pacar Gara-gara Golput (Jawaban)

1. Ipul yang baik,
2. Saya benar-benar tertawa membaca curhat Ipul. Gimana nggak tertawa, baru pertama kali ini saya membaca cerita pasangan yang putus hanya gara-gara perbedaan cara pandang golput. Konyol sekali.
3. Kalau putus karena perbedaan agama, itu wajar, sebab itu hubungannya memang soal keluarga. Tapi kalau beda yang satu golput dan yang satu tidak, hahaha, itu lucuuuu.
4. Dari curhat Ipul, saya beranggapan bahwa pacar Ipul sebenarnya memang sudah tidak cinta sama Ipul, atau yang lebih buruk, memang tidak pernah cinta. Cinta yang sungguh-sungguh tidak akan tumbang hanya karena memilih golput.
5. Dia sebenarnya pengin memutuskan Ipul dengan alasan yang lain, misalnya “kamu jelek”, “kamu terlalu miskin”, atau alasan-alasan lain yang lebih masuk akal. Namun dia merasa tidak enak hati sehingga dia memakai perbedaan pandangan seperti golput sebagai alasan bagi dia untuk memutus Ipul.
6. Itu analisis saya yang, semoga saja salah, namun saya yakin itu benar. Hahaha.
7. Jadi, Ipul yang baik hati. Untuk saat ini, yang Ipul butuhkan bukan tips untuk bisa bersama lagi dengan dia. Yang Ipul butuhkan adalah kesadaran bahwa dia memang tidak cocok untuk Ipul.
8. Politik memang bangsat, Ipul. Tapi ingatlah, asmara jauh lebih bangsat.
9. ~Agus Mulyadi

Latihan Mendengarkan

Dengarkan rekaman dan lengkapilah teks di bawah.

Latihan Pemahaman

Kosa Kata

Bangsat ‘bedbug’ is the term you call a generally despicable person. Probably because the term is considered vulgar and offensive, bedbugs are usually called kutu busuk, while the term bangsat is reserved for all kinds of thugs, and anyone else that you regard as dishonest, shameless, or otherwise showing a contemptible lack of moral standards.

Note that the term is offensive, and also note that Indonesians, especially Javanese, rarely swear. In the context of our reading, the meaning of bangsat is relatively mild, and comparable to our ‘shit’, but it can also easily mean ‘bastard’, ‘asshole’, and even ‘motherfucker’ or ‘son of a bitch’. So please use it sparingly or – better – not at all!

Isian

Here is the first part of the above text translated into English. Some words are printed in bold. Translate those words into Indonesian.

Dear Ipul,
I really had to laugh reading the outpouring of your heart. How could I not laugh? This was the very first time I had read a story of a couple splitting up just because they have a different opinion about voting. So silly.

Breaking up because of different religions is understandable because it involves the families. But if the difference is that one votes and the other doesn’t, ha ha ha, that’ funny.

On reading the outpouring of your heart, I am convinced that your girlfriend doesn’t love you, or, even worse, never has loved you. True love is not going to collapse just because you prefer not to vote.

In reality, she wants to ditch you for other reasons such as that “you’re ugly”, “you’re too poor”, or for some other reason that makes better sense. But because she feels bad, she uses a difference in perspective such as boycotting the elections to break off with you.

This is my analysis, which hopefully is wrong, but I am sure it isn’t. Hahaha.

Therefore, my dear Ipul, for the time being what you need is not a tip on how you can reconnect with her. What you need is to realise that she is not the right girl for you.

Politics is problematic, Ipul. But, don’t forget, love is even more problematic.

Dikte

Click on the plus sign and read the summary carefully. Pay attention to the spelling of each word as this is a dictation exercise. After you have read the text, close the spoiler, and then complete the dictation exercise.

Latihan Kosa Kata

Fill in the gaps in the text by choosing from amongst the available words.

Pekerjaan Rumah (PR)

Go to the Internet and in your favourite search engine type “beranggapan site:kompas.com”. This will bring you to the national newspaper Kompas. Find five sentences with beranggapan and translate them into English. Then do the same but this time search for memutuskan. Remember that memutuskan has a large range of meanings: the primary meaning is 1. to break off, and 2. to decide. But it can also mean: terminate, disconnect, discontinue, determine, resolve, conclude, adjudicate, and finish.

Kartu Bolak Balik

Review and memorise the following words.

Judul	Diriku Diputus Pacar Gara-gara Golput (Bagian 1)
Penulis	Agus Mulyadi
Disadur dari	Mojok, 31 Maret 2018
Jumlah Kata	200
Tingkat Kesulitan	B1

Background

As one of the largest democracies on earth, Indonesia holds a general election (pemilihan umum, abbreviated to pemilu) every five years to elect the president, the 560-member People’s Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat, DPR) and the 128-seat Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Daerah, DPRD). On a different date, the Indonesian people also select regional representatives such as the governors (gubernur) on the provincial level (provinsi), the regents (bupati) on the regency level (kabupaten), and the mayors (wali kota) on the municipal level (kota). This election is known as pemilihan kepala daerah or pilkada.

Naturally, not everyone participates in the elections. Voters who abstain from voting are known by the portmanteau golput, from Golongan Putih, the “blank group” or “white party”.

Colloquial Indonesian

Our text is taken from the advice column of the online journal Mojok. The request for advice is answered by Agus Mulyadi who is intimately called Gus Mul. Letters to the editor are usually written in relaxed formal Indonesian, in which one usually finds a few elements of colloquial Indonesian.

What would it be in formal Indonesian?

What would the three words be in formal Indonesian?

What would it be in formal Indonesian?

Dikte

Click on the plus sign and read the summary carefully. Pay attention to the spelling of each word as this is a dictation exercise. After you have read the text, close the spoiler, and then complete the dictation exercise.

Bacaan

Ipul from Pekalongan in Jawa Tengah (Central Java) has a problem. His girlfriend broke up with him. Now he is seeking advice from Gus Mul whose answer you will find in the next lesson.

Diriku Diputus Pacar Gara-gara Golput (Pertanyaan)

1. Langsung saja ya. Jadi begini, Gus. Pada suatu ketika, saya pernah berdebat dengan pacar saya; debat kami sebenarnya tidak penting, debat soal memilih kepala daerah. Namun karena kami berdua punya cara pandang yang sangat berbeda, jadilah debat kami menjadi debat yang sangat panas.
2. Saya merasa bahwa di tengah kondisi politik yang sangat busuk ini, golput adalah pilihan yang paling masuk akal.
3. Namun di lain pihak, pacar saya sangat berbeda pandangan dengan saya. Bagi dirinya, memanfaatkan hak pilih adalah cara untuk ikut membangun negara ini.
4. Kami berdebat dengan sangat keras. “Apa kamu nggak cinta sama tanah airmu sendiri?” begitu kata pacar saya.
5. Ujung dari perdebatan ini, saya diputusin gara-gara saya memilih golput alias tidak menggunakan hak pilihnya untuk memilih siapa yang jadi pemimpin.
6. Nah, Gus Mul, mohon masukannya agar aku dan dia bisa bersama lagi walau saya dan dirinya sangat berbeda secara pemikiran tentang cara mencintai tanah air dan bangsa ini.
7. Salam dari saya, Ipul di Pekalongan.
8. ~Ipul

Latihan Mendengarkan

Dengarkan rekaman dan lengkapilah teks di bawah.

Latihan Pemahaman

Names in Indonesia: Ipul and Gus Mul

The name Ipul is derived from the Muslim name Syaiful (sword) or Syaifullah (sword of God). In most cases Ipul is a nickname, but it can also be found as a proper name in birth certificates. The Arabic name Syaiful is also often spelled Saiful, and as there is no f-sound in native Indonesian words, the ‘f’ gets substituted by a ‘p’ and hence we arrive at Saipul and then Ipul. Indonesians Indonesians tend to shorten names, especially in the vocative. So, a person with the name Ipul may be called ‘Pul’.

In our reading, Gus Mul is an abbreviation of Agus Mulyadi, and it is not the Javanese title Gus given to the sons of Islamic religious leaders (Kiyai). Agus is a popular Javanese name meaning ‘the honourable’. Because of its association with the word Agustus (August), Agus has become a popular name for children born in said month.

The most prominent Indonesian person with the title Gus, is the former president Abdulrahaman Wahid, who in Indonesia is better known as Gus Dur. He was in fact a religious leader, and the chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama.

Gara-gara & Gara-gara apa?

All because of Android!

Gara-Gara as a Noun

In the meaning ‘because’, gara-gara is a conjunction. With added apa it is an interrogative (question word). gara-gara is also a noun, which, in the standard Indonesian dictionary, is defined as ‘a shocking event’, and in the Malaysian standard dictionary it is defined as “disaster, chaos, commotion, and uproar.” By the way, it is perfectly safe to use a Malaysian instead of an Indonesian dictionary, as standard Malaysian and standard Indonesian are virtually identical.

Kau yang mendatangkan gara-gara ini!
You’re the one who caused this commotion!

More commonly, gara-gara is translated as ‘trouble’ or ‘problem’.

Kenapa kalian membuat gara-gara di sini?
Why are you causing trouble here?

Gara-Gara as an Interrogative

Instead of asking mengapa? or the more colloquial kenapa? (why?), you may as well ask karena apa? (because of what?; what for?; why):

Fuji terkenal karena apa?
What is [the actress] Fuji known for?

Meredupnya demokrasi Indonesia: Karena apa, oleh siapa?
The decline of Indonesian democracy: Why and by whom?

Saya diberhentikan dari pekerjaan. Karena apa?
I got fired from my job. What for?

We have a toddler in our family who is three years old. She grows up trilingually, but as the parents reside in Indonesia, her main language is Indonesian.

When we ask her a question with kenapa? or karena apa?, she usually does not answer with karena (because), but instead she uses gara-gara, which also means ‘because’.

As she is only three years old, she is not yet aware of the fact that, even though karena and gara-gara are synonyms, there is a subtle, but important difference between karena and gara-gara. While karena is neutral, gara-gara always has a negative connotation.

Gara-gara is much more frequently used as an interrogative (with added apa?), and as a conjuction with the meaning ‘because’ or ‘because of what?’, but only when it leads to an undesired or unpleasant effect:

Gara-gara apa kamu tidak bisa masak?
Why couldn’t you cook?

Gara-gara apa Bapak pilek?
Because of what did you catch a cold?

Gara-gara apa kamu diputusin?
Because of what did she ditch you?

The interrogative gara-gara can also be paired with siapa?

Ini terjadi gara-gara siapa?
Because of whom did this happen?

Gara-Gara as a Conjunction

Gara-gara is much more frequently used as a conjunction with the meaning ‘because’, but only when it leads to an undesired or unpleasant effect:

Frequently, a translation of ‘just because’ is also appropriate:

Suatu

The indefinite number suatu ‘a, one’ is similar in function to sebuah (see Sneddon 2.21). Suatu usually occurs with abstract nouns whereas sebuah tends to occur with concrete nouns, but this is not always the case so that there is considerable overlap between suatu and sebuah:

Suatu, but not sebuah, is also used with time words to form
indefinite temporal phrases:

The indefinite number suatu is not the same as the pronoun sesuatu!

The pronouns seseorang and sesuatu correspond to English ‘someone’ and ‘something’ respectively:

Diri

The reflexive pronoun diri ‘self’ can be used to form reflexive phrases. It usually occurs as the object of a verb and indicates that the object is the same person as the subject of the verb:

Diriku is ‘myself’, dirimu is ‘yourself’ and dirinya is ‘herself/himself’:

Note that the full phrase is diri + possessive pronoun + sendiri, as in Dia membela dirinya sendiri ‘He defends himself’, or Ratna memperkenalkan diri sendiri ‘Ratna introduced herself’. The addition of sendiri makes the phrase particularly emphatic.

For more explanations and samples see Sneddon 2.162-164

Foregrounding -lah

The common position for the subject is to precede the predicate:

The predicate can be given special emphasis by placing it in initial position. The particle -lah is then usually attached to the predicate:

Lah- attaches to the first word of the predicate, which may be a negative, temporal marker or modal:

Isian

Here is the above text translated into English. Some words are printed in bold. Translate those words into Indonesian.

Let me get straight to the point, if I may. It’s like this, Gus. Once I had an argument with my girlfriend; our argument was trivial – it was about the local elections. Yet, as we both have very different viewpoints, the debate became pretty heated.

I think that amidst the rotten political climate, the most sensible choice is to abstain from voting.

But on the other side, my girlfriend has a completely different opinion. For her, using the right to vote is a way to participate in developing our nation.

It evolved into a strenuous debate. “Don’t you love your own country?” said my girlfriend.

As a result of this debate, my girlfriend ditched me for abstaining, which is not using my right to vote for who is going to become the leader.

Well, Gus Mul, may I kindly ask you for your advice so that the two of us can get together again even though we both have very different thoughts on how to love our homeland and nation.

Frasa yang Berguna

Read the following English phrases and try to guess their meanings in Indonesian. Click “Balik” to check your answer. Then locate the phrases in the text to see them in context.

Kartu Bolak Balik

Review and memorise the following words.

Pekerjaan Rumah (PR)

How do you think Agus Mulyadi will respond to this letter? What will is reaction be? What advise will he give Ipul. Write a few sentences. Incorporate phrases such as menurut saya ‘in my opinion’, saya kira ‘I think’, saya kurang yakin ‘I am not that convinced’ etc.

Mencari Kata