Parlez You bahasa
For most people, the Indonesian language is undoubtedly one of the easiest languages to learn. It has a very simple grammatical structure, it does not have the time and it uses the same alphabet as English and several other languages. Better yet, the language is phonetic, and therefore the words are very easy to spell
Among non-native speakers of Indonesia, there are six steps to the base capacity :.
1. Not a word: This is obviously the level everyone is before you start learning and the level at which some expatriates remain, even if they live in Indonesia since 50 years. Many who progresses from the first stage to the second stage or beyond may as well stay at the first stage because they speak with their native Indonesian and Indonesian accent not understand a word they say anyway.
2. Taxi language: The basic vocabulary of English is four words; kiri kanan terus and "stop", and the majority of expatriates each of these words must be accompanied by animated pointing and gestures - left pointing regular or right to kiri or kanan, the right index finger down and sweep forward for terus and vigorous tapping on the shoulder of the driver to "stop". In the end, the more adventurous expat can add the word berapa in a tone of questioning to find out how much the trip cost, but the majority will just read the meter, hand on the rounded amount to more near ten miles and exit. Some will add a summary 'makasih as they left the taxi. There are, however, some expats who will engage in a tense stand-off and time with the driver as he fumbles with liveliness in his pocket pretending to seek change while hoping that the small will get tired of waiting and let him keep. I saw this battle will continue for a while when my friend Jock English teacher out of a taxi.
3. Enough to get into trouble: At this stage, non-native speakers of Indonesia can find their confidence reverse in taxis, order in restaurants and amaze the visitors (and other expatriates who are still in the first stage). As long as everything goes as expected this level is quite impressive, but things can go wrong when the Indonesians assume that "Indonesian expatriates is fluid and start talking to them at the same speed that they would talk to an Indonesian. This is when the expatriates shopping for a new pair of shoes end up going home with a bag of sugar and a toothbrush.
4. Conversational At this stage, the expatriate Indonesian speaks quite good and can actually get through a conversation with an Indonesian by understanding most of what is said and nodding knowingly at the right time. Occasionally there will be a word or phrase that the announcement has not heard before, but usually meaning can be gleaned from the context and the expatriate will disappear with a fair idea of what the conversation was going, and Indonesia will go home convinced expat fluent Indonesian. Later, both discover how wrong they were.
talked 5. Current: This is the stage where the Indonesians on their Indonesian expatriates compliment and ask how long they have been in the country. Each possible answer is filled with an expression of surprise or because the expatriate's been here so long or because the expatriate learned good Indonesian in a short space of time. Anyway, the conversation will often in areas that most foreigners are not really comfortable talking with someone they just met, so little will end up pretending to be the first step to avoid sharing the most embarrassing details of their lives.
6. Fluent spoken and written: Very few reach this point, and those who sit proudly in Indonesian restaurants smoking kretek and reading Kompas . Many also wear batik all the time, put their hands in the chest after they shake hands with you and act like there is no tomorrow.
The vast majority of expatriates will have somewhere between stages two and three, no matter how long they have been in Indonesia. At what stage are you?
0 Komentar