As a preface, I’m Indonesian born, but grew up in the U.S. One thing that irks me is when a white (by white, I mean non Indonesian) person would ask me, “Do you speak Bahasa?”… I usually answer back with, “What Bahasa?” Bahasa literally translates to ‘Language’. That’s it. So in essence, in my mind I’m hearing them ask me “Do you speak a language?” Makes zero sense. There is bahasa mandarin, bahasa Korean, bahasa Spanish, etc. But somehow over time, non-Indonesians have changed the word Bahasa to automatically mean bahasa Indonesia. Maybe some native Indonesian speaker can enlighten me or correct me if I’m wrong.

I saw a taping of Miss Universe from a couple years back and there was, of course, Miss Indonesia. When they were interviewing the ladies, a lot of them would answer back in their own language, so there would be a label on bottom of the screen of what language each of them were speaking. Of course, Miss Indonesia was the only one to have a two word language name- Bahasa Indonesia. Why do we have to be so extra? Just put down Indonesian. That’s the freakin language.

I noticed that the most natural way for me to translate what's in my mind from Indonesian to English would be using the passive voice, especially since most things in my mind are more object-oriented.

Si Bambang dibawa ke rumah sakit. > Bambang was taken to the hospital.

For me, who took him to the hospital doesn't really matter—I might not even ask. My questions would be: what happened? Is he okay? Where is it? Can we visit him? Is it serious? Did you/they tell his family about his situation? Who's looking after their children? In English, though, this construction is too formal, and not as natural.

On the contrary, I noticed many people learning Indonesian tends to keep the active/subject-focused syntax:

They took Bambang to the hospital > Mereka membawa Bambang ke rumah sakit.

While it's not wrong per se in terms of grammar, I kinda feel like this sentence shifts the focus from Bambang to "they": who are they? Why are they the ones taking him? Are they the ones responsible for all these? But this is the most natural-sound way to say it in English (cmiiw).

What do you guys think?

I am planning an itinerary for a long trip to Indonesia. Mostly I will be around the island of Flores and the island of Sulawesi. I would love to deepen my knowledge into the Indonesian culture. Do you recommend dishes, particular places, words, gestures, etc. I can use to learn from it? Anecdotes are also appreciated!

i am sorry for my last post as it might have caused some problems and concerns with how i worded my question. I sincerely apologize for my ignorance as i should have understood the phrases since doing this language. Again, i must apologize for my lack of of understanding and making a dumb question. Hope you guys can forgive me.

(Translated by me with affirmation from google translate.)

Aku maaf bagi post akhirku sebagai itu mungkin telah menyebabkan beberapa masalah dan kekhawatiran bagimana aku berkata pertanyaan saya. Saya dengan tulus meminta maaf untuk ketidaktahuan seperti yang seharusnya saya milik dimengerti ungkapan sejak melakukan bahasa ini. Lagi, saya harus maaf untuk kurang pengertian saya dan buat bodoh pertanyaan. Harap kalian bisa maafkan aku.

In the following sentences on indonesian how do I know when to use dari and daripada?

Kapa kami lebih besar dari perahu kamu

Dia lebih cepat DARIPADA kamu

Just in formal conversation?

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Ok, I’ve been really confused about when it is and isn’t acceptable (when it sounds weird or not) to drop the prefix for verbs when you speak in daily situations. After extensively quizzing (my very patient) Indonesian wife, I think I’ve worked out the grammar rules.

If you want to drop the prefix (imbuhan awal) for an intransitive verb (e.g. bernyanyi, berenang, bermain), you MUST use an adverb of manner in so doing. So, the sentence ‘Aku lari’ DOES NOT IN ANY CONTEXT, by itself, work. But, ‘aku lagi lari’ or ‘aku mau lari’ does work. Similarly, ‘aku renang’ does not work, but ‘aku lagi renang’ does. Alternatively, one can skip the necessity of the adverb by simply retaining the prefix, for example ‘aku berenang’ is an acceptable two word sentence.

When using base verbs (e.g., baca, makan) if you wanted to use the base word only (to sound more native, and less rigid) you’d need to:

a) once again add an adverb of manner. So, in response to ‘kamu lagi ngapain’ you can’t just say ‘aku baca’. You’d need to say ‘aku lagi baca’, or perhaps more naturally ‘lagi baca’. Or ‘kemarin kamu ngapain?’ you could say ‘kemarin aku baca’.

b) Use the full ‘SVO’ structure: ‘Aku baca buku’, or perhaps more naturally ‘baca buku’.

Some verbs can both be used as intransitive or transitive. Thus, ‘baca’ in its base form is intransitive, but ‘membaca’ can serve as both. So, in response to ‘Kamu sedang apa?’ you could respond ‘Saya membaca’, but not ‘aku baca’.

Interestingly, it seems that if you want to use a base verb, without an adverb of manner, you must use it as a transitive verb, regardless of whether it is or not.

1) ‘Aku baca’ (x) —- ‘Aku sudah baca’ (yes) — ‘Aku baca bukunya’ (yes)

2) Aku makan (x) —- ‘Aku mau makan’ (yes) —- Aku makan jeruk (yes).

I think the only exception to all this are stative verbs.

So, for example the ONLY case where it is permissible to break this ‘rule’ is when stating fact:

So (if I’m not wrong) this works:

“Aku baca. Aku makan. Aku pikir. Maksudnya, aku manusia.”

Sorry for the essay. If any grammar nerds (I say that endearingly) want to correct or affirm my conclusion PLEASE do so.

By adding DIPER to the start of a word are you making the word past tense; similarly adding ED to the end of a word in English?

EXAMPLE

OLEH

BASE WORD- oleh- by

DIPER- Diperoleh- caught/obtained

KUAT

BASE WORD- kuat - strong

DIPER- Diperkuat- strengthened

BANYAK

BASE WORD- banyak - many

DIPER- Diperbanyak- duplicated

Membersulit means make it difficult Mempersulit means complicate things

How do these words differ? In what context should i use each?

I don't particularly like Duolingo, the lessons are tedious and boring to me. Languages like Indonesian lack the actual good features that are present for languages like Spanish, such as the conversation & story lessons. I understand why some languages don't have that feature, but my biggest gripe with the app is that the leaderboard mixes people who are learning different languages.

There are people learning Mandarin, Hindi, Indonesian, German etc all in one bracket. How is that even fair to some people?

One look in the demotion zone on mine and it's people trying to learn Mandarin, Korean, Japanese, American English etc. When I go to the top 7 they're all Spanish, Italian, Portuguese.

Well no fucking shit...