Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Jason:Jason here! Absolute Beginner Season 1, Lesson 7 - I’m from Bali, not ‘Bali Hai’!
Fira:Hello everyone! I'm Fira, and welcome to IndonesianPOD101.com.
Jason:In this lesson, you’ll learn how to say where you’re from, especially when someone asks you.
Fira:So, where does this conversation take place?
Jason:Well, it takes place in the hotel restaurant, where Edi, our main character, speaks with Wayan, another hotel guest, who is from Bali. Wayan is interested in knowing where Edi is from.
Fira:Dengarkan dengan baik! Let's listen to the conversation!
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Jason:Alright, so Edi meets a new person in the hotel restaurant, Wayan, from Bali. Fira, where is Bali, exactly?
Fira:It’s one of the islands in Indonesia, and it lies east of Java. It’s probably the most popular island among tourists coming to Indonesia. So, Jason, can you tell our listeners why Bali is so special?
Jason:Well, you know that Indonesia is about 90% Muslim and has the world’s largest Muslim population.
Fira:Right.
Jason:Bali is different. Over 90% of its population is Hindu. In fact, it’s the last stronghold of Hinduism in this part of the world.
Fira:Oh, so could you explain more about how Hinduism got there in the first place?
Jason:Well, Islam came over with the arrival of Indian traders during the 15th century, so Islam is a relatively recent arrival. Before then, many islands were Hindu, due to various Hindu kingdoms that emerged several centuries ago. There were Hindu settlements in Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan, and of course, present-day Bali.
Fira:And when Islam started to spread, many of the nobles of the Majapahit kingdom in East Java fled east to Bali – and brought their artists and craftsmen with them. And so, they brought not only their religious system, but also their artistic sense to Bali.
Jason:And one more thing – if you happen to meet someone named Wayan from Bali, it’s a name much like “John” or “Mary”. There are many people with that name.
Fira:Yes, why is that?
Jason:Well, it’s because it’s simply a name that denotes birth order, which is the traditional way of naming people in Bali. And Wayan indicates that the person is first-born.
Fira:That’s interesting. So, Jason, shall we go over the vocabulary we have for this lesson?
Jason:Yes, let’s do that.
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
Jason:Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson.
Fira:The first word is dari.
Jason:Dari means ‘from’, right?
Fira:Right.
Jason:How would we use this, Fira?
Fira:We use this to indicate where someone or something has come from.
Jason:Oh, I see. So listeners, why not practice this with some of the locations we’ve learned already? OK, so how do we say, “from the bank” – which could be important to know at some point. What is “bank” again?
Fira:Bank.
Jason:And again, how do we say “from the bank”?
Fira:Dari bank. Da-ri bank. (Pause.)
Jason:And remember, in Indonesian, don’t worry about using articles like “a” or “the” like we do in English. Indonesian doesn’t really have them.
Fira:That’s right. So, remember – don’t worry if you think an article is missing – there aren’t any in Indonesian.
Jason:So, “from the bank” is simply dari bank.
Fira:That’s absolutely correct. And also, let’s see how we can use the word “dari” in different situations.
Jason:Imagine that you’re in a market full of items from all around Indonesia. There are many art and antique markets, especially in Java and Bali. And let’s say that you’ve come across an item that you really like, such as an antique statue. You can’t find any information on where it came from. What would you do?
Fira:Can you guess, listeners? It’s very simple! You just point at the object and ask “Ini dari mana?” I-ni da-ri ma-na?
Jason:That’s right – Ini dari mana? “Where is this from?”
Fira:So it’s ini, which means ‘this’, followed by our question of the day – dari mana?
Jason:Right – and you could do this with any object in the shop. Now what happens if you want to say ‘that’?
Fira:Again, it’s very simple. You simply substitute ini, ‘this’ with itu ‘that’, which would give you Itu dari mana? I-tu da-ri ma-na? (Pause)
Jason:That’s correct. Just make that substitution from ini ‘this’ to itu ‘that’, and you’ll be well on your way! Okay, now on to the grammar.
GRAMMAR POINT
Jason:In this lesson, we're going to learn how to say where you’re from.
Fira:Let's talk about this phrase first; dari mana.
Jason:And what does this mean, Fira?
Fira:It literally means “from where”, but we use it when we want to ask where someone has come from.
Jason:And so we translate this as “where are you from” or “where are you coming from”, right?
Fira:That’s right.
Jason:And how do we use this?
Fira:Well, in the dialogue, remember that Wayan asks Edi where he’s from.
Jason:Right – Wayan asks…
Fira:Dari mana? Da-ri ma-na?
Jason:It literally means ‘where from?’ – now notice we don’t have to mention anything about countries or anything like that.
Fira:Yeah, it’s simple. It’s just dari mana? How do we answer this question?
Jason:Well, in most cases, if an Indonesian asks you this question, he or she is mainly interested in knowing where you’ve come from. So, you can reply this way.
Fira:Saya dari...
Jason:...and then the name of the country.
Fira:That’s right. Saya dari... then the country name.
Jason:Remember that saya means ‘I’ or ‘me’, and that dari means ‘from’. So literally, you have “I from”. So if you’re an American, how would you answer?
Fira:Saya dari Amerika. (slowly) Saya dari america.
Jason:Okay, now try with a few country names. Fira, how do we say “I’m from France”?
Fira:Perancis means ‘France’, so you can say Saya dari Perancis. (slowly) Sa-ya dari Pe-ran-cis.
Jason:Well done. Let’s do another one. How do we say “I’m from Japan”?
Fira:Saya dari Jepang. Sa-ya dari Je-pang.
Jason:Okay, let’s try one more. So Fira, how do we say “I’m from Greece”?
Fira:Oh, that’s a more difficult one. Basically, Greece is Yunani.
Jason:Right – Yunani. And so?
Fira:“I’m from Greece” would be Saya dari Yunani. Sa-ya dari Yunani.
Jason:And remember, if you feel like it, you can omit the saya, which means ‘I’. You’re talking about yourself, so you do have license to simply say “dari” plus the country name.

Outro

Jason:Okay, that’s it for this lesson.
Fira:See you next time!

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