Dialogue

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Lesson Transcript

Hello and welcome to Indonesian Survival Phrases, brought to you by IndonesianPod101.com This course is designed to equip you with the language skills and knowledge to enable you to get the most out of your visit to Indonesia. You'll be surprised at how far a little Indonesian will go. Now before we jump in, remember to stop by IndonesianPod101.com. And there you’ll find the accompanying PDF and additional info in the post. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment.
Indonesian Survival Phrases Lesson 30. Can you take my picture?
In this lesson we'll introduce a phrase that is certain to come in handy for capturing you memories on film. Indonesia is full of beautiful scenery, and there are times when you'll want to be in the picture or have everyone in your party in the picture. Therefore, there are times when the question, "Can you take our/my picture?" will be invaluable!
In Indonesia "Can you take our/my picture?" is Tolong potret, ya? Let’s break it down by syllable to-long po-tret ya? Now let’s hear it once again Tolong potret ya? The first word tolong means "help" or "please do something for me." Let’s break down this word and hear it one more time. To-long. tolong. This is followed by potret, which in Indonesian is "take a picture." Potret. po-tret. potret. So to recap here, we have tolong potret. Literally this means "please take a picture for me." Let's take a look at the last word ya which means "yes" or "alright." So altogether we have Tolong potret, ya? Literally this means "Please take a picture of me, alright?" The verb remains the same no matter whether you"re saying "can you take our picture?" or "can you take my picture?"
In English, before someone takes a picture, the person taking the picture may say, "1, 2, 3. Cheese." In Indonesian, people usually just count 1-3, which, as a reminder, is satu, dua, tiga. Let’s hear it again satu, dua, tiga. Some people will utter that ultra-versatile exclamatory particle, ya, which means "yes" or "alright" after the count. This would then be satu, dua, tiga, yyya!
So if you're taking the picture, you'll say this. And if you're having your picture taken, you'll hear this! Just want to let you in on a secret tip. Photos of yourself and your family are a very good way to start off a friendly conversations with the local people. You see when you are in Indonesia and when people first meet you, they will be curious about many things about you and your family. If you have photos of you and your family for example with your parents and siblings, or your spouse and children, your new Indonesian conversation partner will be happy to know that you have a family just like him or her. Which is an asset in making friends in Indonesia.
Okay, to close out today’s lesson, we'd like for you to practice what you've just learned. I'll provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you're responsible for saying the Indonesian phrase out loud or in Indonesian, dengan keras. You’ll have a few seconds before I give you the answer, so selamat sukses, that means "good luck!" in Indonesian.
All right so here we go!
“Can you take my/our picture?” (Tolong potret ya. to-long po-tret ya. tolong potret ya.)
The Indonesian version of “1, 2, 3, Cheese” (Satu, dua, tiga, yyya. sa-tu, du-a, ti-ga, yyya. satu, dua, tiga, yyya.)
Alright, that's going to do it for today!
Remember to stop by IndonesianPod101.com and pick up the accompanying PDF. When you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment.

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