Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Becky: Hi everyone, and welcome back to IndonesianPod101.com. This is Upper Beginner Season 1 Lesson 3 - Getting a Bargain in Indonesia I’m Becky.
Fira: Halo. This is Fira.
Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use the word...
Fira: ...Bisa
Becky: which means “can” or “to be able to”. You’ll learn how to use this word to ask if someone can do something. The conversation takes place in a shop.
Fira: It's between Rina and shop clerk.
Becky: Because they are both about the same age and the customer is asking for a bargain, the speakers will be using informal Indonesian. Okay, let's listen to the conversation.

Lesson conversation

Rina: Permisi, ini harganya berapa?
Pegawai toko: Ini harganya Rp 80.000,-.
Rina: Masa? Kemarin saya lihat di tempat lain lebih murah. Bisa kurang enggak?
Pegawai toko: Boleh. Mau berapa?
Rina: Rp 60.000,- saja ya?
Pegawai toko: Tidak bisa. Saya kasih Rp 75.000,-
Rina: Kemahalan! Rp 70.000,- deh...
Pegawai toko: Iya boleh.
Becky: Listen to the conversation one time slowly.
Rina: Permisi, ini harganya berapa?
Pegawai toko: Ini harganya Rp 80.000,-.
Rina: Masa? kemarin saya lihat di tempat lain lebih murah. Bisa kurang enggak?
Pegawai toko: Boleh. Mau berapa?
Rina: Rp 60.000,- saja ya?
Pegawai toko: Tidak bisa. Saya kasih Rp 75.000,-
Rina: Kemahalan! Rp 70.000,- deh...
Pegawai toko: Iya boleh.
Becky: Listen to the conversation with the English translation.
Rina: Excuse me, how much is this?
Shop staff: This costs 80,000 Rupiahs.
Rina: Really? Yesterday I saw a cheaper one at another place. Can you lower the price?
Shop staff: Sure. How much do you want?
Rina: 60,000 Rupiahs, alright?
Shop staff: No, that's not possible. I'll give you 75,000 Rupiahs.
Rina: Too expensive! What about 70,000 Rupiahs...
Shop staff: Yes, you may.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Becky: Fira, it’s pretty common to see products without a price tag in Indonesia, right?
Fira: That’s right. While most prices you see in shopping malls in Indonesia are fixed, there are also many things that can be negotiated.
Becky: Especially in a traditional market. If it doesn't have a price tag on it, you could ask for the price and bargain for a cheaper one.
Fira: And you can definitely ask for discounts using the expressions that we learned in the previous lesson. For example, Kurangi harganya.
Becky: Meaning “Give me discount.” or literally “Lessen the price.” And listeners, note that sometimes in some smaller shops, you can still bargain even if there are tags.
VOCAB LIST
Becky: Now let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is..
Fira: kemarin [natural native speed]
Becky: yesterday
Fira: kemarin[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Fira: kemarin [natural native speed]
Becky: Next..
Fira: kasih [natural native speed]
Becky: to give
Fira: kasih[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Fira: kasih [natural native speed]
Becky: Next..
Fira: kemahalan [natural native speed]
Becky: too expensive
Fira: kemahalan[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Fira: kemahalan [natural native speed]
Becky: Next..
Fira: mau [natural native speed]
Becky: to want
Fira: mau[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Fira: mau [natural native speed]
Becky: Next..
Fira: tempat [natural native speed]
Becky: place
Fira: tempat[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Fira: tempat [natural native speed]
Becky: Next..
Fira: murah [natural native speed]
Becky: cheap, inexpensive
Fira: murah[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Fira: murah [natural native speed]
Becky: Next..
Fira: bisa [natural native speed]
Becky: can, be able to
Fira: bisa[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Fira: bisa [natural native speed]
Becky: And last..
Fira: kurang [natural native speed]
Becky: less, deficient
Fira: kurang[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Fira: kurang [natural native speed]
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
Becky: Let's take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is..
Fira: Bisa kurang?
Becky: meaning "Can you lower it?"
Fira: Bisa is an auxiliary verb meaning "can" or "be able to", and Kurang is an adjective meaning "less" or "fewer".
Becky: So literally it means "Can less?" or “Can you lower it?”
Fira: You can use an alternative phrase, boleh kurang? as well. Boleh is also an auxiliary verb meaning "be allowed", and this phrase means the same as the first.
Becky: They can be used interchangeably.
Fira: That’s right. Or sometimes, you can add the word harganya meaning “Price” and say Bisa kurang harganya?
Becky: "Can you lower the price?" Okay, what's the next word?
Fira: tidak bisa
Becky: meaning "cannot"
Fira: tidak means "no", and bisa is the auxiliary verb meaning "can" or "be able to".
Becky: So it literally means “not be able to” or “cannot.” Like the English word “cannot,” you can use this phrase to express that something cannot be done or to describe someone's inability to do something. Fira, can you give us an example using this word?
Fira: Sure. For example, you can say.. Dia tidak bisa memakai sumpit.
Becky: .. which means "He cannot use the chopsticks." Okay, now onto the grammar.

Lesson focus

Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use the word...
Fira: Bisa
Becky: ...which means “can” or “to be able to”. How can we use this word, Fira?
Fira: You can simply put it before a verb like in English. For example, bisa berenang.
Becky: “can swim”.
Fira: Using this word, you can say Saya bisa berenang meaning “I can swim.”
Becky: What about “I can ride a bike?”
Fira: Saya bisa naik sepeda. Naik sepeda is the phrase meaning “to ride a bike.”
Becky: Then how would you say “They can speak Indonesian fluently” using this word?
Fira: Using Bisa, you can say.. Mereka bisa bicara bahasa Indonesia dengan fasih.
Becky: Can you break this down for us?
Fira: Sure. The first word is Mereka, meaning “they” and next comes bisa, meaning “can.” Mereka bisa means “they can.”
Becky: And after that?
Fira: After that comes the verb bicara meaning “to speak” and the word bahasa Indonesia meaning “Indonesian language.” Finally at the end we have dengan fasih, which means “fluently.”
Altogether, we say Mereka bisa bicara bahasa Indonesia dengan fasih.
Becky: “They can speak Indonesian fluently.” Can you use this word to ask a question like “Can you swim?”
Fira: Sure. In that case, you can put the word apakah first. For example, “Can you swim?” in Indonesian is.. Apakah kamu bisa berenang?
Becky: So it’s the same sentence meaning “you can swim” but with the extra word in the beginning, right?
Fira: That’s right. Apakah indicates that it’s a question, then we have kamu meaning “you”, bisa meaning “to be able to”, then berenang meaning “ to swim.” Altogether, once more, Apakah kamu bisa berenang?
Becky: “Can you swim?” What about “Can you eat with chopsticks?”
Fira: That would be Apakah kamu bisa makan dengan sumpit? Note that I used Apakah at the beginning to make the sentence a question, then the word bisa meaning “can” before the verb makan meaning “to eat.”

Outro

Becky: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye!
Fira: Sampai jumpa lagi!

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