Aims

  • To practise asking what something is like or what somebody thinks.

Vocabulary Review

Here are some of the frequent words used in this lesson that have appeared in previous lessons.  Using the flashcards, check that you remember their meanings.

bersih, cepat, indah, kantor, katanya, kembali, makanan, menyenangkan, sekarang

Asking What Something is Like or what somebody thinks

To ask what something is like you can begin your question with bagaimana (literally: “how”).

Bagaimana kota Paris?
What is the city of Paris like?

Bagaimana mobil Anda?
What is your car like?

Bagaimana makanan di Warung Sudi Mampir?
What is the food like at the Sudi Mampir eatery?

Bagaimana Universitas Widya Buana?
What is Widya Buana University like?

You can begin, and sometimes end, your answer with saya kira... (I think..., in my opinion)

Saya suka kota Paris.
I like the city of Paris. 		Saya kira Paris indah sekali.
I think Paris is very beautiful.
Mobil saya Toyota.
My car is a Toyota. 		Mobil saya tidak besar tetapi cepat, saya kira.
My car isn’t big but it’s fast, in my opinion.

Saya kira makanan di Warung Sudi Mampir tidak enak tetapi murah.
In my opinion the food at Sudi Mampir eatery isn’t very nice but it’s cheap.

Saya kira Universitas Widya Buana cukup baik. Saya suka belajar di sana.
I think Widya Buana University is quite good. I like studying there.

Exercise 10-01

Fill in the blanks in the answers to the questions in this exercise by writing the correct Indonesian translation of the English word/phrase appearing in brackets after the question.

  1. Bagaimana Warung Sudi Mampir?  [not tasty]
    Saya kira makanan di Warung Sudi Mampir ____________________________
  2. Di mana kampus Universitas Nasional?  [behind]
    Kampus Universitas Nasional ____________________ kantor imigrasi, tidak jauh dari pusat kota.
  3. Apakah Anda suka tinggal di Singapura?  [Yes, I do.]
    ____________________. Saya kira Singapura menyenangkan.
  4. Apakah Anda mau naik bus ke Semarang?  [Sorry]
    _______________, saya tidak bisa. Saya tidak suka naik bus.
  5. Di mana sepeda Anda?  [I think]
    Sepeda saya di samping rumah ____________________
  6. Bagaimana Toko Sogo di Jalan Hatta?  [excellent]
    Toko Sogo __________________ sekali. Saya suka pergi ke sana.
  7. Apakah kereta api dari Jogja ke Solo bersih?  [by]
    Bersih sekali. Apakah Anda mau pergi ke Solo _____________ kereta api?
  8. Saya suka makan nasi dan ayam goreng. Apakah Anda juga suka?  [But I don’t like]
    Suka. _____________________________ makan di pasar. Pasar kotor sekali.
  9. Anda berasal dari New York. Apakah Anda suka tinggal di Los Angeles?  [go back]
    Tidak suka!  Saya mau ___________________ ke New York.
  10. Bagaimana kampus Universitas Nasional?  [beautiful]
    Kampus Universitas Nasional _______________ sekali, tetapi tidak ramai.

Talking about your Impressions, Opinions, Likes and Dislikes

You now have the resources to converse at length in Indonesian. Of course, what you say is still not exactly “sophisticated”, but at this point it is important to put quantity ahead of content. Sophisticated content will come later (but sooner than you expect!)

You can now talk about

  • countries and towns (Belanda, Jepang, Melbourne, Jakarta etc.)
  • buildings and locations (mesjid, universitas, kantor pos, terminal bus etc.)
  • foods and beverages (makanan, teh, ayam goreng, roti etc.)
  • vehicles (bus, mobil, kereta api, pesawat terbang etc.).

Using di mana and prepositions of place like di dekat, di samping, di .... etc. you can ask and answer questions about where something is located. You can talk about going to (pergi ke) a place, coming back from/to (kembali dari/ke) a place and staying in (tinggal di) a place, and with naik you can talk about the mode of transport you use.

You can express a wish, liking or preference for something using suka or tidak suka, mau or tidak mau, and bisa or tidak bisa. You can talk about eating (makan) and drinking (minum).

You can ask someone “whether” using questions that begin with apakah. You can also ask what something is like using questions that begin with bagaimana.

You can express your opinion (and your surprise) using saya kira, and you can stitch together long answers using the connectors tetapi, dan, juga and atau.

And as you converse, you can nod wisely and say O begitu (Is that so? Really? I see).

Let’s look now at what an extended conversation might be like, using the resources summarised above.

Dialogue

Dengarkan rekaman ini.

Kata Baru | Transkripsi

 

 
Katanya Anda berasal dari Kupang.

  Ya, saya berasal dari Kupang tetapi sekarang saya tinggal di Jakarta.

O begitu. Apakah Anda suka tinggal di Jakarta?

   Tidak suka. Saya mau kembali ke Kupang.
Di mana kota Kupang? Apakah Kupang jauh dari Jakarta?   Jauh. Kota Kupang di Timor, di dekat Darwin, Australia.
Bagaimana kota Kupang?   Kupang menyenangkan. Jakarta ramai sekali tetapi Kupang tidak ramai.
Apakah Kupang besar?   Tidak. Kupang tidak besar, tetapi juga tidak kecil. Saya suka kota kecil.

O begitu. Bagaimana makanan di Kupang? Apakah makanan Timor enak?

   Saya kira makanan di Timor tidak enak. Dan mahal.

Mahal? Apakah Anda suka makan di restoran mahal atau di warung di pasar?

   Saya suka makan di restoran atau di rumah. Warung di pasar kotor sekali. Saya tidak suka makan di pasar.
Tetapi katanya ikan di Timor enak sekali.  

Ya, saya suka sekali makan ikan goreng di Kupang. Saya juga suka minum bir di Teddy’s Bar.

Di mana Teddy’s Bar? Apakah Teddy’s Bar jauh dari pusat kota?  

Tidak. Teddy’s Bar di samping kantor pos, tidak jauh dari terminal di pusat kota.

O begitu. Anda akan kembali ke Kupang naik apa? Naik pesawat terbang atau naik kapal?

   Naik pesawat terbang dari Jakarta ke Bali. Dari Bali ke Kupang saya akan naik kapal.
Di Kupang Anda akan tinggal di mana?   Saya mau tinggal di Hotel Cendana di depan kantor polisi di Jalan Rinjani tidak jauh dari kampus universitas.
Oh! Saya kira Anda akan tinggal di rumah Anda di Kupang.   Tidak. Rumah saya di sana kecil sekali. Saya tidak mau tinggal di rumah.
Dari hotel ke pusat kota Anda harus naik apa?   Saya harus pergi ke pusat kota naik taksi atau angkot.
Baik, Terima kasih, Pak. Sampai jumpa.   Mari. Selamat sore.

 

exercise 10-02

Listen again to the soundfile and read the transcription. After carefully reading, close it. Do Latihan 3 and Latihan 4 to check your understanding on the vocabulary but try not to look back to the transcript. If you find any difficulties, press the "?" button to get the clue.

 
WAU

exercise 10-03

To complete this exercise, log in to the Web Audio Utility and select Exercise 10-03.

Find an article in the Internet, newspaper, magazine, etc about city, food, or vehicle around the world. Give your opinion, whether you like or dislike it.

 

Role Play: Satisfying a Friend’s Curiosity

Most of us have friends who are curious about us and who want to know the smallest details of our lives. Imagine you are in conversation with such a friend. With a classmate or with your teacher/tutor role play a situation in which two friends meet over a cup of tea or coffee, perhaps in a warung kopi. One of the pair quizzes the other at length about their preferences in food and drink, place of residence and transport arrangements. When you have exhausted all possible questions and answers (and this should take some time), swap roles.

Don’t forget to begin your role play with greetings and smalltalk of the kind you practised in Lesson 1. Then use the model conversation above as your beginning point to develop a lively dialogue. But don’t just re-cycle the model conversation. Massage it, amend it, edit it, add to it, subtract from it – in short use your own ideas and experience, and other material in the lessons you have studied so far, to say things that are not in the model conversation.

Repeat the role play several times. Time yourself, trying each time to “break your record” for the length of your conversation.

As you talk with your partner, monitor each other in order to ensure that what you say is always grammatically correct.

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