One more thing about language, as an addendum to my post on the subject from yesterday.
In addition to speaking proper Indonesian along with the native language of a particular island, and possibly parts of one or two western languages, all Indonesians speak yet another language, which may as well be called gibberish. It's gibberish to me, anyway; and, unfortunately, it is the preferred language of common folks here. One might describe it as a "street" language (or Bahasa kampung)--very heavy on slang and other alternative words and constructions.
By way of example, as I was coming out the front door today, I encountered a handyman on the property next door. As is common with Indonesians, he was eager to chat with me. Whether or not he was aware that I understood very little of what he said, this did not deter him in any case. I got, in general, that he was describing the work he was doing inside the house; and then he seemed also to be talking about a woman who had rented some other place and had ultimately left without paying the rent. I think. He had quite a lot of say about other things as well, but I have no idea what it was.
I remember mentioning to my wife once that I sometimes had a hard time understanding our friend Samuel, who often did work for us at the house. She shrugged and said, "Yeah, I don't understand him either." And she was born and raised in Indonesia!
This kind of reminds me of a boiled peanut salesman I once met on the road in central Georgia. He was a talker too, and while I was able to successfully conduct the purchase of a bag of boiled peanuts, I really had no idea what he was saying. Of course, that was largely a problem not of words unknown to me but of words hopelessly mangled by a thick southern drawl.
So one does a lot of nodding and does his best to react appropriately to facial expressions rather than word meanings, chuckling here, frowning pensively there. That after all--nodding, chuckling, pensive frowning--is a language we can all understand.
In addition to speaking proper Indonesian along with the native language of a particular island, and possibly parts of one or two western languages, all Indonesians speak yet another language, which may as well be called gibberish. It's gibberish to me, anyway; and, unfortunately, it is the preferred language of common folks here. One might describe it as a "street" language (or Bahasa kampung)--very heavy on slang and other alternative words and constructions.
By way of example, as I was coming out the front door today, I encountered a handyman on the property next door. As is common with Indonesians, he was eager to chat with me. Whether or not he was aware that I understood very little of what he said, this did not deter him in any case. I got, in general, that he was describing the work he was doing inside the house; and then he seemed also to be talking about a woman who had rented some other place and had ultimately left without paying the rent. I think. He had quite a lot of say about other things as well, but I have no idea what it was.
I remember mentioning to my wife once that I sometimes had a hard time understanding our friend Samuel, who often did work for us at the house. She shrugged and said, "Yeah, I don't understand him either." And she was born and raised in Indonesia!
This kind of reminds me of a boiled peanut salesman I once met on the road in central Georgia. He was a talker too, and while I was able to successfully conduct the purchase of a bag of boiled peanuts, I really had no idea what he was saying. Of course, that was largely a problem not of words unknown to me but of words hopelessly mangled by a thick southern drawl.
So one does a lot of nodding and does his best to react appropriately to facial expressions rather than word meanings, chuckling here, frowning pensively there. That after all--nodding, chuckling, pensive frowning--is a language we can all understand.
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