VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Welcome back to “Mari Berbahasa Indonesia” or “Let’s Speak Bahasa Indonesia”, a segment which introduces you to Indonesian vocabulary and guides you to speak in the Indonesian language. “Let’s Speak Bahasa Indonesia” is a collaboration between Voice of Indonesia, the Overseas Service of Radio Republik Indonesia, and the Language Centre and Development Agency at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia. Today’s topic is “Di Desa Budaya Suku Dayak” (2x) which means “In the Dayak Cultural Village”. 


Here is a conversation entitled "Wow" (2x) which means "Wow!" or "Awe!". This conversation takes place between Chris, an Australian vlogger, and a resident of Pampang Cultural Village, Samarinda City, East Kalimantan. Chris expresses amazement when he sees a Dayak woman with long ears.

Chris (P) : Wow, banyak sekali anting ibu itu! Sampai telinganya menjadi panjang.

Penduduk (W) : Konon, dalam masyarakat suku Dayak, wanita dengan telinga panjang itu cantik.

Chris (P) : Apakah anak muda di sini masih melakukan tradisi itu?


Here are some vocabulary related to today's material. 

wow (2x) which means "Wow! " or "Awe! "

banyak sekali (2x) which means "That's a lot".

anting (2x) which means " Earrings "

ibu (2x) which means "mother" or maam or woman or lady

Wow, banyak sekali anting ibu itu! (2x)

Which means "Wow, that lady put on a lot of earrings!"

telinga (2x) which means ear

panjang (2x) which means long

konon (2x) which means "It was said or supposedly"

masyarakat (2x) which means "community" or people

suku Dayak (2x) which means Dayak tribe

wanita (2x) which means woman

cantik (2x) which means beautiful

anak muda (2x) which means young man or young woman

tradisi (2x) which means tradition


In the conversation there is the statement Wow, banyak sekali anting ibu itu (2x) which means "Wow, that lady put on a lot of earrings " In this sentence there is an interjection Wow! (2x) which means Wow! or Awe! which functions as an exclamation of admiration and amazement . The word wow (2x) which means wow or awe is used by Chris to express his amazement at the number of earrings worn by a Dayak woman he met.


These are other examples of the use of interjection Wow! (2x) which means Wow! or Awe! to express amazement.

Wow, megah sekali Candi Borobudur itu! (2x) which means Wow, how magnificent the Borobudur Temple is!


Wow, besar sekali Sungai Mahakam ini! (2x) yang which means Wow, how big the Mahakam River is! (2x)


The Dayak tribe on the island of Borneo has a tradition known as telingaan aruu. The tradition involves lengthening the ears by using earrings as weights. In Dayak belief, a woman's beauty is not judged by her face, but by the length of her ears.