VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Voice of Indonesia presents “Let’s Speak Bahasa Indonesia,” a lesson in the Indonesian language on the radio, introducing some Indonesian vocabulary and tips on how to use it in a conversation. This segment is a joint initiative of Voice of Indonesia and the Language Development and Cultivation Agency at the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture.  Today’s topic is  ‘Shopping’ or Berbelanja. 

Next is a conversation about Berbelanja or ‘Shopping’. Tony and Endah are shopping at Jl. Malioboro.

Salesman  : Silakan, cari apa? 

Tony          : Ada selendang ?

Salesman  : Oh, maaf, tidak ada. Yang lainnya. Pak ? Ada kemeja,   blus,

                     kaus

Endah        : Tidak. Terima kasih.

After the conversation, now I’ll introduce some vocabularies and expressions related to the topic today. I’ll say each word slowly and twice, you can follow after me. 

When you are at a shopping center, you usually hear that salesman said cari apa? which means ‘what are you looking for?’. You may answer the question by mentioning some goods you are looking for.

For example:

Salesman  : Cari apa, Kak?           (What are you looking for?)

Tony          : Saya mencari kaus.  (I am looking for t-shirt.)

Or you can also ask him about something you are looking for.

For example:

Salesman  : Silakan, cari apa?  (What are you looking for?)

Tony          : Ada kemeja batik lengan panjang? (is there long-sleeve   

                     batik shirt?)

Sometimes when you are in a shopping center, the salesman will also say silakan Bu. Lihat-lihat dulu or ‘please you can see first’).The offer means that you are allowed to see something or kinds of goods at the shop even though you do not  want to buy it. While, if you do not find something you look for, but the salesman offers you other kinds of goods and you do not like it, you can refuse it by saying Tidak. Terima kasih or ‘no, thank you’.

For example:

Tony          : Ada kemeja putih? (Is there white shirt?)

Salesman  : Oh, sedang kosong. Kemeja warna lainnya mau ? Ada biru

                    dan hitam. (Sorry, there is no white shirt. Do you want to see

                    other colors? The blue and black ones?              

Tony          : Tidak. Terima kasih  (No, thank you)