VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Voice of Indonesia present “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 and Book Development Agency of the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture.  Today’s topic is Menanyakan Tujuanor ‘Asking Destination’.

Next is a conversation about Menanyakan Tujuan or ‘Asking Destination’. The conversation is between Kevin and Immigration officer.The immigration officer asked about the purpose of Kevin's arrival.  

Kevin                          : Selamat pagi.

Immigration Officer              : Selamat pagi.

Kevin                                      : Ini paspor saya, Pak.

Immigration Officer              : Ya. Apa tujuan Anda datang ke Indonesia?

Kevin                                      : Saya datang ke Indonesia untuk kuliah.

Immigration Officer              : Baik.

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

Apa                                         which means            what       

Tujuan                                                           destination                         

Datang                                                                       to come

Saya                                                                           I

Untuk                                                             to/for           

kuliah                                                             lecture

Apa tujuan Anda datang ke Indonesia?  What is your purpose to come to

                                                                      Indonesia?

Saya datang ke Indonesia untuk kuliah             I come to Indonesia to study

In the dialogue, the immigartion officer asks Kevin about his purposes to come to Indonesia by using an expression Apa tujuan Anda datang ke Indonesia? You can change the expression apa tujuaninto untuk apa. For example : Untuk apa Anda datang ke Indonesia? The word untuk is preposition which is used to express purposes.

To respond expression asking for purpose, you can use the word untukby following your purpose. For examples:

Immigration Officer  : Apa tujuan Anda datang ke Indonesia?

                                                What is your purpose to come to Indonesia?

Kevin                                      : Saya datang ke Indonesia untuk kuliah.

                                                I come to Indonesia for study

Immigration Officer              : Apa tujuan Anda datang ke Indonesia?

                                                What is your purpose to come to Indonesia?

Kevin                                      : Untuk bekerja.

                                                For work

Some other expressions to ask people about their purpose

Immigration Officer              : Untuk apa Anda datang ke Indonesia?

Kevin                                      : Untuk kuliah.

Immigration Officer              : Apa keperluan Anda datang ke Indonesia?

Kevin                                      : Saya mau kuliah di Jakarta.

Immigration Officer              : Ada perlu apa datang ke Indonesia?

Kevin                                      : Saya mau kuliah di Jakarta.

That was “Let’s Speak Bhs Indonesia”, a lesson in bahasa Indonesia  or the Indonesian language on the radio. Hopefully, this edition can be useful for those who want to know more about Bahasa Indonesia.