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. We introduce 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 Membuat Janji   or ‘Making appointment ’.

Read to this conversation about Membuat Janji or ‘Making appointment’.   Kevin looks for  homstay with Pak Imran. They promise to meet after the lunch by phone.

Kevin : Halo, Pak,

Imran             : Ya, halo.

Kevin              : Begini, Pak. Saya mau mencari tempat kos hari ini. Apakah Bapak bisa menemani saya?

Imran             : Bisa ... bisa .... Pukul berapa, ya?

Kevin             : Bagaimana kalau setelah makan siang?

Imran             : Oke. Kita bertemu di lobi hotel, ya?

Kevin             : Oke, Pak.

Now I am going to introduce the vocabularies and expressions related to the topic today.

Halo                                        which means                        hello

tempat kos                                                                             homestay

bertemu                                                                                 to meet

Saya mau mencari tempat kos hari ini                 I want to look for a homestay

today

Apakah Bapak bisa menemani saya?                 Can you accompany me?

Pukul berapa?                                                                      At what time?

Bagaimana kalau setelah makan siang?                        Why don’t we go after the

lunch

Kita bertemu di lobi hotel, ya?                               We’ll see at hotel lobby ok?

In the conversation Kevin says Bagaimana kalau setelah makan siang? When making appointment, people usually discuss about time and place to meet. To ask the opinion of someone who will meet with you about time and place, you can use expression bagaimana kalau.

For example:

-Bagaimana kalau setelah makan siang? Which means ‘how about  after  lunch?’

-Bagaimana kalau bertemu di lobi hotel?Which means ‘how about at hotel lobby?’

To respond to the question, you can say ok, baiklah (alright), saya setuju (I agree) or ide bagus (it’s a good idea), if you agree. But if you do not  agree you can say Maaf, saya tidak bisa(sorry I can’t).

Let’s read to other examples:

Kevin              : Bagaimana kalau setelah makan siang?

                          How about after lunch?

Imran              : Maaf, saya tidak bisa. Saya ada janji lain.

                          Sorry, I can’t. I have another appointment.

Kevin              : Bagaimana kalau kita pergi ke Puncak?

                          Why don’t we go to Puncak?

Imran              : Ide bagus.

                          It’s a good idea

If you do not agree, you can say:

Imran              : Maaf, saya tidak setuju. Tempatnya terlalu jauh.

                          Sorry I do not agree. It’s too far.

Additional information:

Besides for asking opinion, the word bagaimana (how) is also used to ask about way.

For eaxamples:

Man                : Bagaimana cara pergi ke sana? (how do we go there?/how     to go there?)

Woman          : Bisa naik motor atau bus (we can go there by motorcycle or  by bus)

Kevin              : Bagaimana cara mendaftar? (how do we register?)

Officer            : Isi borang (formulir) ini dahulu(fill out the form first)

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