Voice of Indonesia presents Let’s Speak Indonesian, a program that introduces the Indonesianvocabulary and guides you to speak in the language. Mari Berbahasa Indonesia or Let’s Speak Indonesian is a joint initiative of Voice of Indonesia and the Language Development Agency of the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture.  Today’s topic isstill about liburan or holiday.

Read to the conversation about Mengapa Kamu Suka Pergi ke Pantai?which means Why Do You Like Going to the Beach? This conversation is between Kevinand his workmate. 

Having listened to the conversation, now I am going to introduce somevocabulary and expressions related to the topic of the day.

In the dialog, you listen to a question Mengapa kamu suka pergi ke pantai? (2x) which meansWhy do you like going to the beach?In the question, there is a wordmengapa (2x) which means why. In Indonesian, the question word mengapa is used to ask the reason why something happens. For example, Mengapa kamu suka pergi ke pantai? (2x) which means Why do you like going to the beach?To answer the question, it uses the word karena (2x) which means because. For example, Karena di pantai aku bisa bermain ombak (2x) which means Because I can play waves at the beach.

Besides karena, another expression to state a reason is sebab (2x) which means cause.

Here are other examples of conversation to ask and say a reason:

Mengapa kamu suka pergi ke pantai? (2x) which means Why do you like going to the beach?

Karena di pantai aku bisa bermain ombak. (2x) which means Because I can play waves at the beach.

Mengapa kamu suka pergi ke pantai? (2x) which means Why do you like going to the beach?

Sebab di pantai aku bisa bermain ombak. (2x) which means Cause I can play waves at the beach.

That was “Let’s Speak Indonesian” for today. Hopefully, this edition can be useful for those of you who want to know more about Indonesian language.