VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Voice of Indonesia presents Let’s Speak Indonesian, a program that introduces the Indonesian vocabulary 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 is about Kesehatan which means Health.

Here is the conversation entitled Bermasker which means Wearing a Mask. This dialog is between Kevin and Mela at the canteen. Mela asks Kevin to move when someone without wearing a mask sitting near their table. In this pandemic, Mela is afraid of being close to people without masks. Let’s read to the conversation.

After listening to the conversation, now I am going to introduce some vocabulary and expressions related to the topic of the day.

In the dialog, you listen to a statement Dia tidak bermasker (2x)which means He doesn’t wear a mask. In the statement, there is the word bermasker (2x) which means wearing a mask. The word bermasker is formed from theprefix ber- and the word masker. The prefix ber- has several meanings such as memakai, mempunyai and melakukan aktivitas, which means wear, have and do an activity. The prefix ber- in the word bermasker means memakai (2x) which means wear. So, the word bermasker means memakai masker, which means wearing a mask. The word ber- means memakai (2x), which means wear, if it is combined  with something worn such as clothes, trousers, mask and hat.

Let’s read to the other examples of the verbal prefix ber- which means memakai:

Mela    : Bagaimana ciri-ciri orang itu? (2x) which means How is he like?

Kevin   : Dia bercelana panjang dan bertopi (2x) which means He is wearing trousers and hat

Mela    : Bagaimana ciri-ciri orang itu? (2x) which means How is she like?

Ayu     : Dia berkacamata dan berjilbab (2x) which means She is wearing glasses and hijab

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.