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 Foto Bersama in English ‘Taking a picture together’.

Read to this conversation about Foto Bersama in English ‘Taking a picture together’.

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

If you want to invite unknown person to take a picture, you have better ask permission first by saying permisi in English ‘excuse me’. After asking permission, you can say your purposes. In the dialogue, Maria asks permission to take a picture with Kevin. She uses expression Permisi, apa saya boleh berfoto dengan Anda?  in English ‘excuse me, can I take a picture with you?’. While the word boleh is used to ensure that you are allowed to do something. You also can use expression Permisi, boleh saya berfoto dengan Anda? in English ‘excuse me, may I take a picture with you?’/’would you mind taking a picture with me?’, to invite someone to take a picture. 

To respond that expression, you can change the word Ya, bolehwhich means ‘sure’, with other expressions such as:

-Permisi, apa saya boleh berfoto dengan Anda?Which means ‘excuse me, may I take a picture with you?’

- Ya, silahkan/tentu saja  which means ‘sure’ or ‘my pleasure’.

But if you do not mind, you can answer with Maaf, saya tidak bisa which means ‘sorry’.

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.