LESSON NOTES

Absolute Beginner S1 #4
What's Your Job in Indonesia?

CONTENTS
2 Indonesian
2 English
2 Vocabulary
3 Sample Sentences
3 Grammar
4 Cultural Insight

# 4
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 INDONESIAN

1. Edi: Mas Yono?

2. Yono: Ya.

3. Edi: Kerjanya apa?

4. Yono: Kerja saya di bank. Mas Edi kerjanya apa?

5. Edi: Saya guru di sekolah dasar.

6. Yono: O, begitu. Sekarang liburan?

7. Edi: Ya, betul.

ENGLISH

1. Eddie: Yono?

2. Yono: Yes.

3. Eddie: What is your job?

4. Yono: I work at a bank. What do you do, Eddie?

5. Eddie: I'm an elementary school teacher.

6. Yono: Oh, I see. Is it your vacation now?

7. Eddie: Yes, that's right.

VOCABULARY
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 Indone sian English C lass

ya “yes” adverb

kerja “work”, “job” verb OR noun

bank bank noun

guru teacher noun

sekarang now adverb

liburan “vacation” noun

betul true, correct stative verb

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Ya, saya mau. Kerjanya di mana?

"Yes, I want it." "Where's your job?"

Bank BCA adalah bank swasta terbesar Bank ini tutup.

di Indonesia.
"The bank is closed."
"BCA Bank is the largest private bank in
Indonesia."

Guru saya pintar sekali. Mau kemana sekarang?

"My teacher is very smart." "Where do you want to go now?"

Liburan saya mulai. Jawabannya betul.

"My vacation started." "The answer is true."

Ya, betul.

"Yes, that's right."

GRAMMAR

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The Focus of This Lesson is -nya and di ("at")
Kerja saya di bank. Mas Edi kerjanya apa?
"My job's in a bank. What is your job (Brother) Eddie?"

The ending -nya

This is an extremely versatile ending in Indonesian, which cannot be pinned to exactly one
meaning or function. One use is to indicate possession by a second- (i.e., "you") or third-
person referent (i.e., "he/she/it"). Thus, kerjanya can mean, "your job," "his job," "her job," or
even "its job"—this entirely depends on the surrounding context. Another main function of -
nya is indicating that something is "definite" (much like the demonstrative itu, or "that,"
highlighted in Lesson 3). English does this through the definite article "the." Indonesian, on
the other hand, has no such article. Instead, the ending -nya can fulfill this function in some
contexts. If we take the example kerjanya once more, this can also mean, "the job"—again,
the exact meaning of this phrase is strongly dependent on the surrounding context.

The preposition di

The preposition di corresponds to two meanings in English: it can either mean, "at," or "in" (a
general area).

CULTURAL INSIGHT

Sizing You Up

When complete strangers initiate conversation with you in Indonesia, many times they will
ask about your job and other personal details. Indonesians have a different sense of "privacy"
than those from the West. So, in their eyes, they don't do it to pry into your personal affairs, this
is the Indonesian way to make "small talk." Talking about one's job is considered quite tame

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and it gives the listener a sense where s/he "sizes up" socially, so to speak.

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