LESSON NOTES

Absolute Beginner S1 #6
Puppets Aren’t Just for Kids in
Indonesia!

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

# 6
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 INDONESIAN

1. Tuti: Mas Edi, mau kemana nanti malam?

2. Edi: Belum tahu...

3. Tuti: Pernah nonton wayang kulit?

4. Edi: Belum pernah.

5. Tuti: Mau nonton?

6. Edi: Ya! Mari!

ENGLISH

1. Tuti: Eddie, where do you want to go tonight?

2. Eddie: I don't know yet...

3. Tuti: Have you ever watched a shadow play?

4. Eddie: I haven't yet.

5. Tuti: Do you want to watch?

6. Eddie: Yeah! Let's go!

VOCABULARY

Indone sian English C lass

INDONESIANPOD101.COM ABSOLUTE BEGINNER S1 #6 - PUPPETS AREN’T JUST FOR KIDS IN INDONESIA! 2

 nanti later adverb

malam evening noun

belum not yet adverb

tahu "to know" verb

pernah ever verb

nonton to watch verb

mari "to let, to come" phrase

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Mau kemana nanti? Selamat malam.

"Where do you want to go later?" "Good evening."

Belum jalan-jalan. Tahu Jakarta?

"I haven't gone walking yet." "Do you know Jakarta?"

Pernah ke Keraton? Saya mau nonton filem.

"Have (you) ever been to the Keraton?" "I want to watch a movie."

Mari ke Jakarta!

"Let's go to Jakarta!"

GRAMMAR

The Focus of this Lesson is the Use of pernah

Pernah nonton wayang kulit?
Have you ever watched a shadow play?

INDONESIANPOD101.COM ABSOLUTE BEGINNER S1 #6 - PUPPETS AREN’T JUST FOR KIDS IN INDONESIA! 3

The word "pernah"

This word is used to express one's possible experience with respect to a proposition. When
used in a question, the response can often be a simple, "pernah" if in the positive, e.g.

1. Pernah ke Jakarta?
"Have you been to Jakarta?"

2. Ya, pernah.
"Yes, I have been (over there)."

The negative "belum"

This is used to indicate that something that is expected to occur has not yet done so.
Pragmatically, this response is quite useful since it's not considered to be as negative as
other markers of negativity. The idea here is that the expected outcome just hasn't happened
yet. Thus, if one were asked if he/she were married, one could respond with the standard way
of saying "no" (i.e., tidak), but pragmatically this seems weird to most Indonesians since it is
expected that everyone will marry at some point in time (even though for some, this may
never happen). Thus, an encouraged substitute is this word, belum - "not yet."

CULTURAL INSIGHT

The Shadow Theater

Wayang, or shadow theater, is one of Indonesia's most famous cultural assets. Traditionally,
flat puppet figures made out of buffalo hide (hence kulit or "skin") are manipulated behind a
back-lit cloth screen by a shadow master, or dalang. The dalang is more than a puppeteer.
He (or she) must provide the puppet voices and narration, sing various songs, and conduct
the gamelan orchestra. Furthermore, in some contexts, the dalang can also serve as a ritual
specialist and shaman.

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