Now for some nit-picking...
How many times do I here people say things such as - "Do you speak Bahasa Indonesia?" or worse, "Do you speak Bahasa?", or even worse, "Do you speak Bahasa Indonesian?".
What's wrong with keeping your English question fully English - "Do you speak Indonesian?"?
Language Lesson 101 - Bahasa means language in exactly the same way that in Japanese, go means language, as in Nihongo - Japanese (language) in exactly the same way that in English language means language. It would be absurd for a Japanese person to then say "Do you speak 'go'?, or and Australian to say, "Do you speak language?"
When speaking English say 'Indonesian'. When speaking Indonesian say 'Bahasa Indonesia' (without the -n on the end). This also goes to the increasing number of English-speaking Indonesians out there who are adopting this bad habit :-)
How many times do I here people say things such as - "Do you speak Bahasa Indonesia?" or worse, "Do you speak Bahasa?", or even worse, "Do you speak Bahasa Indonesian?".
What's wrong with keeping your English question fully English - "Do you speak Indonesian?"?
Language Lesson 101 - Bahasa means language in exactly the same way that in Japanese, go means language, as in Nihongo - Japanese (language) in exactly the same way that in English language means language. It would be absurd for a Japanese person to then say "Do you speak 'go'?, or and Australian to say, "Do you speak language?"
When speaking English say 'Indonesian'. When speaking Indonesian say 'Bahasa Indonesia' (without the -n on the end). This also goes to the increasing number of English-speaking Indonesians out there who are adopting this bad habit :-)
3 comments:
i always try to repress the temptation to say "i speak bahasa" - but when indonesians themselves say "do you speak bahasa", that seems like the natural answer, doesn't it?
will make more of an effort tho in future!!
I think Indonesians have picked up the habit from foreigners. Just one of my pet hates; if that's the extent of my worries then life must be pretty good :-),
Hahaha! My sentiments EXACTLY. And I detest the terms in the exact same order, although "You speak Bahasa?" is the most common and therefore is gaining as the most irritating one.
After too much of this I've learned to reply, without batting an eyelid and using whatever knowledge I have about their education, ancestry, etc:
"Are we speaking English? Oh! Ok, then I speak Indonesian not Bahasa Indonesia, just as you speak Spanish/French/Dutch/German/Russian, not español/français/Nederlands/Deutsch/Русский."
Converts them every time! =)
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