1. It is rather similar to English as it also consists of twenty-six letters of the alphabet and go according to the consonant-vowel structure.
Hmmmm….. in that case, do Indonesian phrases have iambic pantameter as well?
2. It is much, MUCH easier to learn than Chinese. (Why could I not take Malay in school?!)
3. The pronunciation of the letters are about the same as in English, except for a few words.
4. “Q” and “X” are almost never used in the Indonesian alphabet.
5. “C” and “J” have the same pronunciation, as does “F” and “V”. (Did I get this right?)
6. “R” is pronounced by rolling the tongue. What about people like me who is genetically unable to roll my tongue? How am I going to pronounce it then?
Overall it was quite an interesting and enriching lesson. I managed to pronounce all the vowel and consonant sounds without much difficulty, except when it came to the “C” and “J” and the “R” sound. For someone who claims he has lost touch with the language, he still did a pretty good job!
Hmmmm….. in that case, do Indonesian phrases have iambic pantameter as well?
2. It is much, MUCH easier to learn than Chinese. (Why could I not take Malay in school?!)
3. The pronunciation of the letters are about the same as in English, except for a few words.
4. “Q” and “X” are almost never used in the Indonesian alphabet.
5. “C” and “J” have the same pronunciation, as does “F” and “V”. (Did I get this right?)
6. “R” is pronounced by rolling the tongue. What about people like me who is genetically unable to roll my tongue? How am I going to pronounce it then?
Overall it was quite an interesting and enriching lesson. I managed to pronounce all the vowel and consonant sounds without much difficulty, except when it came to the “C” and “J” and the “R” sound. For someone who claims he has lost touch with the language, he still did a pretty good job!
10 comments:
5. “C” and “J” have the same pronunciation
No, that's wrong.
Who's the teacher, anyway? *chuckle*
yea... "C" and "J" does not constitute same pronunciation....
*rather slow in thinking for an example*
Say, take this one: "Canda" & "Janda".
Ask the teacher to pronounce the above two words & you should be able to hear the difference.
Hrmm..
The example given by Anon_X is very good.
The first 'closest' English approximation that crosses my mind would be:
Pronounce "C" as in "Cha-Cha", and the 'h' is silent.
Pronouce "J" as in "Joke", or even "Jakarta"
"F" and "V" are slightly harder to differentiate, but they too are mostly different.
Pronounce "F" as in "Fast" or the note "Fa".
Pronouce "V" as in "Verification" (in general, "V" has a 'deeper' pronounciation, while 'F' is light)
Disclaimer: I have been in Singapore too long :P
Not many words using "V" in bahasa too.
Guys, thanks so much! Although the way my friend pronounced sounds the same. Must go ask him for detailed pronunciation again.
Who's my "teacher"? He was an ASEAN scholar and graduated from NTU, but probably some of you may not know him cos he's one year my junior.
Uhm...apparently I'm bad at being rhetorical. Sorry. Didn't mean to ask who the teacher was actually. Heh.
Anyway, to practise the 'R', you may want to pronounce this sentence: "Beribu-ribu ular melingkar-lingkar di pinggir pagar". ;)
Right, thanks for your tip! Will ask him how to pronounce that phrase properly.
See.. it may sound the same to you, while to us it is not. (just like 'R' and 'L' sound the same to a Japanese, regardless.)
Try to pronounce:
四是四，十是十。
四不是十，十不是四。
And I'll guarantee you many non-chinese speakers would not be able to tell the difference.
It's hard for me to pronounce also, one with the h sound and one without. This tongue-twister is really a killer.
Fully agree with your second point. My Cheena sucked. :)
Post a Comment