Dutch language lessons a challenge for Indonesians
Dutch language lessons a challenge for Indonesians
Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
"Oom, minta duit buat karcis bioskopnya dong," (Uncle,
please give me the money for tickets to the cinema) said a
teenager to his uncle during a family gathering at a plush mall.
In just one simple sentence of seven words, four of those
words originated from the Dutch language: Oom for uncle -- the
proper Indonesian word paman is rarely used at all -- duit
(money) from duit, which actually means a penny and is pronounced
differently in the two languages; karcis (ticket) from kaartjes;
and bioskop (cinema) from bioskoop.
Sixty years after independence, the presence of Dutch words in
Indonesian vocabulary, particularly the slang, remains strong.
Verboden, which in Dutch means forbidden, is used to refer to
a traffic sign that forbids vehicles from entering a road, and
sekrup (bolt) is actually the local pronunciation for schroef --
many Indonesian have difficulty pronouncing 'f' or 'v' and change
them to 'p'.
"I have fun pointing these words out when I read Dutch," said
Imelda, who learnt the language for three months before she went
to study for a year in the Netherlands.
"It makes it somewhat easier to learn the language," said the
27-year old.
The close historical ties between Indonesia and the
Netherlands, which colonized the archipelago for some 350 years,
makes the language interesting for many to learn.
The Erasmus Language Center in Erasmus Huis, the country's
cultural center in Kuningan, Central Jakarta, is one of the few
places that provides Dutch language courses.
As Indonesian law is based mostly on the Dutch-Indies law
applied earlier here, and history before the 1950s was mostly
documented in Dutch, students of law and history learn the
language to be able to read old manuscripts, said Kees
Groeneboer, a language counselor at the center.
Another segment are people planning to study in the
Netherlands, despite the fact that most people under 30 years of
age there speak fluent English.
"You'll get entrance to people's hearts if you speak the
language to some extent," said Groeneboer.
Dutch is currently spoken by some 21 million people in the
Netherlands, parts of Belgium and Suriname.
"Dutch knowledge is an added value in your CV (curriculum
vitae) if you want to apply for jobs with Dutch or Belgium-based
companies," said Groene.
For most people learning Dutch, the grammar is the biggest
challenge of all. "There are lots of rules and lots of
exceptions," said Groeneboer.
Dutch is structured rigidly based on time frames and verbs
used, whereas Indonesian points out time by context or a specific
time reference and uses verbs more freely.
"Sometimes you have to throw the verb way to the end of the
sentence. The 'not' for a negative statement is also placed at
the end, so you really have to listen for the whole sentence to
get the meaning," said Imelda.
Aside from that, there are also the definite articles de and
het, and how the forms of adjectives are affected by their use.
"They also change depending if they are plural or singular. It's
mindboggling at times," said Imelda.
Despite the difficulties, the Erasmus still teaches some 1,500
students a year -- a figure that has been somewhat steady for the
past decade. As long as Indonesians still say "Daaaah" to say
goodbye, which also comes from Dutch, there will always be the
interest in learning the language.