Since the summer is here, I’ve decided to begin brushing up on my Indonesian. Apart from a week or two of review during brief visits to Indonesia over the last two summers, I haven’t studied it for two years. I feel like I’ve forgotten so much so I’ve begun to try and quickly review my Indonesian books. At the same time I’m trying to finish up a paper on the massacre of over half a million suspected Communists in Indonesia between 1965 and 1967. This massacre brought to power Suharto and over three decades of authoritarian rule.
In jumping back and forth between research on the massacre and the language books I’m struck by the inegalitarian tone of the language lessons. I’m learning more than just a new language. Suspecting that it was an old language book, I was even more surprised to read that the date of publish was 1997. Here is just one example from Book 1 — a conversation on buying a house,
Ibu: Ada enam kamar tidur, empat kamar mandi, dua dapur, dan satu kamar tamu.
Umar: Lalu, pembantu akan tidur di mana?
Ayah: Di kamar pembantu. Ada dua Kamar pembantu.
Tia: Di mana mereka akan mandi? Pasti tidak di kamar mandi saya, dong?
Ibu: Tentu tidak, ada satu kamar mandi pembantu.
Ayah: Dan, ada satu lagi.
Melati: Apa itu?
Ayah: Ada kolam renang dan lapangan tenis?
Mother: There are six bedrooms, four bathrooms, two kitchens, and one guest room.
Umar: Then, where will the servant sleep?
Father: In the servants room. There are two servants rooms.
Tia: Where will they wash? Surely not in my bathroom?
Mother: Certainly not, there is a servants bathroom.
Father: And there is one more thing.
Melati: What is that?
Father: There is a swimming pool and a tennis court!
The books I’m referring to are Lancar Berbahasa Indonesia Book 1 and Book 2 written by Vladimir Arnost and Novy Kusumastuty.
