Southeast Asian toilet signs, Nos. 3a-3d

All four(!) of these signs were in the same stall. No need to take a magazine! The middle sign indicates the location: the Cikini branch of KFC in Jakarta.

The translation on the top sign is a little loose. More literally, it reads: “Honored customer, please do not throw toilet tissue or pads into the toilet because it can cause the toilet to be clogged. Thank you.”

The bottom sign says, “Honored customer, please do not urinate on the floor. Thank you.”

Actually, in referring to urination this sign uses the phrase, “throw little water.” And what everyone translates as “thank you” is literally the command, “receive love/affection.” While we’re at it, I’ve translated “customer yang terhormat” quite literally as “honored customer”; most people render it as “dear customer,” which is a bit of an alteration but certainly more colloquial.

I had to take this photo quickly because someone else entered the bathroom right then. (Just in case taking pictures in a bathroom somehow doesn’t look right to Indonesians.) The sign was above the toilet-paper dispenser. It says: “From each sheet of toilet tissue that you use, a tree has been felled. So using it effectively and efficiently saves our world.” I don’t know why it says ‘from,’ but probably you get the idea.

Is English Indonesia’s next national language?

Today the New York Times published a story on many Indonesians’ choice of English as a primary language for their children. Unfortunately, the story’s focus on English-speakers has likely inflated readers’ impression of the prevalence of English among Indonesians. It also creates a false sense that Indonesian has ever been universally their mother tongue.

The widespread knowledge and use of English in Jakarta definitely has been surprising. From the instructions on exercise equipment to the words on receipts to menus to advertising slogans, English is more in play here than I have observed in Mexico (where I studied its use) or Brazil, where it is also notably on display. And many people, especially young ones, have a functional command of the language.

But that is not to say that English clearly is displacing the hundreds of other languages spoken here, including Indonesian. Here are some observations:

Rosetta Stone – Indonesian, Version 2: Review

This is a review of Version 2 of Rosetta Stone’s Indonesian program. In brief: this program provides neither practical nor comprehensive instruction. It teaches a few things quite well, but it does not teach how to converse with Indonesians or how to read or write ‘authentic’ texts. At best, it can supplement more-fully realized materials.

Version 2 is the highest version currently available for Indonesian; however, Rosetta Stone offers a Version 3 for most of its languages. So I recommend against applying my comments to any Version 3 product.

Review: Quinn’s ‘Learner’s Dictionary of Today’s Indonesian’

George Quinn’s The Learner’s Dictionary of Today’s Indonesian is a two-way dictionary (Indonesian-English and vice versa). This reference is excellent in many ways, but its lack of comprehensiveness makes it a poor choice as one’s only dictionary. Its main weakness is what I have just signaled: although it does cover a large number of words, it fails to include many basic ones that, for example, the Tuttle Concise Indonesian Dictionary has.

Despite this drawback, I do recommend this dictionary to anyone trying to gain fluency in Indonesian. This is because it contains so much useful information about so many words.