Hi everyone!

This post is a continuation from the first ‘Things That Might Shock You’ post. It is very important for you to understand a few from the very many mistakes, we Indonesian do in the attempt to practice our English :)

This time, it is about Indonesians asking questions like:

1# Where are you going?

I know, you might think, “What a nosy person! Why does he/she want to know?’. Well, Indonesians tend to translate these questions from Indonesian to English. So when an Indonesian ask you a question like that, they mean no harm. It’s a part of daily conversation, where it is actually the same as saying ‘hi’!

2# Where do you live?

I know, this question is very alarming. In Indonesian ‘Where is your house?’ is ‘Dimana kamu tinggal?’ or ‘Tinggal dimana?’ If someone asks me this, I just tell them the name of my area. Not the exact street or house number. Again, it is only a part of daily conversation where the answers does not have to be precise :)

3# Are you married? How many children do you have?

‘How rude!’ would be the first thing in mind, yet, this is as casual as saying ‘how are you?’ to us Indonesian. Don’t answer if you find this upsetting. And if you would like, explain to them how these kind of questions are not appropriate to ask to foreigners.

You might pick up other ‘weird’ questions when you travel at Indonesia put in mind that these questions mean no harm. Really ;)