When you travel abroad, you may be placed in a difficult position that requires someone help to solve your problem. Sometimes, we are afraid and worried that we may use improper word that can insult locals. Yeah, language barrier is always one common problem that may block us in making an interaction and make acquaintance with them.
However, when you are in Indonesia, there is one magic word that may solve the problem and can escape you from giving wrong sign to Indonesians, especially when you need their help to solve your problem.
The word is “TOLONG”. Two knots and you should spell it “TO – LONG”. The sound of TO is similar to the sound when you pronounce “tongue” and “LONG” sounds as it sounds in English.
TO-LONG.
This can means :
- Help (English) : this will indicate to hearers that you are in need of their assistance and usually Indonesians will give emphaty more and would be willing to provide you with assistance
- Please : Yes, tolong can act as “please” in English. It will soften the meaning of command sentence to be more like a request
Examples of how to use TOLONG in Indonesia.
- say that you want to ask someone to help you, just say : “TOLONG SAYA!” This means “Help me!”
- “TOLONG, ambilkan ambilkan minum” ==> Please, give me some drink? The word tolong changes the command sentence to more polite, or a request
So, please remember this magic word. You would need it and will say it a lot when you come here to my country, Indonesia.