Before I go on with this terminology, I guess I should just re-justify the meaning of ‘register’. Register is a variety of language used for a particular purpose or in a particular setting. So.. How important is this concept in Indonesian language? I would say, very important!

Many people who are currently studying the Indonesian language struggle with one thing. The SLANG! How could I possibly use everything that I have learned in daily conversation with native Indonesian when in fact they use a lot of different words? Well, until today I guess every linguist in Indonesia are concerned with the future of our language. Because almost every day a person (especially young person) in Indonesia could find one or two new made-up words and use it in their conversation and then spread the trend to others! No wonder learning Indonesian become very difficult..

Now, why did I bring both ‘register’ and ‘slang’ together? Perhaps I just want to comfort all the people who are currently learning Indonesian. Knowing that Indonesian ‘sub-consciously’ understand the importance of register and can use variety of language depending on the particular setting that they are in, Indonesian people in general will not always use slang every time. They will only use it to speak with their peer. Not necessarily at work or when dealing with authorities or in writing.

So, don’t give up on learning Indonesian, yet! In my next blog entry I will spare some hints about dealing with Indonesian slang. Sometimes, what may seem to be really hard is not that hard and all you need to know is the trick.