I Write Essays In Indonesian

When you're writing in a language that you are still learning, sometimes you're not in total control of the piece because the direction of the story is dictated by the limited words that you know. For instance, today my tutor ask me to write essay. This is what I wrote:

"Mengapa Saya Belajar Bahasa Indonesia

Saya belajar bahasa Indonesia karena saya malas. Ketika saya di Singapura, saya harus bekerja dengan rajin. Tetapi, di Yogyakarta, setiap hari saya senang-senang, bisa tidur banyak.

Saya ingin belajar bahasa Indonesia karena di Singapura, saya mendengar bahwa ada salah satu pengmotocross yang sangat terkenal di Indonesia. Namanya Valentino Rozihan. Saya ingin mencari dia dan minta dia mengajar saya motocross. Tetapi, karena dia hanya bisa mengerti bahasa Indonesia, saya harus belajar bahasa Indonesia untuk komunikasi dengan dia.

Juga, saya ingin belajar bahasa Indonesia karena saya adalah orang miskin dan orang bodoh. Saya di Singapura tidak bisa mencari bekerjaan. Karena keluarga saya tidak cukup uang, memang mereka ingin menjual saya kepada keluarga mafia di Cina. Tetapi, saya berlari dari Singapura. Saya berenang di laut ke Indonesia. Ketika saya tiba pantai, lho! saya lihat bahwa saya di Yogyakarta! Saya sangat senang karena saya tahu Valentino Rozihan tinggal di Yogyakarta. Kemudian saya berjalan ke kantor INCULS di UGM dan registrasi untuk khursus bahasa Indonesia.

Saya sangat suka belajar bahasa Indonesia!"

This is the translation:

"Why I Study Indonesian

I study Indonesian because I am lazy. In Singapore, I have to work very hard but here in Yogyakarta, I can take it easy everyday and sleep a lot.

I want to study bahasa Indonesia because when I was in Singapore, I heard that there is a very famous motocross rider in Indonesia by the name of Valentino Rozihan. I wanted to look for him and ask him to teach me how to ride motocross motorcycles. However, because he can only understand Indonesian, I have to learn the language so that I can communicate with him.

Also, I want to study Indonesian because I am poor and stupid. I could not find a job in Singapore. Because my family in Singapore is very poor, they wanted to sell me to a mafia family in China. But I escaped from Singapore and swam across the sea to Indonesia. When I finally reached land, wow! I realised that I was in Yogyakarta! I was very happy at this because I knew for a fact that Valentino Rozihan lives in Yogyakarta. After that, I walked to the office of the Indonesian Culture and Language Centre in Gadja Mada University and registered for the Indonesian language class.

I love studying Indonesian!"

Don't think she was very amused.