TIL Obama from ages 6 to 10 lived in Indonesia and can speak Indonesian.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama

At the age of six, Obama and his mother had moved to Indonesia to join his stepfather. From age six to ten, he was registered in school as "Barry"[31] and attended local Indonesian-language schools: Sekolah Dasar Katolik Santo Fransiskus Asisi (St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Elementary School) for two years and Sekolah Dasar Negeri Menteng 01 (State Elementary School Menteng 01) for one and a half years, supplemented by English-language Calvert School homeschooling by his mother.[32][33] As a result of his four years in Jakarta, he was able to speak Indonesian fluently as a child.[34] During his time in Indonesia, Obama's stepfather taught him to be resilient and gave him "a pretty hardheaded assessment of how the world works".[35]

In 1971, Obama returned to Honolulu to live with his maternal grandparents, Madelyn and Stanley Dunham. He attended Punahou School—a private college preparatory school—with the aid of a scholarship from fifth grade until he graduated from high school in 1979.

305 points · 26 comments · view on lemmy.world

26 Comments

teft@lemmy.world · 43 pts · 1y (6 replies)

I would bet that he only still knows a few words and phrases. You don't usually retain fluency if you stop using a language at a young age.

someguy3@lemmy.world · 78 pts · 1y

I found this story googling.

I met Barack Obama at a State Department reception early in his presidency. A colleague who wanted to test his skills at Indonesian asked him, “Mr. President, did you know that in Indonesia they still call you 'anak Menteng'?”

“Anak” means “child of” and Menteng is a neighborhood in the capital of Jakarta where many of the country’s elite live.

President Obama quickly answered. “Oh, saya bukan anak Menteng. Saya anak Menteng Dalam.” (Oh, I’m not a Menteng kid. I’m a kid from Inner Menteng.”)

In Indonesia, this roughly means “I’m from the back streets where the workers and servants live.” The US equivalent might be “I’m not from Park Avenue. I’m from the alley behind Park Avenue.

https://www.quora.com/Could-Obama-speak-Indonesian I know Quora is not a primary source, but I'm just googling.

barryamelton@lemmy.ml · 17 pts · 1y (2 replies)

Bahasa is incredibly simple. It has no articles, genders, time conjugations or adverbs. You just say "I eat yesterday cake" for example

vovo@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 9 pts · 1y

There are not even any plurals – if you really need to stress the plural form, then you just repeat the word again.

Noodle07@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y

Omg French me is very interested all of a sudden

partial_accumen@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 1y

I would bet that he only still knows a few words and phrases.

Confirmed with this speech he gave as President when in Indonesian.

vovo@lemmy.dbzer0.com · -1 pts · 1y

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RedStrider@lemmy.world · 24 pts · 1y (6 replies)

I've seen that photo of him in the thumbnail so many times it doesn't even seem real anymore.

Anticorp@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 1y (4 replies)

Obama isn't a real person. He's a boogieman invented by far-right parents to scare their children, much like chupacabre, or vampires.

Doom@ttrpg.network · 5 pts · 1y (1 reply)

honestly sorta feels like that. they just rolled everything they hate into a neolib

Anticorp@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 1y

RedStrider@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 1y

this guy gets it

beejboytyson@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 1y

Chupacabra makes sense, those damn mexican goat thieves.

InfiniWheel@lemmy.one · 3 pts · 1y

Like that one MatPat picture he started using as his avatar, so much so that he looks photoshopped into the real picture now.

Asafum@feddit.nl · 22 pts · 1y (1 reply)

Oh yeah well Trump speaks at least three languages! English (kind of), Assholese, and whatever language it is that he speaks at his rallies!

kitten_mittenz@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 18 pts · 1y

That third language would be dementia, and he is master-level fluent in it.

Blackmist@feddit.uk · 9 pts · 1y

Not sure how he passed as a 31 year old at age 6 to 10.

vovo@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 4 pts · 1y

They also called Indonesia's president Joko Widodo "Obama of Indonesia".

eran_morad@lemmy.world · -1 pts · 1y (13 replies)

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Apollo2323@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 21 pts · 1y

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everett@lemmy.ml · 17 pts · 1y (8 replies)

Sigh, this was thoroughly and specifically debunked in 2008.

naught@sh.itjust.works · 16 pts · 1y (5 replies)

the op was almost certainly a joke

eran_morad@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 1y (1 reply)

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everett@lemmy.ml · 10 pts · 1y

2/2 commenters definitely didn't click the link! Reddit is doomed now that its top minds have moved to Lemmy.

SulaymanF@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 1y

Poe’s Law of the internet.

everett@lemmy.ml · 3 pts · 1y (1 reply)

Plenty of time to tell me what a dumbass I am, but no time to click a link?

naught@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 1y

def not calling u dumb! just quickly left a comment and scrolled by :) sorry i missed the joke

eran_morad@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 1y

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cousinofjah@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 1y

The dreaded double joke going over the head.

pdxfed@lemmy.world · 15 pts · 1y

You're saying he's a synthetic fiber and not the traditional cotton plain weave? The textile industry will be shocked!

x00za@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 5 pts · 1y

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BeatTakeshi@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 1y

Ah the Mossad colonel still kickin