this post was submitted on 29 Sep 2024
304 points (96.9% liked)

Today I Learned

17694 readers
632 users here now

What did you learn today? Share it with us!

We learn something new every day. This is a community dedicated to informing each other and helping to spread knowledge.

The rules for posting and commenting, besides the rules defined here for lemmy.world, are as follows:

Rules (interactive)


Rule 1- All posts must begin with TIL. Linking to a source of info is optional, but highly recommended as it helps to spark discussion.

** Posts must be about an actual fact that you have learned, but it doesn't matter if you learned it today. See Rule 6 for all exceptions.**



Rule 2- Your post subject cannot be illegal or NSFW material.

Your post subject cannot be illegal or NSFW material. You will be warned first, banned second.



Rule 3- Do not seek mental, medical and professional help here.

Do not seek mental, medical and professional help here. Breaking this rule will not get you or your post removed, but it will put you at risk, and possibly in danger.



Rule 4- No self promotion or upvote-farming of any kind.

That's it.



Rule 5- No baiting or sealioning or promoting an agenda.

Posts and comments which, instead of being of an innocuous nature, are specifically intended (based on reports and in the opinion of our crack moderation team) to bait users into ideological wars on charged political topics will be removed and the authors warned - or banned - depending on severity.



Rule 6- Regarding non-TIL posts.

Provided it is about the community itself, you may post non-TIL posts using the [META] tag on your post title.



Rule 7- You can't harass or disturb other members.

If you vocally harass or discriminate against any individual member, you will be removed.

Likewise, if you are a member, sympathiser or a resemblant of a movement that is known to largely hate, mock, discriminate against, and/or want to take lives of a group of people, and you were provably vocal about your hate, then you will be banned on sight.

For further explanation, clarification and feedback about this rule, you may follow this link.



Rule 8- All comments should try to stay relevant to their parent content.



Rule 9- Reposts from other platforms are not allowed.

Let everyone have their own content.



Rule 10- Majority of bots aren't allowed to participate here.

Unless included in our Whitelist for Bots, your bot will not be allowed to participate in this community. To have your bot whitelisted, please contact the moderators for a short review.



Partnered Communities

You can view our partnered communities list by following this link. To partner with our community and be included, you are free to message the moderators or comment on a pinned post.

Community Moderation

For inquiry on becoming a moderator of this community, you may comment on the pinned post of the time, or simply shoot a message to the current moderators.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

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.

all 32 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 41 points 1 month ago (4 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 78 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

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.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

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

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

Omg French me is very interested all of a sudden

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 month ago

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

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

[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 month ago (2 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 month ago (3 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago

Chupacabra makes sense, those damn mexican goat thieves.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

this guy gets it

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago

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

[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 month ago (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 month ago

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

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 month ago

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

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago
[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 month ago (5 children)

Yo i heard he is a secret muslin

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 month ago

Just like Trump is a secret Christian..

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 month ago (3 children)
[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 month ago (3 children)

the op was almost certainly a joke

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

I mean, shit, I thought it was dead obvious.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

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

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago

Poe’s Law of the internet.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago

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

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago

lol, this is a good one. But really not obvious what your intent is, unless one actually bothers to click.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago

The dreaded double joke going over the head.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 month ago

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

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago

Ah the Mossad colonel still kickin