Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Psikolog kampus mengajarkan meditasi singkat kepada murid. - The campus psychologist teaches a short meditation to the students.

How can I tell whether psikolog kampus means “the campus psychologist” or “a campus psychologist” when Indonesian has no articles like a/the?

Indonesian does not use articles like a or the, so psikolog kampus by itself is neutral: it can mean a campus psychologist, the campus psychologist, or even campus psychologists in general. The exact meaning comes from context, not from the words themselves.

If you really want to be explicit, you can add other words:

seorang psikolog kampus – a campus psychologist (one person, but still not “the specific one” unless context makes it clear).
psikolog kampus itu – that / the campus psychologist (refers to a specific one already known in the conversation).
para psikolog kampus – the campus psychologists (plural).

In a textbook example like this, it’s usually understood as the campus psychologist in English, just to sound natural, but Indonesian itself doesn’t force that choice.

In the phrase psikolog kampus, which word is the main noun, and what does this phrase literally mean?

The main noun is psikolog, and kampus functions as a modifier after it. So the structure is:

psikolog = psychologist
kampus = campus
psikolog kampus ≈ campus psychologist (a psychologist who works at/for the campus).

Indonesian often puts the head noun first and the modifier noun after it, so it’s like:

guru sekolah – school teacher
dokter hewan – animal doctor (veterinarian)
psikolog kampus – campus psychologist.

Also note the difference:

psikolog = psychologist (person)
psikologi = psychology (field/discipline).

So psikolog kampus is psychologist of the campus, not psychology campus.

What is the difference between mengajar, mengajarkan, and mengajari, and why is mengajarkan used here?

All three come from the root ajar (teach/learn), but they are used slightly differently:

mengajar – to teach (general, neutral):
- Psikolog kampus mengajar meditasi. – The campus psychologist teaches meditation.
mengajarkan – to teach something to someone, focusing on the subject matter as the object:
- pattern: mengajarkan [thing taught] kepada [person]
- … mengajarkan meditasi singkat kepada murid. – teaches a short meditation to the students.
mengajari – to teach someone something, focusing on the person as the object:
- pattern: mengajari [person] [thing taught]
- … mengajari murid meditasi singkat. – teaches the students a short meditation.

In actual usage, mengajar and mengajarkan are often used almost interchangeably, but the sentence you have follows the textbook pattern: mengajarkan [meditasi singkat] kepada [murid], emphasizing what is being taught.

What grammatical pattern is mengajarkan meditasi singkat kepada murid following? Can I change the order of the objects?

The pattern is:

[Subject] + mengajarkan + [thing taught] + kepada + [recipient]

So in your sentence:

Psikolog kampus – subject
mengajarkan – verb
meditasi singkat – thing being taught (direct object)
kepada murid – recipient (indirect object)

You will most typically see this exact order. You can move the kepada phrase slightly, but some orders are more natural than others:

Very natural:
- Psikolog kampus mengajarkan meditasi singkat kepada murid.
Also acceptable, but a bit heavier-styled:
- Psikolog kampus mengajarkan kepada murid meditasi singkat.

If you want a more “English-like” double-object order (teach the students a short meditation), it’s more natural to switch to mengajari:

Psikolog kampus mengajari murid meditasi singkat.

Why do we use kepada before murid? Could we say mengajarkan murid meditasi singkat instead?

Kepada roughly means “to” and is used with recipients, especially people:

mengajarkan meditasi singkat kepada murid – teach a short meditation to the students.

With mengajarkan, the prototypical pattern is:

mengajarkan [subject matter] kepada [person]

So kepada murid fits that pattern.

If you say mengajarkan murid meditasi singkat, Indonesian speakers may feel it’s slightly odd or ambiguous, because now murid looks like the direct object (the thing being “taught”), which doesn’t fit the usual rule for -kan here. Much more natural patterns are:

mengajarkan meditasi singkat kepada murid (your original sentence), or
mengajari murid meditasi singkat (switching to mengajari, where murid is supposed to be the direct object), or
mengajar murid meditasi singkat (using plain mengajar, commonly used in speech).

What exactly does murid mean, and how is it different from siswa and mahasiswa? Is it singular or plural here?

Murid is a general word for student/pupil, traditionally used more for school-aged learners (elementary–high school), though it is also used more broadly.

Related words:

siswa – also “student/pupil,” very common for school students (often interchangeable with murid in many contexts).
mahasiswa – specifically a university/college student.

In kepada murid, there is no explicit marker of singular or plural, because Indonesian doesn’t mark number by default. It could mean:

to a student,
to the student, or
to the students,

depending on context. If you want to be explicit:

kepada seorang murid – to one student.
kepada para murid – to the students (plural group).
kepada murid-murid – to the students (plural via reduplication).

Why is singkat placed after meditasi (in meditasi singkat) instead of before it like in English (short meditation)?

In Indonesian, adjectives usually come after the noun they modify. So:

meditasi singkat – literally “meditation short” = short meditation
buku baru – new book
film panjang – long movie

So the order noun + adjective is normal. Putting the adjective before the noun (like singkat meditasi) is wrong in standard Indonesian.

Also, some nuance:

singkat – short, brief (about duration/length of time or text/speech).
sebentar – “for a short while” (adverbial, often used with verbs: tunggu sebentar – wait a moment).

So here meditasi singkat = a brief meditation session, treated as a noun phrase, not as meditate briefly (verb phrase).

Could you say something like bermeditasi sebentar instead of meditasi singkat? How would that change the sentence?

Yes, you can change the noun phrase meditasi singkat to a verb phrase like bermeditasi sebentar, but you would normally adjust the main verb too. For example:

Psikolog kampus mengajak murid bermeditasi sebentar.
– The campus psychologist invites the students to meditate for a short while.

Comparing:

mengajarkan meditasi singkat – focuses on teaching a technique or structured exercise (a short meditation as a “thing” to learn).
mengajak … bermeditasi sebentar or membimbing murid bermeditasi sebentar – focuses on guiding them to actually do the act of meditating briefly.

So meditasi singkat = a short meditation (noun),
while bermeditasi sebentar = to meditate briefly (verb phrase).

Is Indonesian word order here always Subject–Verb–Object, like in English? Where could I put time expressions like “every morning”?

The basic neutral order in your sentence is indeed Subject–Verb–Object:

Psikolog kampus (S)
mengajarkan (V)
meditasi singkat (O)
kepada murid (indirect object phrase)

Time/frequency expressions are quite flexible. With setiap pagi (every morning), you could say:

Setiap pagi psikolog kampus mengajarkan meditasi singkat kepada murid.
Psikolog kampus setiap pagi mengajarkan meditasi singkat kepada murid.
Psikolog kampus mengajarkan meditasi singkat kepada murid setiap pagi.

All are natural. Indonesian also allows passives and fronting for emphasis:

Meditasi singkat diajarkan psikolog kampus kepada murid.
– A short meditation is taught by the campus psychologist to the students.

Does this sentence sound formal, casual, or neutral? Would people say it like this in everyday conversation?

The sentence “Psikolog kampus mengajarkan meditasi singkat kepada murid.” is neutral-leaning-formal and very suitable for written language, news, or explanation.

In everyday speech, people might make it a bit more specific or chatty, for example:

Psikolog kampus itu mengajar meditasi singkat ke murid-murid.
Psikolog di kampus ngajarin murid-murid meditasi sebentar. (more colloquial: ngajarin instead of mengajari/mengajarkan, ke instead of kepada, murid-murid for clear plural)

So your sentence is perfectly correct and natural, especially in a textbook or formal description; in casual talk, speakers often shorten or relax some of the forms.