Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Di kebun belakang rumah nenek, saya mengamati serangga kecil seolah-olah itu eksperimen pribadi saya. - In grandma’s backyard, I observe small insects as if that is my personal experiment.

rumah nenek = grandma’s house
kebun belakang (rumah nenek) = the back garden of grandma’s house / the garden at the back of grandma’s house
di kebun belakang rumah nenek = in the backyard of my grandma’s house

So the pattern is basically:

di + [place] + [spatial description] + [possessor]
di kebun belakang rumah nenek = in the backyard of grandma’s house

You could also say:

di kebun di belakang rumah nenek – more literal: in the garden behind grandma’s house
di belakang rumah nenek ada kebun – behind grandma’s house there is a garden

But the original is very natural and idiomatic.

Why is it rumah nenek and not something like rumah nenek saya? Where is the my in my grandma’s house?

In Indonesian, possession is often shown just by putting two nouns together:

rumah nenek = grandma’s house
rumah guru = the teacher’s house
buku adik = younger sibling’s book

For close family members, it’s very common to omit saya when it’s obvious from context that you are talking about your own grandmother:

rumah nenek will usually be understood as my grandma’s house if you are talking about your own life.

If you want to be very explicit:

nenek saya = my grandmother
rumah nenek saya = my grandma’s house (more explicit / formal)

So the English translation adds my for naturalness, but Indonesian doesn’t need to say saya there.

Is the comma after rumah nenek necessary? Can I drop it?

The comma is stylistic but recommended:

Di kebun belakang rumah nenek, saya mengamati…

Here di kebun belakang rumah nenek is an introductory location phrase (like In the backyard of my grandma’s house, … in English). Indonesian usually uses a comma after such fronted phrases.

Without the comma:

Di kebun belakang rumah nenek saya mengamati serangga kecil…

is still understandable, but it can momentarily feel heavier to read. In writing, most native speakers would keep the comma. In speech, of course, it’s just a pause.

How do I know the tense of saya mengamati? Does it mean I observe, I observed, or I was observing?

Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense. Mengamati by itself is tenseless; context does the job. Depending on context, saya mengamati can mean:

I observe / I am observing
I observed / I was observing

If you want to be explicit, you add time words or aspect markers:

Tadi saya mengamati serangga kecil = Earlier I observed small insects
Kemarin saya mengamati… = Yesterday I observed…
Saya sedang mengamati serangga kecil = I am (in the middle of) observing small insects

In your sentence, without extra context, it could be translated in past or present depending on the surrounding text.

What is the nuance of mengamati compared to melihat or memperhatikan?

All three involve looking, but with different nuances:

melihat – to see / to look
- Basic, neutral. You just see something.
- Saya melihat serangga = I see an insect.
mengamati – to observe carefully
- More deliberate, careful, often over some time.
- Feels a bit more scientific or systematic.
- Saya mengamati serangga kecil implies you are watching them like an observer or researcher.
memperhatikan – to pay attention to / to notice
- Focus on attention and noticing details, not necessarily for a long time or in a scientific way.
- Saya memperhatikan gerakan serangga itu = I pay attention to / notice the insect’s movements.

In this sentence, mengamati fits well with the idea of an experiment.

Why is it serangga kecil and not kecil serangga? And how do I show plural like small insects?

Word order:

In Indonesian, adjectives usually come after the noun.
- serangga kecil = small insect(s)
- rumah besar = big house
- buku baru = new book

So kecil serangga would be wrong in standard Indonesian.

Plural:

Indonesian usually does not mark plural on nouns, so serangga kecil can mean:
- a small insect or
- small insects

If you want to emphasize plural, you can:

Use reduplication: serangga-serangga kecil = small insects (emphasized plural)
Add a quantifier:
- banyak serangga kecil = many small insects
- beberapa serangga kecil = several small insects

In normal storytelling, serangga kecil alone is enough to be understood as small insects.

What does seolah-olah mean exactly, and how is it different from seolah, seakan-akan, or seperti?

Core meaning:

seolah-olah = as if / as though, usually implying that what follows is not literally true, just a comparison of attitude or appearance.

Related forms:

seolah-olah and seakan-akan
- Very close in meaning, often interchangeable.
- Both suggest something is only as if that were the case.
seolah
- Shortened, more informal version of seolah-olah.
- seolah itu eksperimen pribadi saya is also acceptable in many contexts.
seperti
- Means like / as / similar to, more neutral.
- Doesn’t strongly imply that the thing is not true, just that it’s similar.
- Saya mengamati serangga kecil seperti ilmuwan = I observe small insects like a scientist.

In your sentence, seolah-olah underscores that it’s not really a formal experiment, but you behave as if it were.

In seolah-olah itu eksperimen pribadi saya, what does itu refer to?

Here itu (“that / it”) refers to the whole situation or activity previously mentioned: you observing the insects in the backyard.

So the logic is:

You are mengamati serangga kecil (observing small insects).
That activity, that whole thing, is treated as if it were your personal experiment.

So itu ≈ that (activity / situation):

seolah-olah itu eksperimen pribadi saya
= as if that (what I’m doing) were my personal experiment.

Why don’t we say seolah-olah itu adalah eksperimen pribadi saya? Is dropping adalah correct?

Yes, dropping adalah is very normal.

In Indonesian, when the predicate is a noun phrase (like eksperimen pribadi saya), you can usually omit the linking verb:

itu eksperimen pribadi saya = that (is) my personal experiment
dia guru saya = he/she (is) my teacher
ini buku favorit saya = this (is) my favorite book

Adding adalah:

itu adalah eksperimen pribadi saya

is more formal or sometimes more emphatic, especially in written language or explanations.

In casual narrative sentences like yours, seolah-olah itu eksperimen pribadi saya sounds very natural and not incomplete at all.

What’s the difference between eksperimen pribadi saya and eksperimen saya sendiri?

Both can be translated as my own experiment, but with slightly different emphasis:

eksperimen pribadi saya
- pribadi = personal, private.
- Emphasizes that the experiment is personal to you (not official, not for school, maybe just for your own interest).
- Slightly more formal / neutral.
eksperimen saya sendiri
- sendiri = own, by oneself.
- Emphasizes that it is mine and not someone else’s, or that I’m doing it myself.
- Can sound a bit more emotional / emphatic in some contexts.

In this sentence, eksperimen pribadi saya nicely fits the idea of a personal, self-motivated experiment.

Why use saya and not aku here? Would aku be wrong?

Both saya and aku mean I, but they differ in formality and context:

saya
- Polite, neutral, standard.
- Used in formal situations or whenever you want to sound respectful or neutral.
- Common in narration, essays, stories, news, etc.
aku
- Informal, more intimate.
- Used with close friends, family, in song lyrics, fiction with a casual tone, etc.

In your sentence, saya gives a neutral / slightly formal narrative voice. You could rewrite it as:

Di kebun belakang rumah nenek, aku mengamati serangga kecil…

if the overall text is in a more intimate or casual style. Just make sure you don’t mix saya and aku for the same speaker in the same text without a reason.

Can I change the word order and move di kebun belakang rumah nenek to another position?

Yes, Indonesian word order is fairly flexible for adverbial phrases like locations.

Your original:

Di kebun belakang rumah nenek, saya mengamati serangga kecil seolah-olah itu eksperimen pribadi saya.
- Emphasis: the location (in grandma’s backyard).

You can also say:

Saya mengamati serangga kecil di kebun belakang rumah nenek seolah-olah itu eksperimen pribadi saya.
- Emphasis: I and the action of observing; location is added information.

Both are natural. Fronting the location (using it at the start) is common in storytelling when you want to set the scene first, just like in English: “In my grandma’s backyard, I watched…”.