Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Kami belajar menghargai tetangga di lingkungan kami. - We learn to appreciate our neighbors in our neighborhood.

In Kami belajar menghargai tetangga di lingkungan kami, the speaker is talking about their own group, not including the listener, so kami is correct.

If the speaker wanted to include the listener (for example, a teacher talking to students in the same neighborhood), they might say:

Kita belajar menghargai tetangga di lingkungan kita.
We (you and I) learn to appreciate our neighbors in our neighborhood.

Why is belajar followed directly by menghargai without untuk (to)?

In Indonesian, belajar can be followed directly by a verb in its base or meN- form:

belajar + [verb]

So:

Kami belajar menghargai tetangga…
literally: We learn appreciate neighbors…

This is natural and means We learn to appreciate neighbors…

Adding untuk is possible in some contexts (belajar untuk menghargai), but:

It sounds more formal or heavier.
It can emphasize purpose more strongly: learn in order to appreciate.

In everyday speech and writing, belajar menghargai (without untuk) is very common and completely correct.

What does menghargai literally come from, and what nuance does it have?

Menghargai is formed from:

root: harga = price, value
prefix: meng-
suffix: -i

So menghargai literally means to give value to → to value, to appreciate, to respect.

Nuances:

It’s often used for appreciating people or things:
- menghargai tetangga = appreciate/value/respect neighbors
- menghargai waktu = value time
- menghargai pendapat orang lain = appreciate/respect other people’s opinions

It combines both the idea of appreciation and respect.
Another common verb is menghormati (to honor, to show respect), which is often stronger/formal, especially for:

elders: menghormati orang tua
officials: menghormati guru, pemimpin

Here, menghargai tetangga focuses on valuing and appreciating them in daily life.

Is tetangga singular or plural? Do we need tetangga-tetangga or para tetangga?

Tetangga by itself can mean:

a neighbor (singular)
neighbors (plural)

Indonesian usually doesn’t mark plural explicitly if it’s clear from context. In this sentence, tetangga is naturally understood as plural: neighbors.

You can make the plural more explicit:

tetangga-tetangga = neighbors (reduplication)
para tetangga = (all) the neighbors (more formal, collective)

So these are all possible, with slightly different nuances:

Kami belajar menghargai tetangga…
neutral, commonly used; plural understood from context
Kami belajar menghargai tetangga-tetangga…
emphasizes the idea of multiple neighbors
Kami belajar menghargai para tetangga…
a bit more formal, emphasizes the group as a whole

Why is di lingkungan kami placed at the end? Could it go earlier in the sentence?

The default, most natural order in Indonesian is:

[subject] [verb] [object] [place/time]

Here:

Kami (subject)
belajar menghargai (verb phrase)
tetangga (object)
di lingkungan kami (place phrase)

So Kami belajar menghargai tetangga di lingkungan kami follows the typical pattern and sounds very natural.

You can move di lingkungan kami for emphasis, but it becomes less neutral:

Di lingkungan kami, kami belajar menghargai tetangga.
Emphasizes In our neighborhood (as a topic).
Kami, di lingkungan kami, belajar menghargai tetangga.
Possible, but a bit awkward or too heavy for a simple sentence.

For normal, neutral speech, the original word order is best.

What exactly does lingkungan mean here? Is it just “neighborhood”?

Lingkungan has a few related meanings:

physical surroundings / environment
social environment or community
neighborhood (where you live)

In tetangga di lingkungan kami, lingkungan refers to:

the area where we live (physical and social neighborhood)
the community around our house(s)

So di lingkungan kami = in our neighborhood / in the area where we live, including the people and the environment as a community.

Why do we say di lingkungan kami and not pada lingkungan kami?

In this context, di is the normal preposition for a place:

di = at / in / on (location)
pada = at / on / to (used more with abstract things, formal writing, or certain fixed patterns)

For physical or social locations like house, school, city, neighborhood, di is standard:

di rumah = at home
di sekolah = at school
di Jakarta = in Jakarta
di lingkungan kami = in our neighborhood

Pada lingkungan kami would sound odd or too formal here. Native speakers naturally choose di for this sentence.

Why is kami repeated at the end (lingkungan kami)? Could we avoid the repetition?

The two kami play different roles:

First kami = subject: Kami belajar… → We learn…
Second kami = possessor: lingkungan kami → our neighborhood

Repeating kami is normal and not considered awkward in Indonesian. It clearly shows both:

who is learning (we),
whose neighborhood it is (our).

You could rewrite to avoid repetition, but the structure changes:

Kami belajar menghargai tetangga di lingkungan ini.
We learn to appreciate neighbors in this neighborhood.
(no “our,” but refers to where speaker & listener are)
Kami yang tinggal di sini belajar menghargai tetangga.
We who live here learn to appreciate neighbors.

However, the original sentence is perfectly natural and common.

Can belajar mean “are learning” (present continuous), even though there’s no tense marker?

Yes. Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense. Belajar can mean:

learn
are learning
learned
will learn

The actual time is understood from context or added time words:

Kami sedang belajar menghargai tetangga…
We are currently learning to appreciate our neighbors…
(sedang explicitly marks a present ongoing action.)
Dulu kami belajar menghargai tetangga…
In the past we learned to appreciate neighbors…

In your sentence, Kami belajar menghargai tetangga di lingkungan kami can naturally be translated as We are learning to appreciate our neighbors in our neighborhood if that fits the context.

What is the grammatical role of menghargai tetangga after belajar?

In Kami belajar menghargai tetangga…:

belajar is the main verb: to learn
menghargai tetangga functions like the “thing” being learned

Structurally, you can think of it like English:

We learn [to appreciate neighbors].

So:

menghargai = verb: to appreciate
tetangga = its object: neighbors

Together, menghargai tetangga = a verb phrase acting as the complement to belajar (learn to appreciate neighbors).