Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Teman laki-laki saya adalah penggemar podcast sains di saluran favoritnya. - My male friend is a fan of a science podcast on his favorite channel.

If you want to clearly say boyfriend, you would usually use pacar (or in informal speech, cowok for boyfriend, cewek for girlfriend). So:

Teman laki-laki saya = my male friend
Pacar saya = my boyfriend / my girlfriend (gender-neutral word for romantic partner)

Why is saya placed after teman laki-laki and not before, like in English?

In Indonesian, possessive pronouns like saya (my) usually come after the noun:

teman saya = my friend
teman laki-laki saya = my male friend

So the pattern is:
[thing] + saya = my [thing]

Putting saya before the noun (saya teman laki-laki) would be wrong or at least very unnatural in this context.

What is the function of adalah here, and can it be left out?

Adalah works like a linking verb between the subject and a noun phrase, similar to “is/are” in English, especially in more formal writing:

Teman laki-laki saya adalah penggemar podcast sains…
= My male friend is a fan of science podcasts…

In many everyday sentences, adalah can be omitted without changing the meaning:

Teman laki-laki saya penggemar podcast sains di saluran favoritnya.

This is natural in speech and informal writing. So in this sentence, adalah is optional and makes the sentence a bit more formal or clear.

What does penggemar mean, and how is it different from just using suka?

Penggemar means fan (as a noun) or enthusiast:

penggemar musik = music fan
penggemar podcast sains = fan of science podcasts

Suka is a verb/adjective meaning to like:

Saya suka podcast sains. = I like science podcasts.

So:

Dia penggemar podcast sains. = He is a fan of science podcasts.
Dia suka podcast sains. = He likes science podcasts.

The idea is similar, but penggemar sounds stronger and is a noun, not a verb.

Does podcast sains mean “a science podcast” or “science podcasts” (plural)? There is no plural form.

Indonesian usually does not mark plurals on nouns. Podcast sains can mean:

a science podcast
science podcasts (in general)

The context tells you which is intended. In this sentence, penggemar podcast sains most naturally means a fan of science podcasts in general, not just one specific podcast.

If you really want to emphasize plurality, you can say:

banyak podcast sains = many science podcasts
berbagai podcast sains = various science podcasts

What does di saluran favoritnya literally mean? Why use di for “on a channel”?

Di is a preposition meaning in / at / on depending on context.
Saluran = channel (e.g., YouTube channel, TV channel, podcast channel).
Favoritnya = his/her favorite.

So di saluran favoritnya literally is:

di = on/at
saluran = channel
favoritnya = his favorite

→ on his favorite channel

Using di here is normal, just like di YouTube, di TV, di Spotify, etc.

In favoritnya, what does -nya mean, and how do I know it means “his” here?

The suffix -nya has several uses, but here it is a third-person possessive: his/her/its/their (singular or plural, gender-neutral).

favoritnya = his favorite / her favorite / their favorite
saluran favoritnya = his favorite channel (or her/their favorite channel)

How do we know it’s his? From context: the only clear third person in the sentence is teman laki-laki saya (my male friend). So favoritnya naturally refers back to that friend:

Teman laki-laki saya … di saluran favoritnya.
= My male friend … on his favorite channel.

If we wanted to say my favorite channel, we’d normally say:

saluran favorit saya (more formal/neutral)
saluran favoritku (informal)

What is the structure of saluran favoritnya? Why is favoritnya after saluran?

The order in Indonesian is:

[noun] + [adjective / descriptor / possessor]

So:

saluran = channel (noun)
favorit = favorite (adjective, borrowed from English)
-nya = his/her (possessive marker)

Combined:

saluran favoritnya = his favorite channel

Literally: channel favorite-his.
Adjectives and possessive markers follow the noun they describe.

Could I say laki-laki teman saya instead of teman laki-laki saya?

No, laki-laki teman saya is not a natural way to say my male friend.

The normal pattern is:

teman laki-laki saya = my male friend
- teman = friend
- laki-laki = male
- saya = my

If you said laki-laki teman saya, it sounds like the man of my friend / my friend’s man, which is confusing and not what you want.

What is the difference between laki-laki, pria, and cowok for “male/man”?

All can relate to males, but the tone/register is different:

laki-laki
- General, neutral word for male
- Used in teman laki-laki (male friend), orang laki-laki (a man)
pria
- More formal/polite; often used in media, public signs, or formal writing
- pria dan wanita = men and women
cowok
- Colloquial/informal slang for guy / boyfriend
- cowok saya = my boyfriend (informal)

In this sentence, teman laki-laki saya is neutral and clear.

Could I add seorang before penggemar? What would Teman laki-laki saya adalah seorang penggemar podcast sains… mean?

Yes, you can say:

Teman laki-laki saya adalah seorang penggemar podcast sains di saluran favoritnya.

Seorang is a classifier used with people, similar to “a / one (person who is)”.
Adding seorang emphasizes that he is a fan (one individual fan):

Without seorang: Dia penggemar podcast sains.
With seorang: Dia seorang penggemar podcast sains. (slightly more formal/emphatic)

Both are grammatically correct; in everyday speech, people often omit seorang.