Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Daripada pulang langsung setelah kuliah, kami kadang menonton latihan band di studio sebagai hiburan. - Rather than going straight home after class, we sometimes watch the band practice in the studio as entertainment.

So here it introduces an alternative action that is not taken (going home straight away) and contrasts it with what they do instead (watch band practice).

Daripada has two common uses:

Comparisons (A vs. B):
- Dia lebih tinggi daripada saya.
  He is taller than me.
“Rather than / instead of” (especially with verbs):
- Daripada marah-marah, lebih baik kita bicara baik-baik.
  Rather than getting angry, we’d better talk calmly.

In your sentence, it’s the second type: “rather than doing X, (we) do Y.”

Why doesn’t the clause after daripada have a subject? Should it be daripada kami pulang langsung…?

Indonesian often omits the subject in the second clause if it is clearly the same as the subject in the main clause.

Daripada pulang langsung setelah kuliah, kami kadang menonton…
The subject of pulang langsung is still kami, even though kami is not repeated.

You can say:

Daripada kami pulang langsung setelah kuliah, kami kadang menonton…

This is grammatically correct, just a bit more explicit and slightly heavier in style. Many native speakers drop the repeated kami in the daripada clause because it’s understood from context.

Is pulang langsung the only correct order, or can we also say langsung pulang?

You can say both, but langsung pulang is more common and more natural in everyday speech:

Daripada langsung pulang setelah kuliah…
Daripada pulang langsung setelah kuliah…

Both mean “instead of going straight home after class.”

In practice:

langsung + verb is a very typical pattern:
- langsung makan, langsung tidur, langsung pulang
pulang langsung is understandable and not wrong, but it sounds a bit less typical than langsung pulang.

So if you’re speaking or writing Indonesian, daripada langsung pulang setelah kuliah is a very natural choice.

What is the nuance of kuliah here? Does it mean “class,” “lecture,” or “college”?

In this context, kuliah means a university/college class or lecture.

Common meanings of kuliah:

Noun – “lecture / (uni) class”:
- Setelah kuliah, saya pulang.
  After class/lecture, I go home.
Verb – “to study at university”:
- Dia kuliah di Jakarta.
  He/She studies at university in Jakarta.

It does not mean “school” in general (that’s sekolah) and is usually associated with higher education.

If you wanted to talk about a school lesson, you’d more likely say pelajaran or kelas, not kuliah.

What is the difference between kadang and kadang-kadang?

Kadang and kadang-kadang both mean “sometimes.”

kadang – slightly shorter, common in speech and writing
kadang-kadang – a bit more “full,” also very common, maybe a touch more emphatic

In your sentence, you could use either:

kami kadang menonton…
kami kadang-kadang menonton…

The meaning is essentially the same. There is no strong difference in formality; both are fine in neutral Indonesian.

Why is menonton used for a band practice? Would mendengarkan or melihat be better?

Menonton literally means “to watch (a performance / show / something being presented).”

Here, latihan band is treated like a kind of performance they go and watch for fun, so menonton fits well:

menonton latihan band → watching the band practice

Alternatives:

melihat latihan band – to see the band practice
More neutral; focuses on seeing, not so much the “show” aspect.
mendengarkan latihan band – to listen to the band practice
Emphasizes listening rather than watching.

All three could work depending on what you want to emphasize:

menonton → watching them play (as an activity/entertainment)
melihat → simply seeing what they do
mendengarkan → focusing on the sound/music

In everyday speech, nonton latihan band (colloquial for menonton) is also very common.

How does latihan band work grammatically? Why not latihan band-nya or latihan musik?

Latihan band is a noun–noun combination:

latihan = practice / rehearsal
band = band
→ latihan band = band practice / band rehearsal

It’s like saying “band practice” in English (not “practice of the band”).

About the other forms:

latihan band-nya
- -nya can mean “the”/“its”/“their,” or refer to something already known.
- latihan band-nya might mean “the band’s practice”, “that band practice”, or “their band practice.”
- You’d add -nya when you’re talking about a specific, known practice session.
latihan musik
- More general: “music practice” (could be any kind of music practice, not necessarily a band).

In your sentence, latihan band is a natural, general way to say “band practice” without extra nuance.

Why is it di studio without a word for “the” or “a”?

Indonesian does not use articles like “a” or “the.”

di studio can mean:
- in a studio
- in the studio
- at the studio

The exact meaning depends on context.

If you need to be more specific, you add extra words:

di sebuah studio – in a studio (one studio, non-specific)
di studio kampus – in the campus studio
di studio itu – in that studio
di studio kami – in our studio

But di studio by itself is natural and complete in Indonesian.

What does sebagai hiburan literally mean, and how is it different from untuk hiburan?

Sebagai hiburan literally means “as entertainment.”

sebagai = as (in the role of / functioning as)
hiburan = entertainment

So:

…di studio sebagai hiburan.
→ …at the studio as entertainment (i.e., they treat it as something entertaining).

Untuk hiburan means “for entertainment (purposes).”

Difference:

sebagai hiburan – emphasizes the role: we consider this to be entertainment
untuk hiburan – emphasizes the purpose: we do this for entertainment

In everyday speech, you could say either:

…di studio sebagai hiburan.
…di studio untuk hiburan.

Both are natural. Sebagai hiburan may sound a touch more formal or written, but it’s still neutral.

Can the position of kadang change? For example, Kadang kami menonton… vs Kami kadang menonton…?

Yes, kadang is flexible in position, and both are correct:

Kami kadang menonton latihan band…
Kadang kami menonton latihan band…

Both mean “Sometimes we watch the band practice…”

Very small nuance:

Kadang kami… puts a little emphasis on “sometimes” at the start.
Kami kadang… is slightly more neutral in rhythm.

In daily use, they are practically interchangeable.

How do we know the tense/time reference in this sentence, since there is no word like “used to” or “would”?

Indonesian generally does not mark tense (past, present, future) on the verb. Instead, you understand time from context and time expressions.

In this sentence:

kadang = sometimes → suggests a repeated / habitual action
setelah kuliah = after class → tells you when it happens

So, the sentence is understood as describing a habitual action, similar to English “sometimes we (will) watch…” or “we sometimes watch…” in general.

Depending on context, it could refer to:

something they currently do from time to time
something they used to do in the past (if the surrounding context is in the past)

The Indonesian form itself stays the same; the time frame comes from context.

Is the whole sentence neutral, formal, or informal? Could this be used in writing?

The sentence is in neutral, standard Indonesian.

daripada, pulang, setelah, kami, kadang, menonton, latihan band, di studio, sebagai hiburan
→ all are standard words, fine for spoken and written use.

It would be appropriate in:

informal writing (messages, social media)
neutral essays or narratives
spoken conversation

To make it a bit more casual, you might say:

Daripada langsung pulang setelah kuliah, kami kadang nonton latihan band di studio buat hiburan.

To make it more formal, you might say:

Daripada langsung pulang setelah perkuliahan, kami kadang menyaksikan latihan band di studio sebagai hiburan.

But as given, it’s already appropriate in most everyday contexts, including general writing.