Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Latihan lisan di kelas debat membuat saya lebih percaya diri. - Oral practice in the debate class makes me more confident.

Subject: Latihan lisan di kelas debat
→ “oral practice in the debate class”
Verb: membuat
→ “makes”
Object: saya
→ “me / I”
Complement (result): lebih percaya diri
→ “more confident”

So in simple terms:
Latihan lisan di kelas debat (subject) membuat (verb) saya (object) lebih percaya diri (complement).

Does this sentence mean present or past tense? There’s no tense marker.

Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense. Membuat can be “makes”, “made”, or “is making” depending on context.

This sentence could mean:

“Oral practice in the debate class makes me more confident.” (general fact / habit)
“Oral practice in the debate class made me more confident.” (past experience)

If you want to make the time clearer, you can add time words:

Past: Latihan lisan di kelas debat *sudah membuat saya lebih percaya diri.*
Future: Latihan lisan di kelas debat *akan membuat saya lebih percaya diri.*

What does “latihan lisan” literally mean, and is “lisan” an adjective here?

Latihan = practice, exercise, training
Lisan = oral, spoken (as opposed to written)

So “latihan lisan” literally means “oral practice” or “spoken practice”.

Yes, “lisan” is functioning like an adjective that describes the type of practice. In Indonesian, adjectives (or adjective-like words) usually come after the noun:

latihan lisan = oral practice
ujian lisan = oral exam
presentasi lisan = oral presentation

Could I say “lisan latihan” instead of “latihan lisan”?

No. That would be ungrammatical or at least very unnatural.

In Indonesian, the normal order is:

Noun + adjective / descriptor
- latihan lisan (practice that is oral)
- buku baru (new book)
- guru bahasa Inggris (English teacher)

Putting “lisan” before “latihan” would sound wrong to native speakers.

What exactly is “kelas debat”? Is it “debate class” or “class debate”?

“Kelas debat” is best understood as “debate class” – a class whose subject is debate.

Compare:

kelas debat = debate class (a course)
debat di kelas = a debate in class (an activity that happens in the classroom)

So in the sentence:

Latihan lisan di kelas debat…

it means “oral practice in the debate class” (a class focused on debating), not just a one‑off debate that happens in any class.

Why is “di” used in “di kelas debat”? Could I use “pada” or “dalam” instead?

Di is the normal preposition for a physical location:

di kelas = in/at the classroom
di sekolah = at school
di rumah = at home

So “di kelas debat” = “in the debate class”.

Other options:

pada – more formal/abstract; used more with time or abstract objects, or in written style.
- pada hari Senin = on Monday
- pada kesempatan ini = on this occasion
- pada saya = to me
  “pada kelas debat” is technically possible but sounds stiff and unnatural in everyday speech.
dalam – “in/inside (within)”, often about contents, scope, or something conceptual.
- dalam buku ini = in this book
- dalam pelajaran debat = in the debate lesson (more about content than place)

For a normal, concrete classroom location, “di kelas debat” is the natural choice.

In “membuat saya lebih percaya diri”, what is “membuat” doing exactly? Why not just say “saya lebih percaya diri”?

membuat = to make, to cause

The pattern is:

X membuat Y Z
X makes Y (become) Z

So:

Latihan lisan di kelas debat (X)
membuat (makes)
saya (Y = me)
lebih percaya diri (Z = more confident)

→ “Oral practice in the debate class makes me more confident.”

If you only say:

Saya lebih percaya diri.

That just means:

“I’m more confident” (with no stated cause).

Using “membuat” clearly expresses a cause–effect relationship.

Could I say “membuat saya merasa lebih percaya diri” or “membuat saya menjadi lebih percaya diri”? Are they different?

Yes, both are possible, with small nuances:

membuat saya merasa lebih percaya diri
- Literally: “makes me feel more confident.”
- Emphasizes the feeling of confidence.
membuat saya menjadi lebih percaya diri
- Literally: “makes me become more confident.”
- Emphasizes a change of state (from less confident to more confident).
membuat saya lebih percaya diri (original)
- The most neutral and common.
- Implies both feeling and state without extra emphasis.

All three are grammatically correct; the original is the simplest and most natural in many contexts.

What does “percaya diri” literally mean, and is it always used together?

Literally:

percaya = to believe
diri = self

So “percaya diri” literally means “believe (in) oneself”, and as a fixed expression it means “confident / self‑confident”.

It’s commonly used as a single unit meaning “confident”:

Dia sangat percaya diri.
= He/She is very confident.
Anak-anak itu kurang percaya diri.
= Those kids lack confidence.

It can also appear as a noun phrase:

rasa percaya diri = self‑confidence
meningkatkan percaya diri = to increase (your) confidence

So yes, “percaya diri” is normally used together as one expression.

Why is “lebih” used here without saying “than what”? Is something omitted?

Lebih means “more” and is used for comparatives:

lebih besar = bigger / more big
lebih cepat = faster / more fast
lebih percaya diri = more confident

Often the comparison is understood from context, so the “than …” part can be omitted:

Sekarang saya lebih percaya diri.
= Now I’m more confident (than before).

In the full form you could say:

Latihan lisan di kelas debat membuat saya lebih percaya diri *daripada sebelumnya.*
= Oral practice in the debate class makes me more confident than before.

But in everyday speech, people frequently leave out “daripada …” when it’s obvious.

What level of formality is “saya” here? Could I change it to “aku”?

saya = neutral–formal “I / me”
- Used in class, at work, with strangers, in polite situations.
aku = informal “I / me”
- Used with friends, family, people you’re close to.

So:

Formal / neutral:
Latihan lisan di kelas debat membuat *saya lebih percaya diri.*
Informal:
Latihan lisan di kelas debat membuat *aku lebih percaya diri.*

Both are grammatically correct; just choose based on how formal or close you are to the listener.

If I want to express the same idea in a more “passive” or “me-focused” way, how could I rewrite the sentence?

A very natural, “me‑focused” rephrasing is:

Saya menjadi lebih percaya diri karena latihan lisan di kelas debat.
= I became / have become more confident because of oral practice in the debate class.

Here:

Saya is the subject.
menjadi lebih percaya diri = become more confident.
karena latihan lisan di kelas debat = because of oral practice in the debate class.

A literal passive of “membuat saya” would be:

Saya *dibuat lebih percaya diri oleh latihan lisan di kelas debat.*

This is grammatically okay but sounds somewhat stiff and less natural in everyday speech than the version with karena.