Vocabulary: In the Street

When you walk along the bustling streets in Jakarta, you will find many pedagang kaki lima. At the intersections, you can see pengemis begging for money when the traffic light turns red, or you can enjoy some music and songs from pengamen when you're on a bus. Some of them have nice voice, but some others just don't have that talent. Some of them are children. We call them as anak jalanan in bahasa Indonesia. Unfortunately they don't get the chance to go to school and are forced to make a living on the street.

You must be wondering what's the English for pedagang, kaki lima, pengamen, pengemis, dan anak jalanan. In this article you will learn those words. When you finish reading this article, you can use one of those words in a sentence. You can post it in the comment box. I will check up on you later to see if you make a mistake in your sentence and need my help to correct it.


Street vendor = pedagang kaki lima
A street vendor is a person who sells things (goods or food) in the street, either from a stall, cart, or van, or with their goods laid out on the sidewalk.

Street hawker = pedagang kaki lima
A street hawker (also: hawker) is a person who travels about selling things (goods or food), typically advertising them by shouting.

Basically, a street vendor and a hawker are people who sell their goods in the street. The difference between them is that the hawker cries out (shouts) to advertise what they're selling. In bahasa  Indonesia a street vendor and a hawker mean pedagang kaki lima.

Busker = pengamen
A busker is a person who plays music or sing in a public place, for example on the sidewalk or on a bus, so that people will give them money.

Beggar = pengemis
A beggar is a poor person who asks others for money or food.

Street kids = anak-anak jalanan
Street kids are children living in the margins.