How to use this sample dialogue
This is an original practice dialogue written in the same shape as a real CCL dialogue. NAATI describes each test dialogue as about 300 words, roughly half English and half the other language, split into segments of 35 words or less. After each segment a chime sounds and you have five seconds to start interpreting. It is not a recalled or official NAATI question.
- Do not read the model answers first. Ask someone to read each source segment aloud, or record yourself reading them and play the recording back a day later.
- Take brief notes while you listen, then interpret aloud after the "chime". Record yourself.
- Only after finishing all ten segments, compare your recording with the model answers and the "watch for" column.
- Score yourself with the checklist at the end, then repeat the dialogue a week later without notes from the first attempt.
Scenario: This dialogue takes place at a general practice in Melbourne between a GP and an Indonesian-speaking patient who has come to talk about their child.
The dialogue: segments 1–10
Segments alternate between English (the doctor) and Indonesian (the patient). Interpret English into Indonesian and Indonesian into English, in the first person.
| # | Source | Model interpretation | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Doctor: Good morning, please take a seat. I can see from your file that you were here about three weeks ago for back pain. Is that what brings you in today, or is it something else? | Selamat pagi, silakan duduk. Saya lihat dari catatan Anda bahwa Anda datang ke sini sekitar tiga minggu lalu karena sakit punggung. Apakah itu alasan Anda datang hari ini, atau ada keluhan lain? | "About three weeks ago" (approximate, not exact). "Brings you in" is the reason for the visit. |
| 2 | Patient: Bukan, Dok. Punggung saya sudah jauh lebih baik. Sekarang masalahnya anak saya. Sudah empat hari dia batuk terus, apalagi kalau malam, dan kemarin badannya agak panas. | No, doctor. My back is much better now. The problem now is my child. They have been coughing constantly for four days, especially at night, and yesterday they were a bit feverish. | Dia has no gender: don't invent "he" or "she". Batuk terus = constantly. Agak panas = a bit feverish, not "very hot". |
| 3 | Doctor: I'm sorry to hear that. How old is your child, and did you take their temperature? If you did, do you remember what the reading was? | Saya ikut prihatin. Berapa umur anak Anda, dan apakah Anda sudah mengukur suhu badannya? Kalau sudah, apakah Anda ingat berapa hasilnya? | Two questions plus a conditional. Candidates often drop the third part. |
| 4 | Patient: Umurnya enam tahun. Saya ukur pakai termometer tadi malam, hasilnya tiga puluh delapan koma lima. Saya sudah kasih parasetamol sirup, setengah sendok takar, tapi panasnya naik lagi tadi pagi. | My child is six. I took their temperature with a thermometer last night and it was 38.5. I gave them paracetamol syrup, half a measuring spoon, but the fever went up again this morning. | Koma lima = point five (decimal comma). Tadi malam = last night; tadi pagi = this morning. Keep the dose. |
| 5 | Doctor: Okay. Is your child eating and drinking normally? I'm particularly concerned about fluids, because children can become dehydrated quite quickly when they have a fever. | Baik. Apakah anak Anda makan dan minum seperti biasa? Saya terutama khawatir soal asupan cairan, karena anak-anak bisa cukup cepat mengalami dehidrasi kalau sedang demam. | Keep the reason ("because…"). Asupan cairan or minum both work for "fluids". |
| 6 | Patient: Makannya sedikit sekali, Dok, tapi minumnya masih mau. Yang saya khawatirkan, tadi pagi napasnya bunyi ngik-ngik waktu batuk. Waktu umur tiga tahun dia pernah dirawat karena asma. | They're eating very little, doctor, but they're still drinking. What worries me is that this morning their breathing made a wheezing sound when they coughed. When they were three, they were hospitalised for asthma. | Ngik-ngik = wheezing. Dirawat here means admitted to hospital, not just "treated". This is the highest-risk segment. |
| 7 | Doctor: That's important, thank you. I'd like to examine your child today. Can you bring them in this afternoon? If their breathing gets worse before then, or their lips look bluish, call triple zero. | Itu penting, terima kasih. Saya ingin memeriksa anak Anda hari ini. Bisakah Anda membawanya ke sini sore ini? Kalau napasnya makin parah sebelum itu, atau bibirnya kelihatan kebiruan, telepon 000. | Two warning signs joined by "or". Say "nol nol nol" or "triple zero"; don't change it to 112 or 911. |
| 8 | Patient: Bisa, Dok. Saya jemput dia dari sekolah jam tiga. Tapi anak saya belum punya Medicare karena visanya baru keluar bulan lalu. Apakah saya harus bayar penuh? | Yes, doctor. I'll pick them up from school at three. But my child doesn't have Medicare yet because their visa was only granted last month. Will I have to pay the full fee? | Belum = not yet (not "doesn't have"). Visanya baru keluar = the visa was only just granted. |
| 9 | Doctor: Please don't let that stop you. Our reception staff can explain the fees, and if you've applied for Medicare, the card details may already be in your myGov account. | Tolong jangan sampai itu membuat Anda ragu datang. Staf resepsionis kami bisa menjelaskan biayanya, dan kalau Anda sudah mendaftar Medicare, detail kartunya mungkin sudah ada di akun myGov Anda. | "May" is a possibility. Don't turn it into "it is in your account". |
| 10 | Patient: Oh, saya belum cek myGov. Nanti saya lihat. Terima kasih banyak, Dok. Sampai ketemu sore nanti. | Oh, I haven't checked myGov yet. I'll have a look. Thank you very much, doctor. See you this afternoon. | A short closing segment, but still interpret all of it, including the thanks. |
Five traps in this dialogue
Inventing a gender for dia
Indonesian dia covers he and she. Nothing in the dialogue tells you whether the child is a boy or a girl. Saying "my son" adds information. "My child… they" is accurate and natural.
Decimal commas
Tiga puluh delapan koma lima is 38.5, not 38,5 read as "thirty-eight thousand five hundred" or "thirty-eight to five". Practise hearing koma as "point". The numbers and dates drills isolate this skill.
Softening dirawat
Dirawat (in a medical context, usually dirawat inap) signals a hospital admission. "Treated for asthma" weakens the history the doctor relies on. It reads like a small wording choice but it changes the clinical picture.
Turning possibility into certainty
"May already be in your myGov account" and "Anda mungkin…" must stay uncertain. Over-confident interpretations are distortions even when the grammar is fine.
Register drift
The doctor speaks politely and the patient uses Dok. Use Anda, not kamu, when interpreting the doctor, and keep "doctor" when rendering Dok into English.
Score your attempt honestly
NAATI marks by deducting for errors such as omissions, distortions, unnatural language and poor delivery. The official marking is done by examiners and is not reproduced here. The checklist below is a practice tool for finding patterns, not a predicted score.
| Check | Segments to inspect |
|---|---|
| Every number, time and dose present and correct | 2, 4, 6, 8 |
| No invented gender, names or facts | 2, 4, 6, 8 |
| All parts of multi-part questions interpreted | 3, 5, 7 |
| Uncertainty and "not yet" preserved | 8, 9, 10 |
| First person throughout ("I", not "she says") | All |
| Started within about five seconds, with few restarts | All |
If you missed details across several segments, the problem is usually listening and notes rather than vocabulary. Revisit the note-taking guide. If you knew the meaning but couldn't find the term, build domain lists from the vocabulary guide.
Where to go next
One sample dialogue tells you something about your habits; ten unseen dialogues tell you much more. Try the Indonesian-language tenancy dialogue with explanations, then move to timed practice with two dialogues back to back in a full mock test. Our AI feedback can flag possible omissions per segment as independent study feedback. It is not an official NAATI assessment, so always check its suggestions against the source.
Practise with unseen dialogues
Interpret real-format Indonesian–English dialogues and get per-segment feedback.
Start practisingFrequently asked questions
Is this a real NAATI CCL exam dialogue?
No. It is an original practice dialogue written to match the published CCL format: two speakers, about 300 words, segments of 35 words or less. NAATI does not release live test dialogues.
Do I have to match the model answer word for word?
No. The model shows one accurate interpretation. Any rendering that keeps the full meaning, register and details is acceptable. Check meaning, not vocabulary choices.
How should I translate Indonesian dia into English?
Dia does not show gender. If the context does not tell you, use a neutral rendering such as my child or they rather than guessing he or she, which can introduce a factual error.
How many times can I repeat a segment in the real test?
NAATI allows one repeated segment per dialogue without penalty. Further repeats attract deductions, so practise interpreting from a single hearing.
Sources and update
Updated . Independent study material by Indonesian NAATI. Not affiliated with NAATI. Rules may change; check the official sources before booking.