Interested in learning Bahasa Indonesia (or Indonesian language) yet you have no clue of where you should start? Considering learning Indonesian language in the near future yet the idea of having to learn a new language scares you off? You might also have many questions lingering on your mind, making you even more hesitant to learn Bahasa Indonesia.
“Why should I learn bahasa?” and “Is learning Bahasa Indonesia really worth it?” are only few of the questions we hear from non-Indonesian speaking people who live in Indonesia. They happen to stay in Indonesia for some reasons, either it is because they have been hired to work in one of multi national companies in Indonesia, or because they are housewives and children who are following their husbands and fathers who are working in Indonesia, or even some seasonal tourists who like to visit Indonesia many times.
It has long been known that there are NO many Indonesian people who can communicate in English well, including those who are supposed to be able to speak in English, such as shop assistants, office boys and girls, drivers, and others who have to interact with people around them most of the time. Most of these people have learned how to speak English during school and yet they don’t really know how to communicate with foreigners using the proper English language. So there is no other choice for the expatriates in Indonesia other than trying to learn bahasa. It is the only way for them to be able to communicate with the Indonesian people.
There are many ways to learn Indonesian language, and you can choose whether it is the easy way or the not-so-easy way. Below are some words commonly used in daily conversation, which can be a good start for you who want to learn Indonesian language the easy way:
| Good morning | Selamat pagi |
| Good afternoon | Selamat siang/sore |
| Good evening | Selamat malam |
| How are you? | Apa kabar? |
| I’m just fine | Saya baik-baik saja |
| Good bye | Selamat tinggal |
| See you | Sampai jumpa |
| Thank you | Terima kasih |
| You’re welcome | Sama-sama/kembali |
| Nice to see you | Senang bertemu anda |
| Monday | Senin | One | Satu | Eight | Delapan |
| Tuesday | Selasa | Two | Dua | Nine | Sembilan |
| Wednesday | Rabu | Three | Tiga | Ten | Sepuluh |
| Thursday | Kamis | Four | Empat | Eleven | Sebelas |
| Friday | Jumat | Five | Lima | Twelve | Dua belas |
| Saturday | Sabtu | Six | Enam | Thirteen | Tiga belas |
| Sunday | Minggu | Seven | tujuh | Twenty | Dua puluh |
It has long been known that Indonesian language is one of the easiest languages in the world and you can even make a good sentence despite your limited knowledge of Indonesian grammar. As long as you know the KEY to arrange words into a sentence, you can make good sentences, and even a paragraph. It's just that simple.
However it is the teacher's job to guide and direct the student so that the student can be later on his/her own to develop his/her Indonesian language skill by practicing his/her Indonesian language with the locals and eventually be able to speak Indonesian better and better.
Practice makes perfect. And the more you practice your Indonesian language and do your teacher's assignment, the better your Indonesian language skill will be. These are the ground rules you must always remember when learning Bahasa Indonesia.
Follow our next lesson on ‘Indonesian Pronunciation’ in our next article.
Sumitted by Jasaritin from Online Indonesian Language Course and Lesson
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