Wednesday, January 27, 2016

The Best Way to Learn Indonesian Language : 7 Ways to Learn Indonesian Language Faster

If you ask, what are the best way to learn Indonesian?  Probably there are some tips that can help you learn Indonesian language faster. Here are some tips:  

1.Have curiosity to learn Indonesian. In fact, curiosity is needed when you want to study something new especially a foreign language like Indonesian language. Learning Indonesian language can be more useful if you have plan to visit Indonesia to do some business with the locals and stay there for quite some time. Indonesian grammar is quite simple and the spelling is very easy since Indonesian is less phonetic.You may start with learning how sentences are constructed. Just start with practicing to put a sentence together without necessarily having to understand the word meanings. Have curiosity to pay attention to its intonation, voices, syllable stress, etc.

2.Set your goal, and commit yourself to it. It takes time to learn a new language in which you have to practice on regular basis and keep on trying. Maybe you don’t have time to attend a class but that should not make you to skip a day or two. Don’t just give up after learning Indonesian language after several weeks or months of studying.Don’t easily give up simply because you find a difficult words or grammar or confusing parts of a sentence.

3.Practice pronouncing vowels. Indonesian language has fewer ways of pronouncing vowels namely a, e, i, o, u. Vowel “A” is like in the word “father”, “E” is like in the word “check”, “I” is like in the word “immigrant”, “O” is like in the word “olive” while “U” is like in the words “put” or “boot”.

4.Learn basic Indonesian phrases. This is the fun part because after remembering such phrases you will feel more confident when speaking. Here’s some few basic Indonesian phrases :


Selamat pagi
Selamat malam
Selamat datang
Nama saya John
Apa kabar?
Terima kasih
Sampai jumpa
Selamat tinggal  

5.Submerge yourself in the new language and culture.You can do lots of things to make yourself get used to the langauage such as signing up for an RSS feed or newsloetter of Indonesian words, watching Indonesian movies, listening to Indonesian podcast, etc.  

6.Have a dictionary. You may have an English-Indonesian dictionary or visit a very good online website such as http://kbbi.web.id/ or www.sederet.com  

7.Create flash cards or have your own word lists. For this purpose, you can highlight, give mark for new words yuo find in a reading passage. You can also list down some new words with their meaning to broaden your vocabulary. You can also create your own flash cards.

Monday, January 25, 2016

Learn Basic Indonesian (Part 2)


About counting items in Indonesian

In Indonesian  language, like many other Asian languages, objects are counted  based on the category they fall into; namely according to their characteristics,  rather than just by number.

For people, they are counted  as 'orang'. Then, you can say 'dua orang murid' (two students) and 'dua orang guru' (two teachers).

For animals, they are counted  in tails (ekor) - whether  they really have one or not; such as 'dua ekor anjing' (literaly means two tails of dogs, which just means two dogs).

For flat objects, such as paper (kertas), they are counted  by using 'lembar'... Tiga (3) lembar kertas, three sheets of paper.


About vocabulary in Indonesian


If compared with English, Indonesian  vocabulary is very literal, which can help your learning considerably,  if you have internalized with the raw vocabulary. For example: pencil in Indonesian is 'pensil'. There is no plural for the word 'gigi' (can be either tooth or teeth).
In English, you have to differentiate between young animals to mention dog/puppy, cat/kitten and so on. While in Indonesian, you simply add the word 'anak' for young animals so just say anjing/anak anjing, kucing/anak kucing, etc.

Learn Basic Indonesian (Part 1)

About Spelling in Indonesian

Since it is very regular, Indonesian  spelling is very easy to master. Once you learn how it sounds,  you will be able to read Indonesian  quickly and effortlessly. Probably, the only  sound that poses a challenge to
English speakers is represented by the sound 'ng' such as in the word 'orang' (person) or 'terbang' (to fly).

Some words have the sound 'ng' in the middle of a word such as in the 'jangan' (don't do something) or 'tangan' (hands).


About Tenses in Indonesian


There are no tenses in Indonesian.  Unlike English, Indonesian verbs do not change to express person or time. So, for example, the word 'pergi' (to go) does not change its form to express I go, he goes, we went, they will go etc. The pronouns  (saya, dia, etc) alone tell you who is doing the action expressed by the verb.

So, how does Indonesian express concept of time to  express present, past and future events?

Points in time are simply expressed by stating when an action is supposed to take place. For instance, you just say  'dia makan nasi goreng setiap  hari' (I eat fried rice  every day) or 'dia sedang makan nasi goreng' (he is eating fried rice). The verb is automatically sent into the continuous.

Indonesian  uses what we call tense markers.  These words that are used before the verb which  convey the idea of tense. 'Sedang' means now in Indonesian, for example, 'dia sedang tidur' (meaning he is sleeping now). If you replace sedang with sudah (meaning already) such as 'saya sudah sarapan' (I've already had lunch) then the meaning changes into past.

Sunday, January 24, 2016

Learn Useful Indonesian Phrases



English
Indonesian
Greeting

Good morning
Good afternoon
Good evening

Note:
Indonesian people often reply the greeting with the words ‘morning’, ‘afternoon’, ‘evening’.

Good morning is used in the morning
Good evening is used between 2-6 pm
Good night is used throughout the evening and night


Hello. (General greeting)
Hello (on phone)
Where are you from?
I’m from Canada
Pleased to meet you
How are you?
   Reply to 'How are you?'


Long time no see
What's your name?
My name is John
  Note: In Indonesian, you don’t need to use the words am, are, is.

I understand
I don't understand
Please speak more slowly


Please write it down
Do you speak English?
Do you speak Indonesian?
Yes, a little (reply to 'Do you speak ...?')
How do you say ... in Indonesian?


Excuse me (to get past)
How much is this?
Sorry
Thank you
    You’re welcome
Where's the toilet?

Memberi salam

Selamat pagi.
Selamat siang.
Selamat sore.

Catatan:
Untuk mempersingkat, orang Indonesia seringkali menjawab salam dengan kata-kata ‘pagi’, ‘siang’, ‘sore’.

Selamat pagi digunakan pada waktu pagi
Selamat sore digunakan antara jam 2-6 sore
Selamat malam digunakan pada waktu petang hingga malam


Hai. Apa kabar?
Halo
Anda orang mana?
Saya orang Kanada
Senang bertemu anda
Apa kabar? (What news?)
Baik-baik saja, terima kasih. Bagaimana dengan Anda?


Lama tidak bertemu.
Siapa nama anda?
Nama saya John
   


Saya mengerti
Saya tidak mengerti
Tolong bicara agak pelan. Tolong bicara pelan-pelan
 

Tolong tuliskan.
Anda bisa bicara bahasa Inggris?
Anda bisa bicara bahasa indonesia?
Ya, sedikit
Bagaimana mengatakan ... dalam bahasa Indonesia?


Maaf Permisi
Berapa harganya?
Maaf
Terima kasih
      Sama-sama
Di mana toilet?