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Why Bahasa?

Pronunciation Pointers 

FREE Bahasa Indonesia E-Course!

The Easy Way to Increase Your Vocabulary

The Next Level

Indonesian is almost the same as Malay, which is spoken in Malaysia. But bahasa Indonesia has many foreign influences, including Dutch, Arabic, Portuguese and Chinese. An increasing number of English words have also found their way into the Indonesian language.

Almost all Indonesian citizens are fluent in the Indonesian language. This is in spite of the fact that there are actually over 365 different languages and dialects actively spoken across the Indonesian archipelago! Even the smaller islands have at least one language that is uniquely their own, such as on Bali. Other islands have many more languages. In such a diverse multi-lingual environment, it is easy to see the vital need for a unifying language. Bahasa Indonesia is that language.

Although English is understood and commonly spoken in the tourist areas, the Indonesian people as a whole are often not fluent speakers of English. Except for those who work in international business or the travel industry, English is not usually essential to daily life in Indonesia and thus not practiced on a regular basis.

English is a difficult language to learn. Indonesian, on the other hand, is as easy as language learning gets, even for people who have never studied a foreign language.

You might find it great fun, as well as quite useful to consider adding a few words of bahasa Indonesia to your repertoire of memorized foreign phrases. Why? Because it is not necessary to travel to Indonesia in order to find acquaintances with whom to chat in the Indonesian language.

Indonesian people working in Asian restaurants and other service positions, especially in larger cities around the world. Cruise vacations have become quite popular in recent years. At least some crew members on most cruise ships are from Indonesia. Most notably, Holland America Line and Windstar cruises hire a major portion of their service staff exclusively from Indonesia. So whether you are on a low-key Caribbean cruise, or are enjoying a casual dinner at the local Thai restaurant, you will quite possibly have the opportunity to speak a little bahasa Indonesia. Of course, if you do plan a visit to Indonesia, being able to speak the language will make your trip that much more enjoyable.

The language is rhythmic with somewhat level emphasis. When in doubt, don’t emphasize any particular syllable and listen for correction by native speakers. After a little practice, you will get the feel for proper word stress.

“a”        always an “ah” as in “father” (NEVER long “a” as in “pay”)

“e”        generally a shorter sound than the short “a” in English; often the most effective pronunciation is saying the word as though the letter e did not exist!

Example: “Selamat” is often pronounced as “slamat”

There are a few exceptions to this rule, where the “e” has an “a” sound as in “say”

At times, you will have to play it by ear and listen for the correct pronunciation.

 “i”       “ee” as in “meet”

“o”        long “o” sound as in “hold”

“u”       “oo” as in “toot”

“aa”       both letters “a” are pronounced individually so that there is a hesitation between them

“ai”        long “i” sound as in “eye” (“ah+ee” in one sound)

“au”      “ow” as in “cow” (“ah+oo” in one sound)

“c”       “ch” as in “chip”

“g”        hard “g” sound as in “goat” (NEVER a soft “j” sound as in “gem”)

“ng”      “ung” as in “lung”. The sound comes from the back of your throat WITHOUT the hard “g” sound. This can be a little tricky, but easily mastered with a little practice.

“ngg”    “ung”+ hard “g” sound as in “hunger”

“ny”      “nya” as in “canyon” made at the roof of your mouth. This may take a little practice as well, but will feel natural in a short time.

“h”        a sigh-like sound that is pronounced, at times quite prominently. Unlike English, it is NOT silent no matter where it is found in a word.

“k”        the normal “k” sound as in “kite” EXCEPT when found at the end of a word, where it is cut off or very soft. This is also called a glottal stop, which is similar to the sound at the back of your throat when saying “oh-oh”