LearnIndonesian.org : Basic Indonesian - Starting from Zero.

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If you want to learn Indonesian online, this is the best place to start.

If you want to get started right away, select one of the audio files below (on the left) and have a listen. To read the text, click on the same title (on the right) and a drop-down box will show the transcript of the audio file. To plan a strategy for how to learn Indonesian (or any language) quickly and easily continue reading below.



These are very useful dialogues for those of you who don't know even a single word of Indonesian as well as students with a basic knowledge of up to 50 words.

Note, we don't waste time talking in English, or put you to sleep learning the alphabet, phonetics and grammar. You immediately get 'immersed' in the language, but instead of dropping you in over your head like most language programs, ours lets you get your feet wet in the 'kiddie pool'.

Level 0 - Dialogue 1 (click to view text)
(text appears below the audio widget)
(click a second time to close)

Bob Saja

Apa ini?

If you'd like to have the full audio and transcript (text) of these dialogues, just send us an email.

Now that you've seen a sample of our material, let's discuss other language programs such as Pimsleur, Rosetta Stone and others, as well as the underlying philosophy of how to learn Indonesian or any language quickly and easily.

Let's start with a sample from Pimsleur Indonesian 1, Unit 1. For those of you unfamiliar with Pimsleur, it is perhaps the best known and highest priced language program, but it is only an audio program. As with many programs, if you read their promotional information, it sounds good but when you look at the actual product it's... well, you be the judge.

My immediate question was why make it purely audio? Why not learn to read the language at the same time? I mean, I will want to be able to read the language (magazines, signs, newspapers, etc., so why not begin learning to read at the same time you learn to listen and speak?

Even for languages like Russian and Japanese, we get students reading immediately, and we don't waste time starting with the alphabet. Just listen and 'echo' what you hear, while 'reading' the words. You will be amazed how quickly you learn the new alphabet and can in fact read Russian or Japanese.

Getting back to learning Indonesian, here's a sample from Pimsleur's learn Indonesian program.



This is the dialogue that was given.
- Maaf, Ibu mengerti Bahasa Inggris?
- Tidak, Pak. Saya tidak mengerti Bahasa Inggris.
- Saya mengerti Bahasa Indonesia sedikit.
- Bapak orang Amerika?
- Iya, Bu.

Now that dialogue takes 13 seconds on the recording, but continues for 5 minutes 'reviewing' it. I've only heard this sample, not the full Pimsleur Learn Indonesian program, but the French Pimsleur program uses the same dialogue in French and continues in a similar fashion for 28 minutes! That's simply not time efficient. And isn't it nice to be able to read the text also?

What you need are basic dialogues, about 2 minutes in length, and you get 'pure Bahasa'. Listen and repeat or echo.

Another big problem with most language programs is the time 'wasted' waiting for the student's response in the audio recording. The blank time is generally too long and doesn't take into account the varying speed at which individual students will learn. To be able to practice individual words or phrases, we suggest you use Audacity which is free software and is extremely helpful for learning languages. More on that later.

I tried the 'Bob Saja' story with my 13 year old nephew. He listened to it once while reading it (2 minutes), then listened again, pausing after each phrase and tried saying it. Next he tried the exercises where he clicked to select the correct missing word.

At this point it's a big advantage to have a teacher (or an uncle) who can correct your pronunciation immediately each time you make a mistake.

After doing four of the exercises, reading the dialogue aloud and clicking the answers, he was ready for the next level of exercises where you have to fill in the missing word.

Six times through the dialogue; a total time of about 15 minutes; and he was reading phonetically correct and able to give the missing words. We immediately jumped to the most difficult 'fill in the missing word exercise' and he was able to do it.

One of the most important factors to enhance learning is minimize stress and confusion and maximize confidence. Most language books look like a puzzle book, even to those who know the language. The best way to get started and build up confidence is as follows:
  • Listen while reading along.

  • Listen again, pausing after each phrase and 'copy the sound' repeating out loud.

  • Read again, out loud, while choosing the missing word (e.g. 'at' or 'to', 'who' or 'where'). It's important to keep it extremely simple and have the student focus on 'remembering the sound', NOT translating from English which sometimes doesn't match.

  • Read again, out loud, selecting a different set of missing words. Again, a simple choice of 2 words, simply focusing on proper pronunciation.

  • When ready, try exercises where you type in the missing word, again starting from very simple (e.g. 'at' or 'to').

  • Next you can try typing the entire phrase, or listen to the phrase and type what you hear. Again, you're building up the physical ability. (More on this later.)
Here's a sample of my aunt trying Indonesian for the first time, along with my mom who had already done a few exercises.



To try these exercises yourself go to Bintang Bahasa.

Another well known program is Rosetta Stone. To my mind it's just glorified flashcards. I haven't seen their program for learning Indonesian but one our student's said the following:
"I am very pleased with the interactive materials. Having previously used Rosetta Stone, I think your package is much more useful and makes it easier for a student to begin speaking (which is really the key to learning)."

My goal is to develop the best material possible to help you learn Indonesian or any language online and on your own. To learn even quicker, it's well worth it to have a teacher, but even then they need to teach based on learning philosophies which work. For complete language packages for learning Indonesian visit our main site: Bintang Bahasa. To sign up with a teacher, just send us an email.

At this site, learnindonesian.org, I get to "get on my soapbox", say and do what I like. Please send me your thoughts and ideas to the same email above. Indonesia is a fascinating country and Indonesian is a fun and easy language. To see more of what we have to offer for free to learn online and to see what's new visit our home page:    Learn Indonesian at learnindonesian.org.

  
Apa ini? (What's this?)
Apa?
Ini.
Itu buku. (That's a book.)
Buku siapa? [Book who?]
Buku saya. (My book.)
Buku kamu? (Your book?)
Iya, buku saya.
…
Ini buku kamu juga?
Iya, itu buku saya.
Dan ini?
Iya, itu buku saya juga.
…
Ini apa?
Apa?
Ini.
Itu majalah.
Majalah siapa?
Majalah saya.
Majalah kamu?
Iya, majalah saya.
…
Dan ini?
Itu majalah saya juga.
…
(looking at a photo)
Ini siapa? (Who's this?)
Mana? (Where?)
Ini.
Itu anak saya.
Namanya siapa?
Rayhan.
Umurnya berapa?
(How old is he?)
Delapan. (8)
Tinggal di mana dia?
(Where does he live?)
Sama ibunya.
(With his mom.)
…
Ini apa?
Koran.

And so on..

Each individual student can progress at whatever speed they're comfortable with.

Another important factor is to trust the method and trust yourself. Just 'let it happen' and you will learn very quickly.
selamat pagi
(good morning)
selamat siang
selamat sore
selamat malam
Here's a list of words to get you going, and remember, don't waste time and effort trying to memorize words. Glance over the list quickly and let your intuitive learning ability take control.

apa
siapa
mana
kenapa
bagaimana
berapa

juga

saya
kamu
dia
mereka

buku
majalah
koran
pulpen
pensil
meja
kursi

suami
istri
anak
kakak
adik
ayah
ibu

bapak
ibu
teman

nama
umur

dari
ke
di

sama

tinggal
kerja
main
baca
mau
makan
minum
tidur

jam
waktu
jam berapa

sekarang
nanti
tadi

hari ini
kemaren
besok

pagi
siang
sore
malam

hai
halo


what
who
where
why
how
how many

also, too

I, me, my
you, your
he/she
they

book
magazine
newspaper
pen
pencil
table
chair

husband
wife
child
older br/sis
younger br/s
dad
mom

mister
ma'am
friend

name
age

from
to
in, at, on

same; with

live, stay
work
play
read
want
eat
drink
sleep

time, hour
time
what time

now
later
earlier

today
yesterday
tomorrow

morning
mid-day
afternoon
night

hi
hello



Here are some other comments on Pimsleur language programs that I found at various other websites:


Hi everyone.

I'm working through Pimsleur French now, and have a question. Do texts/printouts of dialogs exist?

I understand that Pimsleur method is just about the listening, but sometimes looking at texts could be extremly useful.

In a few cases it's very hard to distinguish the constonants by listening. And I don't want to get pronunciation for those words completely wrong. (For example in some words the constonants sound somewhere between "v" and "p". And even I know that I will have an accent anyway, but would not want to pronounce it completely wrong).

The texts are not included in a package, but maybe they exist somewhere on internet?

Thanks.

--- comment ---

Havn't seen the text anywhere but then I havn't looked either. I have listened to the first three or four lessons of french and have written out the dialog for those lessons. My impressions. The amount of content in the lessons is very minimal as anyone doing the lessons already knows. However, it is helpful to me IMO to have the text. That's just me.

Bottom line, with pimsleur it's all about repetition and responding to prompts. The good part is you have many many opportunities to hear the correct pronuciation and respond with your own attempt at correct pronuciation. The bad part is it sometimes seems painfully slow. I do recommend pimsleur as one part, an important part, of language study. I also like Learn French In Your Car by Penton Overseas, Inc. and Living Language from Random House. You do get complete dialogs with these two programs.
(link)




Having Trouble with Pimsleur French I :

This has been said before. I think the main reason to exclude a script is to make the student to focus on the sounds and not on what's written. Similar to play music by ear and not by reading the staff notation.

If you "get it" the first time it's OK to go on, and even then it's OK to listen once more for deeper knowledge. I don't think I have ever spent several hours on one lesson. Perhaps two or three sessions if was particularly difficult, and then next lesson (the day after) - assuming that necessary stuff will appear in later lessons.

I must confess that I haven't paid any particular attention to Pimsleur French (I've only listened to a lesson or two), but for the other languages I can't say that they speak unnaturally fast, rather quite slowly.

--- comment ---

Actually the instructions for Pimsleur say not to use anything else or to refer to dictionary but I agree with what you are saying and think I am going to start trying some other stuff. I have already referred to a dictionary numerous times when I wasn't clear on something in Pimsleur and it was a big help. Perhaps Pimsleur is afraid if you try something else, it will work better for you and you will ditch their stuff.     (link)