A very basic introduction to the Indonesian language - Bahasa Indonesia

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The local language now used throughout Indonesia is actually a form of the original Malaysian language, with a few slight differences. If you can speak and understand Indonesian you can also talk with Malaysian people. Throughout the islands of Indonesia there are hundreds of different dialects many of which are not at all like the usual Indonesian. In the likes of Java and Bali the local people have 3 different local languages, these are linked with the caste system with lower cast people often not understanding higher caste people at all, unless the higher caste person wants them to.

Indonesian language can be a very simple language to learn. The problem I often see is that teachers tend to teach the more precise form of Indonesian which is much more difficult to learn and is very rarely used in normal situations. Only high or the very well educated will use this form of Indonesian. On a more village level, local people often Keep the language very simple indeed

Below is a very brief sample with a few hints and words that may help you along in Indonesia. When you are talking with locals in English always remember to talk slowly and as clear as possible, do not use any slang and try to make your sentences as short as possible. Oh yeah... talking loud does not help in the slightest.
One of most important things when trying to talk with locals in their language is your pronunciation. It is very important to pronounce the words correctly. To do this you need a basic understanding of how they pronounce the vowels and a few other letters of importance:

a - is always hard as in cat
e - is soft as in our a
i - is as soft as our e
o - is hard as in cot
u - as in oo

A few other letters of importance are:

c - always ch as in church
k - when used at the end of word always stop short, as for cigarette, rokok pronounced roko stop short of the final k
ng - always stop just before you reach the final g
r - get that tongue moving, always roll your r's
When e is used between 2 consonants, drop it, as in the well used greeting selamat, this would be slamat.
t - when t is at the end of a word stop short of the final t

Simple greetings:

Selamat (s'lamat) - is a word for congratulation also used before most pleasantries
Welcome - selamat datang, arrive - datang
Good morning - selamat pagi (s'lamat paghee) 6am-11am
Good afternoon - selamat siang (s'lamat siang) 11am-4am, remember to just about stop before the final g
Good afternoon - selamat sore (s'lamat sorray) 4-sundown
Good evening - selamat malam (s'lamat malam) after sundown Good night (as in sleep) - selamat tidur (slamat teedoor)
Good bye - selamat jalan is to someone who is leaving and selamat tinggal if someone is staying

Other commonly used words:

Thank you - terima kasih (t'rima kasee)    Please - silakan
Yes - similar like our yeah or ya!
No - tidak (teeda) remember there should be a k on the end but you stop just before this
Good - bagus    No good - tidak bagus    Delicious - enak    Flavour - rasa
Me - saya (saya) or aku (akoo)
You - kamu (kamoo) for a friend or people you know
You - anda (anda) is much more pleasant, especially when you do not know the person too well
We - Kita (keeta) us, including you    They or them - mereka (m'rayka) excluding you
Older woman - ibu (eeboo)    Older man - bapak (bapa)
This - ini (inee)    That - itu (eetoo)    How much - berapa - (b'rrapa)
How much is this. how much is that - ini berapa/itu berapa
Want - mau (mou)    Have - ada    May I - boleh saya (bole' saya)
Cheap - murah (moorah)    Expensive - mahal (mahal)    Free - gratis (g'ratis)

Eat - makan    Food - makanan    Drink - minum    Water - air (a'er)    Fruit - buah (booah)
Fish - ikan (eekan)    Chicken - ayam (iyam)    Beef - sapi (sapee)    Lamb - kambing    Pork - babi
Rice - nasi (nasee)    Noddles - mie (me)    Bread -roti (rotee)    Nut - kacang (kachang)
Butter - mentega    Jam - selai (s'lay)    Peanut butter - selai kacang
Beer - bir (beerrr)    Wine - anggur    Coffee - kopi (kopee)    Tea - teh
Sugar - gula (goola)    Salt - garam    Pepper - merica (m'richa)    Candy - gula gula
Orange - jeruk    Mango - mangga    Apple - apel    Water melon - semangka
Table - meja    Chair - kursi (kurrsee)    Knife - pisau (peesou)    Fork - garpu    Spoon - sendok
Cup - cangkir (chankeerrr)    Glass - gelas    Bowl - mangkok    Plate - piring    Bottle - botol

Time - jam (jam) What time - jam berapa Now - sekarang (skarang)
Later - nanti (nantee) this can mean at any time, later today, tomorrow, next week, never rely on this word
Late - terlambat Maybe - mungkin (munkin) another word never to be trusted

More - lagi    Less - kurang (korang)    Enough - cukup (chukup)    Already - sudah (sooda)
Full - penuh (p'noo)    Half - setengah (s'tenga)    Empty - kosong    Alive - hidup    Dead - mati
Broken - rusak    Repair - perbaikan (perrbike'an)    Wet - basah    Dry - kering
Beautiful - (scenery) - indah, Lady - cantik (chantik), Man - (ganteng)    Age - umur
Young - mudah (moodah)    Old - tuah (tooah)    Year - tahun (tahoon)
Ugly or bad - jelek (j'lek)    Big - besar (b'sarr)    Medium - sedang    Small - kecil (k'chil)
Hot - panas    Cold - dingin    Clean - cuci (chuchi)    Dirty - kotor

T-shirt/shirt - baju    Long Pants - celana panjang (ch'lana)    Shorts - celana pendek
Glasses - kacamata    Watch - jam tangan    Tool - alat    Electric - listrik    Light bulb - balon
Underwear - celana dalam    Shoes - sepatu (s'patoo)    Socks - kaos kaki (kaus kakee)

Room - kamar    Toilet - wc (waysay)    Bathroom - kamar mandi    Sleep - tidur (teedoorrr)
Shower - mandi    Towel - handuk    Place - tempat (t'mpat)    Bed - tempat tidur
Blanket - seprei    Pillow - bantal    Book - buku (bookoo)    Toilet paper - tisue guling (ti'su gooling)
Soap - sabun    Shampoo - sampoo    Toothpaste - pasta gigi
Boat - kapal    Taxi - taksi    Car - mobil    Motorbike - motor
Driver - sopir (sopeerr)    Road - jalan    Walking - jalan jalan    Run - lari

Dive - menyelam (m'nyelam)    Tank - tanki    Camera - kamera (kamra)    Lamp - senter    Fins - sepatu nyelam or fin
Mask - masker    Wetsuit - baju selam (bajoo s'lam)    Booties - boots
Fish - ikan (eekan)    Coral - karang    Island - pulau    Tree - pohon    Flower - bunga

Black - hitam (heetam)    White - putih (pootee)    Yellow - kuning    Blue - biru    Red - merah
Pink - merah mudah    Brown - cocolat (chocolat)
Gold - mas    Silver - perak

From - dari (daree) To - ke Want - Mau (mau) Where - mana (mana) There - sana (sana)
Where are you from - anda dari mana Where do you want to go - anda mau kemana
I am from England/America - saya dari Inggris/Amerika

If you need plurals simply say the twice and in fruits buah buah.

Money and amounts:

The local currency is rupiah (rrrupeeya)
1 - satu (sattoo)    2 - dua (dooa)    3 - tiga (teega)    4 - empat (mpat)    5 - lima (leema)
6 - enam (nam)    7 - tujuh (toojoo)    8 - delapan (d'lapan)    9 - sembilan (simbilan)
10 - sepuluh (s'puloo) 11 - sebelas (s'blas)     12 - dua belas (dooa blas)
13 - tiga belas.... and so on following usual primary number till:
20 - dua puluh (dooa puloo) 21 - add primary number as in - dua puluh satu till:
30 - for all following numbers simply use primary number plus puluh till:
100 - seratus (s'ratus) - ratus being the number for hundreds as in: 200 - dua ratus
101 - simply add above numbers - seratus satu till:
1000 - seribu (s'reeboo) - ribu being the number for thousand
10000 - sepuluh ribu (s'puloo reeboo)
100000 - seratus ribu (s'ratus reeboo)
1000000 - satu juta (satoo joota) - just being the words for million
and so on....

Periplus and other publishers produce handy pocket sized books for learning the basics of the Indonesian language.

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