c

 m

Face it--whether you are in Indonesia for one week or for 10 years, it is not only polite and useful
to know a little of the language, in many cases, it is outright necessary. If you don't want to be
trapped at the Hotel Borobudur or restricted to traveling with a translator, you need to be able to
communicate with that cheerful, friendly, curious populace out there. This booklet provides one
approach to learning a very basic level of the Indonesian language, Bahasa Indonesia, with no
strain. m

I have yet to encounter a structured, functional approach to learning Bahasa Indonesia [Note from
SEASite: The text used in NIU's Indonesian classes, î
  
by Ian J. White (Longman:
Melbourne, Australia), is "a notional-functional course" in Indonesian; another well-known text is
î  



 by John U. Wolff (SEAP, Cornell University: Ithaca,
NY)] . Phrase books confront the linguistic novice with a barrage of special purpose phrases ("Is
the play a comedy or a tragedy?"). They are often badly organized into social situations (going to
the market, at customs) where you are likely to have neither the time nor the inclination to be
fumbling around with a silly little phrase book even if you did bring it with you, which is highly
improbable. With these books, you can either memorize several hundred phrases that may or may
not have an application. Or you can keep the book in your pocket and hope that your fingers are
fast enough to find the phrase for "turn left here" before the taxi takes you completely out of
town in a straight line. m

rrammar books and dictionaries, although fine for a long-term study of the language, are even
more of a hindrance in taxis and at the supermarket checkout. Language tapes also have their
place in learning to communicate but this approach requires time and effort to achieve practical
results. m

What is required for the short-term visitor and even for the newly arrived longer-term expatriates
is a list of common, useful and necessary words and phrases grouped into bite-sized quantities so
the most important ones can be learned and used first. m

The most useful phrase book I have found is Indonesian Words and Phrases by the American
Women's Association. It provides some very important basic concepts and I recommend it highly
but no one wants to memorize an entire book the first day in a new country. The following lists of
words, organized by day, should help you to get through your first week while you are making
plans for more extensive language training. m

Optional words in the following vocabulary tables are provided in square brackets and correspond
between columns (for example, [pagi | siang | sore | malam] = [morning | day | afternoon |
evening]; pagi is morning, etc.). Fill-in-the-blank words (...) may be substituted from any handy
phrase book.m

The appendices include a guide to pronunciation, help with finding words in the dictionary and a
short essential word list. m

å
 
  m

 
 m The first priority in Indonesia, believe it
or not, is being polite. Not getting the
job done, getting to where you are going
    rood [morning | day | afternoon
  | evening].m or getting the correct change. The
  m general wisdom that even a few polite
words will return much appreciation is
usually true. On the other hand, unkind
  
m Thank-you.m
or loud words in any language will
instantly turn you into an invisible being. m
ÿ m Yes. (often means no)m
Any conversation beyond the vocabulary
 m No.m here assumes that you know more about
the language than you actually do. This
¦    How are you? What's new?m may put you on the receiving end of a
long monologue to which you are
m

expected to nod and make the occasional

î    non-committal response.m
Fine, and you? (to man | woman)m
î  
m

I don't speak Indonesian. (This will

    
be painfully obvious to any

 
Indonesian, but it's a polite way to
  m
fill in those awkward moments.)m

     rood-bye. (to person leaving | to

 m person staying)m
m
o  m You're welcome.m

 


Please [sit down | come in].m
 
m

Click on the word to hear it pronounced.

m

 m

 
 m By your second day, still fuzzy with jet-
lag, your employers expect you to at
least show up at the office to meet a
o 
To the [left | right].m few people. If you're not here to work,
 m
by now you should be bored enough with
the hotel facilities (even if it is the



m straight ahead.m Borobudur) to want to see a little of the
town. The most effective way of getting


 around town is in the back of a shiny
[This | That] [house | building |
!
"   Mercedes with an English-speaking,
street].m

m hard-nosed, Jakarta-born driver. If you
don't happen to have both of these
o   handy, flag down the nearest taxi after
m

Where are you going? (Also a

you have memorized the accompanying
 common polite greeting.)m vocabulary. m

  
  Street names and addresses are rarely
I am going to United Statesm sufficient to get you where you are
¦ m

going in Jakarta unless you are going to

I don't know. (This will likely be
obvious to the driver but may
  


m street, you may need it to get back
encourage him to find directions
elsewhere.)m
[Here | There]. (Not really useful,
å  m but it's something to say while
you're pointing at the house.)m
a very well known building, hotel or
shopping center. Remember to learn the
local pronunciation of your hotel or
home. Many place and street names are
derived from English or other languages,
but sometimes they are not pronounced
as you would expect. For example, the
"Hotel Orchid" is pronounced Ortchid and
"rolf" usually has two syllables (rol-ef). m

The best way of giving directions in a

Left or right? (Drivers often ask
this when approaching a street
o  
they assured you they grew up
m
taxi is to mention the neighborhood
(Kebayoran Baru, Blok M, Jalan Thamrin,
Kemang, Pondok Indah etc.) and the

on.)m street. If there are any tricky turns

before you get there, you may want to
mention that, too. Don't fall asleep on
î
#
Stop! (Often necessary)m the ride. Lacking specific instructions,
#m drivers often take you in circles.m

 
 m Wrong.m

  

I want to go home.m

  m

Click on the word to hear it pronounced.

m

å

 m
On your third day, you are beginning to get  
 m
used to the new time-zone, the smells and
the food. This is about the time that you
Where are you from? (For
realize you're not in Kansas any more and
some reason, Indonesians
you left Toto back home. m å   
are very good at spotting
m

foreigners.)m
Indonesians are very good at helping you get
over culture shock. They like to chat and
find out about people and to tell you about    
I am from United States.m
themselves. m ¦ m

You will be stopped on the street and asked Have you been [in
your age, name and address. Don't take it 

   
Indonesia | here] very
too seriously and you don't have to give a   
straight answer. These are simply polite long? (Again, a polite
questions, to answer "Where are you going?", m question, but you are
"Over there.", "Ke sana" is good enough.m really being asked how
long you have been
here.)m

  



I have been [in Indonesia



| here] for two [days |
  
weeks] already.m
m

Are you already married?



 $ m (Another polite question,
not often a pick-up line.)m




  Do you have any children?
  m (a popular topic)m




[Already | Not yet].m
î
m

å  
Where is my wallet ? m

 m

m
How old are you?
î  
(Another common, polite


 
question.)m
m

 
Where do you live?m
   m

å
 !"# $%&  &" 
m

Numbers are handy to know, but most
 
 m
often prices are written on paper or shown
on a cash-register or on a calculator. On
your fourth day you are not ready to  m zerom
bargain for antiques on Jalan Surabaya! m
 
m onem
When spoken, prices are usually in
thousands and hundreds (for example Rp.
m twom
10,500 is ten thousand, five hundred).
Understanding numbers when spoken takes
some practice. Another perplexity is that  m threem
when discussing prices, often the units are
omitted. If a figurine is quoted to you as  m fourm
"Enam (six)" and you don't know for certain
whether they are talking about six
thousand or six million, you probably  m fivem
shouldn't be shopping there. m

The basic one-to-nine numbers are handy  m sixm

for spelling out addresses and giving shoe
sizes. These are usually spelled out as in 


m sevenm
147 (satu-empat-tujuh for one-four-
seven). Don't worry about the hundreds
and thousands, it's only your fourth day. m   m eightm

An Australian mate of ours managed to  m ninem

successfully bargain for goods in Bali using
only the numbers from one to five. This



m tenm
approach is not recommended.m

 
  eleven, twelve,
  m thirteen, ...m




 



twenty, thirty, ...m
m




 m twenty fivem

one hundred, two

 

 
m
hundred, ...m

one thousand, two




m
thousand...m

one million, two


 

 m
million, ...m


m ... and a halfm

m

å
'!(!  m

For the next three days, you  
 m
should build a vocabulary that
is important to your daily
  
%
 I want ... (noun | "to" verb)
existence. If you spend a lot
&' (  
 for example, I want cookies.
of time in restaurants, learn

  

)m I want to drink.m
the names of food. If you like
shopping for local handicrafts,
learn their names and    % )m I would like some |coffee|
substitute into the sentences (noun | "to" verb)m
here. m
¦ %  )m Do you have any cigarettes
Learn at least five new nouns
and five new verbs that are (noun)?m
useful to you. These phrases
aren't guaranteed get you a
better room at the Wisma å     % 
) Where can I buy shirt
Delima, for that you need a %
)m (noun)?m
teacher or more time with a
phrase book. These phrases,
  
%

)% I like (this book) (noun or
though will ensure that you
won't go hungry on your fifth 
&)m verb).m
day. m
  
% 
)% I want to buy shoes (noun)m
Before heading out for the 
)m
day, memorize a couple of
new words you will need to
know for the day's activities. î  
m How much is [this | that]?m
Write them down and give
youself a quiz. Bring the paper î   m How [much | many]?m
you wrote them down on. m

You should have noticed by

Click on the word to hear it pronounced.
now that many foreign, m
especially English, words are
commonly used by mm
Indonesians: hotel, taxi, film,
bank, photocopy, photo, beer,
restaurant, McDonald's and
toilet will likely be
understood. Be on the lookout
for these words in
advertisements and other
signs. It's an easy way to add
to your vocabulary. A more
extensive list of these similar
words is provided on the next
page.m

m
å
)# * m
You can learn words much  
 m
faster if you make use of the
190 million eager and willing
¦ 
m What is [this | that]?m
bahasa Indonesia teachers at
your disposal. Finding out
the word for "shoe" is a lot ¦ %
)  
  What is (horse) in
easier than more abstract Indonesian?m
  %

*
$ 
concepts such as "good" and $


 

"evil" but at this stage you $

   $
are still trying to become *


 $  )m
functional. m
m [English | England]m
Learn five more useful nouns
and five more verbs from a
reliable phrase book,
dictionary, or the word lists Click on the word to hear it pronounced.
m
in the Appendix. m
mm
You should be at the stage
now where you can teach
someone a little English. Try
it!m

The words in the following table are similar in both English and bahasa Indonesia. They may not be the
most precise pronunciation and spelling but they will be understood by most people. m

Similar Words in Both Languagesm

airportm applem athletem babym baggagem bankm barm beerm

bellm bottlem busm cameram cashierm cassettem cherrym chocolatem

Coca-colam coffeem coinm computerm consultantm deoderantm diskettem doctorm

dry
donutm electricitym filmm footballm glassm guitarm hamburgerm
cleaningm

hellom icem ice creamm kilometerm kioskm mallm massagem meterm

monumentm museumm musicm numberm officem OKm ovenm paper clipm

penm pencilm pensionm photom photocopym pizzam policem radiom

roast
restaurantm saladm samem schoolm sexm shoppingm staplem
beefm

steakm stopm stopm strawberrym supermarketm taxim team telephonem

tennism ticketm to parkm toiletm TVm universitym videom
m

å
+ ,m
On your day of rest, you can learn some  
 m
more handy words and phrases that don't fit
into any of the other categories. m
It doesn't matter.
(Literally means
If you can keep up with the pace, within one
      "nothing". Handy when
week you will be more functional than the
m

average expat is after two months of slaving someone is apologizing

over phrase and grammar books. Have fun profusely.)m
and don't forget to practice.m I am sorry. (If you want
u m to apologize
mm profusely.)m

Excuse me. (To get

someone to move out
Ñm
of the way or to get
someone's attention.)m

× 
# m Carefulm

¦$ # m Watch out!m
m
[What time is it? | At
" 

  m
what time?]m

[At (two) o'clock. | It is

" Ñ


m (two) o'clock] (insert
number)m

Please bring me the

 $ %
)
(tea) (insert noun).m
m

One more. (works well

 
 
for beers.)m
m

 
  m Do you want more?m

× m Finished.m

u m Bill, please.m

m

¦


  
 









m

It's not very difficult to pronounce bahasa Indonesia in a way that it's understood by even those who
never come into contact with foreigners. Remember to keep it simple. Certain sounds we use in English
and European languages do not occur in Indonesian at all. Unfortunately, those of us who have
grappled with French, Spanish and rerman are often tempted to pronounce the word as it may sound
in another language. For example,      ("welcome") does not rhyme with the well-known
orange-like juice that accompanied astronauts into space. It also is pronounced with only about four
discernible syllables, not five. m

With this simple guide, the novice speaker of Indonesian should be able to avoid most of the traps of
basic communication. m
 "!m

•m Most letters have only one pronunciation thereby avoiding the problems of English in which we
are forced to memorize when an "a" is long (fall), short (fat), or some other manifestation
(fate). That's one reason the bahasa Indonesia approximations to foreign words often appear
strange at first sight--"bureau" becomes --but then you realize the Indonesian spelling is
much more logical.m
•m The only letter that has two distinct pronounciations is "e". Usually it is pronounced as an "uh"
sound, like "a" in "sofa". Sometimes it takes on an "ay" sound like "a" in "make". Common words
using the "ay" sound are  (tomorrow), 
(red) and  . Sometimes, the "e" is
hardly pronounced (   becomes slamat).m
•m One of the main pitfalls in pronunciation is the use of the letter "c" in 
   . The
letter "c" is always pronounced as "ch" in "check". Another hazard is that "ngg" is a very
different sound from "ng". See the Pronunciation ruide below for more details.m
•m There is a slightly accented syllable that is either the last or next to last depending upon which
book you believe. In my experience, Jakartans try to put the emphasis on the last syllable. For
example, asking for ( + will likely get you a bowl of crispy chips. Asking, on the other
hand, for - will get you a blank stare. When in doubt, try to pronounce the word
monotonically--no emphasis is better than a wrong one.m
•m A "k" at the end of a word is pronounced as a glottal stop and if you don't know what that is,
you're better off ignoring the terminating "k" altogether. The honorific Pak ("Mister" or "Father")
sounds altogether unpleasant when pronounced like "pack", "pock", or the Bonanza standard
"Pa". In actual fact, it's more like the sound you make when trying to blow a floating feather in
someone else's direction.m
•m A double "a" as in   ("excuse me") is pronounced with a slight glottal stop between the
vowels. You can get away with a slight pause (like   ) but never simply  .m
•m In bahasa Indonesia, some consonants ("b", "p", "t", "d", "v") have much softer sounds.
Sometimes it is difficult to differentiate between "b" and "d", "p" and "t", etc.m


 .%#%
/ %å"m

Vowelsm
x

 m 

m

 m

am apa m always a long a as in "father" (never "bad"or "bang")m

em bécak m like a in "make"m

em ke,empatm like a in "sofa"m

im pagi,itum like ee in "see" but shorter (never like "hit" or "hike")m

om kopi m like aw in "law", but shorterm

um susu m like oo in "food", but shorterm

Click on the word to hear it pronounced.

m
Diphthongsm
x

 m 

m

 m

aim    m somewhere between "pay" and "pie"m

aum 
m like ow in "now"m

oim  m like oy in "boy"m

oem 
 m old spelling, still used in names, pronounced as oo in "food"m

uam
 m like "wa" in "Walla-walla, Washington"m

Click on the word to hear it pronounced.

m

Consonants (the easy part)m

x

 m 

m

 m

same as b in "bungle" but spoken more softly. At the end of a word

bm  $

may be more of a soft p.m
m

cm   m similar to ch in "church"m

dm

m like d in "bed". At the end of a word may sound more like a soft tm

djm  
 m old spelling still used in names, pronounced like j in "jump"m

fm  m like f in "fan"m

gm  
m like g in "dog"m

hm
 m similar to h in "hope"m

jm    m like j in "jump"m

old spelling still used in names, like y in "yard"; look for other old
jm  
spelling clues in the name (like oe, dj)m
m

like k in "kite" when not at the end of a word. At the end of a word,
km  
pronounced like a soft g or glottal stop.m
m

khm
 m like clearing your throat or rerman "ach"m

lm  m similar to l in "like"m

mm  m like m in "main"m
nm   m like n in "noon"m

nym  
m like ny in "canyon"m

ngm   m like ng in "singer" (not "finger", that requires ngg)m

nggm 

m like ng in "finger" (not "singer")m

pm 

 m similar to p in "pool" but without the puff of airm

is not used much in Indonesian words but does come up in Arabic

qm m words used in Indonesia (for example, Istiqlal). When it occurs, qu is
pronounced as qu in "queen".m

like a softly trilled Scottish or rerman r. Never a hard American,

rm 
Australian or Canadian r.m
m

sm    m similar to s in "seven"m

like t in "let" but without the plosive quality (it's sometimes difficult to
tm 



differentiate between spoken t, p and d)m
m

tjm    old spelling still used in names, pronounced like ch in "church"m
m

vm & m rarely used, like v in "visa" but softerm

wm $  m between w in "wane" and v in "vane"m

xm m not used. In foreign words, often replaced with ks as in taksi.m

ym   m like y in youm

zm D  m like z in "zone", often replaced with, and pronounced like sm

Click on the word to hear it pronounced.

m

Y
mmY  m
m
 m

Ym m
mmmmYm m 
mmm Y
m

mo
Œmm m
Ym
 mmYmm
 mY
m m mYm mYm
 mm
mY
m
mYm m m
 m m  m m m  m
Y
mm mYmm m m! mm m 
mm m mY
m
 m m m
m "m m

ËËË
  
  ËËËm
Vowels

"m
m"m
m "
m "
" "

"m
9m
mYm
m Y
[ Ëm ¬"
"
 ¬"m
9 Àmmm
m
m mm"m
m"
m ¬ ¬ m
?m
mm
m 
m "  ¬ "m
mÀmm"m
m¬" "
  
   "m

 m
Ym
m m
m
m YY YYËËm
"?m
m m
m
m "  ¬"
" ËËËm
"Ym
m m
m m
"Y ¬"Y""ËËËËm

Ë
 ere is no rule to know wic way to pronounce 9 in a particular word

witout earing it first; your teacer will give you te correct pronunciation as
you go along.m

##mYm mm
m m

m Y Y
Y
m m mmm m
Œm

 
m
mY
 m   m m$  m

####mYm mY 
m m

mY
m m m m Œm

mm mmmm mm  
mm m m%YmYmmm

mY
m&m
 
mm'm mm m 
mYm mglottal
stopm(mm m mYm mmYm m)Y"*)Œmmm&m  
m

èonsonants

I. èonsonants pronounced very muc as in nglis

m
m
m m ""¬"
m
m
m
m"m YY ¬"Y""m
m
m
m  m

"" m
m
m
m m YY " ma
mmmmm
 "¬  "m "  ¬"
"
m

m
m
m
"m
""
 ¬"
"
m
 
m
m"m "
"
"Ym¦
m
m‘
‘ m
 m
¬m
m
m¬m ¬ " "¬ma
mmmÀm
m
m
m m "" ""ma
mmmg 9
9m
m
m
m m "  ""
"m

II. èonsonants pronounced somewat differently tan in nglis

Am
mmm
m "m AY
" ¬"A"m
m
mmm
m¬"
m    ¬ 
Ëm
m
mmm
m¬
m "  ""Ëm

 

 ¬
m
"¬
YËm



   
Y
  Y


Y
 
m

ËË
 Wen Ú comes at te   of a word, te sound is cut off sarply (like te
glottal stop mentioned above)
Ú 9
Úm

m
mmm
m¬ m  
m

m

ËË

 9
9

99


9


9

9

9


m
mmm
m" m Àm 
m

î  Y  î




m
mm¬ m
m"¬¬  Y "
m

 m

m
 
mmm¬m
m¬ m


  
999
 9

m
mm
m
m
 Y 


" m 

m
mmm
m m mmm
m"
mm
m  
" "m
mm
m"
m
m
m
m Y¬mÀm
mm
m mmmm
"  ""¬" ¬ "m
m
m
m
mm

m
m Y

m m

"mm

m
 mmm
mmmÀ
 mmmm
m Y
" ¬"Y""



m

m mmm
m
mmm
m " "mm


m" "m

 mmm
mm
m
  
 



   
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‰m


 mm

mm Y" m

m


 mm

mm m m 
 
 m
m
m

mm   m
m
m

mm mAm  " "
"m

×
Y

Y  
   

+ m"" mm

,Œm
mmm ÀmmÀm mmm mm m mmm mmm
m
+ m""
,Œm
mmm
mmm mm m mmm mm m mmm mmm
+ m""
,Œm
mmm mmm !mmmm mm
m
mm
m mmm mmmm
+ m"" "mm
,Œm
mmm #mm
m mmm $mm$m m m
m
m