Are there books/dictionary available to buy to learn Bahasa balinese or is it pure local dialect to learn from speaking with locals and if I want to learn the language I should learn Bahasa Indonesian first?
tks
Bahasa Balinese is actually 3 dialects depending on the caste of the person you're speaking with and is more than I want to tackle.
There are books, dictionaries, phone apps, and schools for learning Bahasa Indonesia. Look at Learning Indonesian - The fun and easy self-paced course in Bahasa Indonesia, the Indonesian Language for a good one. I think their paid program is worth the money but the free program is also good.
Everyone speaks Bahasa Indonesia. It is an easy language to learn so that would be my recommendation. I have a BI teacher who comes to my house once a week but I am a beginner and still cannot yet speak BI. I'm looking forward to the day when I can communicate freely in BI.
My Bali observations here - http://baliquest.wordpress.com/
hello, i was interested in learning the bahasa indonesian language so i downloaded Learning indonesian, the easy way with ci ci and shaun...i have been teaching myself for 6 months now and can speak quiet fluent bahasa. it is the first language ive ever learnt and i am in my 40s...i will be moving to bali in august for an extended time and am very much looking forward to communicating with the locals in their language...i thoroughly recommend this download, there are alo study guides to learn from as well....good luck..!! Tikus..:)
MissT, there was a previous thread on this subject early last year and someone recommended a couple of books (last post on the page)
Learning Bahasa Bali
So far, I get by in Bahasa Indonesia (by no means fluent yet), but can only swear in Balinese.![]()
There is a Balinese/Indonesian/English dictionary you can buy also at Periplus.
Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will sit in a boat drinking beer all day.
I have almost finished a 4-week course in Bahasa Indonesia at IAlF - Jl Raya Sestan 190, Denpasar. It was very comprehensive but I am finding it difficult to understand native speakers, unless they speak really slowly, though I now know a lot of words and can put sentences together (I think LOL). Can pick up the odd word here and there. I don't get much opportunity to hear people speaking BI as most now speak English. Any suggestions.
The Learning Indonesian course is a great place to start.