Markit

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Sep 3, 2007
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For those of you interested in learning a bit of the language - easily - can I suggest this website:

http://www.learningindonesian.com/

They have a great FREE downloadable series of MP3 learning guides along with some written guides following the lessons - also free.

You can buy the full deal if you want but for most of us the freebie is completely adequate.

If I see anyone else out walking their dogs babbling away in a foreign language I'll know you are headed to Indonesia (or mad, but possibly both).
 

Markit

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Jimbo I will definitely be buying the Bintangs in the arrival hall.

I see you still haven't managed to remove that arm growing out of your ear - damned NHS!

Thanks for the welcome - as you can imagine the joy isn't universal but hey, that's life :p
 

201wanda

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Oct 26, 2008
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Hi there! Is Indonesian a hard language to learn, anyway? I’ve been toying with the idea of learning it for quite a while, but I never quite got round to it and now I looked at the website it seems pretty cohesive and understandable. Do any of you speak fluent Indonesian and if so, how long did it take you to learn? I don’t know if I should start or not…
 

Markit

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Hi Wanda,
As the original poster on this thread I'll answer first: I don't speak Indonesian but have some experience with learning other languages so in the startup phase, at least, I can say it's not too bad to learn - there are some funny things to get your tongue around but the grammar is quite straightforward, compared to English anyway.

What I have done is to download the free lessons and handbook and put them on my mp3 player to listen to when walking the dog - the dog thinks I'm crazy anyway and he's learning Indonesian too. One further tip if you do decide start listening - get a small free program called Mp3 cutter joiner and chop the advertisement off the beginning of each segment - otherwise it will drive you nuts. It's just the first minute or so. Above all, have fun :lol:
 

calitobali

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Jul 10, 2008
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No I think Indonesian is an extremely easy language to learn.

I came to Bali 2 months ago to live never having even visited before, and I spent the first few weeks just goofing off on a vacation of sorts, so I didn't even make an attempt to start learning the language until about 1 month in. Now 1 month later, I am far from fluent but can already communicate effectively with people. There is even a girl here that I'm sort of seeing that I spend a few hours with everyday, and she speaks no english whatsoever. I don't have any problems communicating with her, although we do speak slowly and use simpler phrases.

It's very easy to pick up on the basics and if you want to learn just interact with the locals as much as you can. Just walk up to someone and start talking, Indonesians are extremely friendly, and even if you "hit your wall" and can't speak any more Indonesian to them, it's ok they will think it's cool just that you know a little bit and are trying.
 

Git

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Jul 16, 2005
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dutch /indonesian in the usa for now
Dear Markit
Easy to learn when you live there,when you have to function. Book/on line learning does not work.

I am Indonesian Born In Bandoeng Java,spoke fluent Bahasa
moved to the netherlands spoke fluent Dutch
moved to the USA spoke fluent english
Now I trip over all 3 languages,in one sentence sometimes I use all 3.No one can understand me unless they also speak all 3 tongues.

These languages stay with you forever,for some reason the brain has a big closet where it stores words in other languages.Sometimes words come flying out of my mouth that I have not said for 40-49yrs! (I am 51)
:)
 

Markit

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Funny story Gina, I new an English guy that had lived in Germany so long that he had forgotten his English and wasn't at all gifted in the language department so he hadn't learned German either. The end effect was that he basically was unable to discourse on anything more complicated than the weather (he was English, after all), oh and sex... :roll:
 

spicyayam

Well-Known Member
Jan 12, 2009
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get a small free program called Mp3 cutter joiner

That's a great tip. I love the lessons, but the intros really put me off. Sometimes I feel that's all i can remember from the lesson. :D

Indonesian is not so difficult but you still have memorize lots of vocab. Some words are the same or similar to English.
 

juju

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Aug 29, 2009
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I find it strange that now when I return to work and am forced to use english again I often cannot recall a particlur word in english but i know the word in indonesian...

for example the other day i wanted to use the word "diligent", I just kept coming up with "rajin" the indonesian equivelant....

On occasion a word will enter my head, for no apparent reason..... i will rack my brain for the better part of an hour before finally conceeding and checking the dictionary...

I mulled over "knalpot" for a while the other day..... why the indonesian word for exhaust came to me is a mystery.
 

DorisDazed

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Apr 3, 2009
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Indonesian is not so difficult but you still have memorize lots of vocab.
Same as learning any language. Memorize three new words a day and in a year, you know about 1,000.

The hardest part in learning languages is the grammar. The second hardest is correct pronunciation. The third is trying to speak like a local, (depending where you are).

Indonesian grammar is fairly straight-forward, (unlike English), so being able to be understood is not all that difficult. On the other hand, engaging in conversations dealing with complex topics, (such as philosophy, for example), requires a much more advanced grasp of Indonesian than the mere basics. Sophisticated Bahasa Indonesia requires considerably more time and effort than being able to ask how much is that coconut? in a market.
Easy to learn when you live there, when you have to function. Book/on line learning does not work.
It may not "work" 100%, but it certainly gives you a workable foundation to build on.

I mulled over "knalpot" for a while the other day..... why the indonesian word for exhaust came to me is a mystery.
I've had the same experience many times. (Not only about "knalpot"; "cat oven" keeps popping up for me.)

When I go back to my western country for a visit, I notice that I get tongue-tied quite frequently speaking "real" English. I truncate sentences, change the word order around, and when shopping, try to bargain, etc. "Berapa those prawns very big, again? Is that a morning price"

My mother, (now 86 years old), could speak 16 languages in her hey-day. Her worst one was English. My father, (long dead), could speak 8 languages. His worst one was English. I could speak 3-4, sort of, when I was six. I managed to get university degrees in English language and literature, but became a psychologist instead.

Knowing too many languages can drive anyone bonkers. Maybe that's why I became interested in psychology in the first place.

IMHO, those mp3 Bahasa Indonesia lessons that markit pointed to are very worthwhile.

:D
 

Markit

Well-Known Member
Sep 3, 2007
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DorisDazed said:
MHO, those mp3 Bahasa Indonesia lessons that markit pointed to are very worthwhile.

Thanks Doris - can I also add that to keep from being driven completely insane by the recurring adverts that they (business is business) add to each lesson a cheap little program like MP3 Cutter lets you separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak. :lol:

Put the doctored lessons on your MP3 player and pretty soon you know enough(or think you do) to get into real trouble :D Or build a house - which might be the same thing...
 

DorisDazed

Member
Apr 3, 2009
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For calitobali...

Here are ten of them. (I forget the rest.)

Lithuanian, Russian, Polish, Estonian, Latvian, Ukrainian, German, Czechoslovakian, French, English.

Others like Hungarian, Croatian, and a few more.

:D
 

DorisDazed

Member
Apr 3, 2009
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Thanks Markit

I know of mp3cutter, etc.

I often use Steinberg's WaveLab, (not free), to chop up sound files or even the free Audacity, (with the appropriate codecs installed). I'm sure there are plenty of "free" options out there these days.

:)
 

gunn_parker

Member
Oct 11, 2009
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Hi All
New here today so a big hi to all.
I followed the link and downloaded all the Indonesian lessons and now the big job of cutting out the ads and the beginning and end. Then it will be a quick burn to cd and I's listen and learn as I drive to work each day.
Thanks for that link.

All the best