By: IndonesianLanguage.net

Nowadays more and more English speakers are looking for Indonesian conversation class to enable them to communicate in Bahasa Indonesia (or, Indonesian language). Some of them are also interested in learning Indonesian grammar, but most students are more interested in practical Indonesian conversation class only with the consideration that the lesson would be easier for them to learn. However little do they know that to be able to speak Indonesian language fluently, or at least to be able to comprehend the Indonesian conversation, they must first try to learn some basic Indonesian lessons first before they can really master the Indonesian conversation.

Just like the English language, some words and sentences used in daily Indonesian conversation are a bit different from the formal Indonesian language used by news broadcaster on TVs. That is why many English speakers who have learned Indonesian language for quite some time still have difficulty in understanding daily Indonesian conversation, particularly those used among teenagers, as Indonesian language is still developing and thus the old Indonesian is a little bit different from the modern Indonesian used today.

Indonesian Conversation and Grammar

Most words used in daily Indonesian conversation are colloquial and some of them are rarely used in formal Indonesian. More and more colloquial vocabularies are created almost each day, making the older Indonesian generations sometimes find it hard to understand today’s Indonesian conversation among teenagers.

Being the most populated city in Indonesia and the capital of Indonesia itself, Jakarta has become the trend setter for the formation of new Indonesian colloquial words and the influence has spread throughout Indonesia. The word of “gue” or “gua”, which means “I” in English, derives from Jakarta, and now has widely been used among them who consider themselves to be cool or young and trendy. We can see just how different the formal Indonesian language and colloquial one when we see the Indonesian soap operas on the television. For those who are interested in learning how to speak Indonesian, it is strongly recommended to learn the formal Indonesian first before you learn the colloquial words and sentences used mostly in daily Indonesian conversation. After you learn the formal Indonesian language, you will find it easier to learn the Indonesian colloquial than the other way round.

Daily Indonesian Conversation

Another interesting fact in Indonesian conversation is that the Indonesian people themselves do NOT follow the Indonesian grammar rule when they speak in Indonesian, but still you need to learn some basic Indonesian grammar to understand some word formation used in daily conversation.

Indonesian conversation is pretty easy to understand as long as you have learned some basic Indonesian grammar before and you know how to speak in formal Indonesian language. You do not have to learn the whole Indonesian grammar to be able to speak Indonesian as I have mentioned earlier before, even the Indonesians themselves do not follow the grammar when they speak the language.

Due to the fact that there are so many dialects in Indonesia, the daily Indonesian conversation in Jakarta is a little bit different from the one used among East Javanese and that in western part of Sumatra and other places in Indonesia. But you don’t have to worry about it. As long as you can communicate in formal Indonesian language, you can still use the language throughout Indonesia despite the different dialects among the Indonesians.

It is very interesting to know that new slang Indonesian words are created almost each day. Below are some examples of colloquial Indonesian words commonly used in Indonesian conversation:

Indonesian Conversation

Other related articles:

• Tips to learn Indonesian
• Bahasa Indonesia Online
• Learning Bahasa Indonesia the Easy Way

conversation

By: IndonesianLanguage.net

Before you learn Indonesian grammar or vocabularies, it is essential that you learn how to speak Indonesian first. Each language has its own system of sounds which is unlike that of any other language. When you begin to learn a new language, you must learn to make distinctions which are not made in your own language, and you must learn to articulate in a way different from that to which you are accustomed. Correct pronunciation and the ability to distinguish new sounds do not come automatically, but are achieved through a process of comparison and imitation, as we lead you to do in the exercises in this and the following lessons. The ability to articulate like an Indonesian will come from constant imitation of the sentences and sounds spoken on the tapes and spoken by your tutor.

In this section, we will give you a notion of what the sounds used in Indonesian are, how they are made, and how they differ from those used in English. And hopefully this could give you a slight idea of how to speak Indonesian.

Vowels:

a: In open syllables is pronounced more or less like the a in “far”.

For example: kata = word

In closed syllables it sounds like the English u in “but”.

For example: surat = letter

e: When unstressed is pronounced as the mute e in “open”.

For example: kelas = class

When stressed it sounds somewhere between the e in “bed” and the a in “bad”.

For example: meja = table

i: In open syllables is pronounced as the ee in “feet”.

For example: kita = we

In closed syllables the sound is shorter, like i in “tip”.

For example: minta = to ask for

o: is pronounced like the a in “tall”.

For example: botol = bottle

u: is pronounced like the oo in “tool”, however with lips rounded.

For example: susu = milk

Diphtongs:

ai: The diphthong ai in open syllables sounds like the i in “fine”.

For example: sampai = to arrive

However the diphthong ai can also pronounced as two separate sounds a-i :

For example: lain = other

au: Has the same sound as ow in “how”.

For example: kalau = if

However in closed syllables it is two-syllabic.

For example: haus = thirsty.

Below is the video which could help you learn how to speak Indonesian based on the examples above: