A good Indonesian dictionary should be intended to be a practical, comprehensive dictionary of modern Indonesian with English equivalents for the use of those who wish to read contemporary Indonesian materials. A large number of technical terms should be included as well, but it doesn’t need to be too exhaustive. The dictionary should also be useful to Indonesians who wish to learn the English equivalent of an Indonesian utterance.

Characteristics of a Good Indonesian Dictionary

A good Indonesian dictionary should also serve as primary tool for English speakers who need to know and learn Indonesian language and who deal with Indonesian writings. The aim thus has been to give comprehensive coverage to foreigners who might run across in Indonesian readings. As already mentioned above, a good Indonesian dictionary should also benefit the Indonesian speakers who wish to learn English equivalents of Indonesian words.

Indonesian Dictionary

Being the official language of the Republic of Indonesia, and which is also spoken as a first or second language by a majority of the population throughout the republic, Indonesian language (or, Bahasa Indonesia) has some closely related dialects which are spoken in Malaysia, called Bahasa Malaysia, and in Brunei. However a good Indonesian dictionary, as the name suggests, should only lists words that are used in Indonesia. Words that are not used in Indonesia or meanings or words which are only found in Malaysia should be excluded from the dictionary’s lists of words.

Just like some English dictionaries, especially those from Oxford, some Indonesian dictionaries also include some descriptive illustrations. The inclusion of illustrations for a large number of entries and sub-entries may provide the English-speaking students with examples of usage in context, thereby giving some indication of the range of meaning of the items.

As mentioned in the previous article regarding ‘The History of Indonesian Language’, the Indonesian language is regarded as an open language which is always developing and therefore accepting and even blending new terms almost every day. Thus it is not surprising that the old Indonesian dictionaries list words which are not included in the modern dictionary, and vice versa.

• Learn to Speak Indonesian Now!
• How Easy it is to Learn Indonesian
• How to Learn Bahasa Effectively

Speaking Indonesian

Most expatriates who can speak Indonesian are the younger generations. The older generations tend to be reluctant having to learn a new language. So they ‘survive’ by having a personal assistant or rely on their local wives or maids.

On the subject of Indonesian language study, is it possible to end up speaking Indonesian like a native Indonesian speaker? Well, this depends on a number of different factors. By studying Indonesian seriously you can absolutely soon get a working knowledge of the language that will enable you to communicate in the language fluently and freely at an everyday level. If you then want to take it further, you surely can.

I have known several English speaking people who have lived in Indonesia for years and they end up speaking Indonesian like the real Indonesians! It is because they hang out more with the locals and learn how to pronounce the language just like the native Indonesian speakers do. Now when they are speaking on the phone, we can hardly tell if we are talking to a native Indonesian speaker or not.

Speaking Indonesian is Easy

Many people are aware that speaking Indonesian is easy once you know the ‘key’. However there are still expatriates who have lived years in Indonesia yet they can still hardly speak Indonesian. This is because they use English in their everyday’s lives. Even when they have learned Indonesian language a little bit and want to practice their newly learned language with the locals, the locals tend to practice their English as well. As a result this poor guy has no chance to practice his Indonesian.

Actually those English speaking people can learn Indonesian more effectively by watching Indonesian TV programs through satellite PC TV which is now available at very affordable price now. Check out some of the best Satellite PC TV below:

What about an expatriate who has an English speaking maid or wife or personal assistant? Isn’t it good thing if he has a local wife or an English speaking maid who can help him translate almost anything into Indonesian? And, the non-Indonesian speaking expatriate should be able to learn from the wife and practice speaking Indonesian with her, shouldn’t they?

Well, sadly speaking, it’s not almost the case. As I have mentioned above, he himself always speaks English with his local wife or the assistant or whoever who on the other hand also wants to practice and improve their English speaking ability with him. It’s no surprising to know that some expatriates whose wives are Indonesians have no idea how to speak Indonesian at all.

It’s all because everyone seems to prefer to speak English all the time with him. So he has no chance to learn, let alone to practice speaking Indonesian language. That’s why finding a professional bahasa teacher is the only way out to be able to speak Indonesian well and efficiently.

You might also be interested in another post about how to learn bahasa Indonesia

Tips to Speak Indonesian

Indonesian language is written in Romanized script and pronounced similar to Germanic alphabets. It is not phonetic. Bahasa Indonesia (the Indonesian word for Indonesian language) contains a few words of Sanskrit, Arabic, English, Chinese, Dutch, Portugese, Indian, and other foreign languages, which are all pronounced the Indonesian way. Therefore you might find some Indonesian words which derive from the English words and have the exactly same meaning, however pronounced differently. And this what makes Indonesian language one of the easiest languages in the world. This is also one of the reasons why it is so easy to speak Indonesian, even for those in very early stages of learning.

I have a few tips for you who want to learn to speak Indonesian. If you are really serious in learning Indonesian, it is highly suggested that you learn how to pronounce the words first before learning anything further, such as the grammar or even colloquial which are much more complex subjects to learn. You can find the video of how to pronounce the Indonesian words correctly in: How to speak Indonesian. After you watch the video, you will soon realize just how easy it is to learn Indonesian. Then after you learn how to speak Indonesian, if you’re interested, you can proceed on learning the grammar or colloquial.

Speak Indonesian Now!

Speak Indonesian

If you are really serious to learn a new language, it is highly suggested that you get yourself a professional language teacher who can teach and direct you to master the language within a short period of time. Surely you can learn the language from the locals who barely understand English. But how long are you willing to sacrifice your valuable time trying to understand each other? And how do they explain a specific term correctly in the most efficient way? To be able to speak Indonesian well is the primary goal for every one who is learning Indonesian language. It’s no use learning the language if you can’t use it to communicate with the locals.

Check out my other guide on Learning Indonesian!