EDUCATION

EXPERTS
INDONESIA
Simply the Fastest Way to Learn Indonesian…..

Learning Bahasa Indonesia (or any language) is actually a fairly straight forward process. You have to
learn to recognize new words (both listening and reading), know their meaning, and know what they
mean in relation to other words and the ideas that are being expressed. As with most things in life,
this does require time and effort. And as with most things in life, there’s an easy way, and a hard way.

I’m sure you and most other people would prefer to learn Indonesian the easy way, so that’s the way
we’ll show you. I mean really, why do anything the hard way if there’s an easier way, especially when
it also gives much better results.

All of our material originates from “what I wish I had had when I was learning Indonesian” and is based
on “intuitive learning”, a skill that we all have, even if we don’t realize it. It’s also largely based on
‘physical training’, more like learning a sport or musical instrument. But enough of that, you don’t need
to know the intricate details of your new computer, tablet or phone, you just want to enjoy using them!

If you have questions or want more information, please email me at: [email protected]

Now, let’s get started learning Indonesian!

The first word to learn when learning any new language is “Terima kasih.” (Thank you.) Notice that in
Indonesian you need to roll the ‘r’, like in Spanish and other languages. If you find it difficult, keep
practicing and it will get easier and easier.

And you can then say: “Sama sama.” (You’re welcome.) (literally: same same)

Indonesian is really a remarkable language in its simplicity. Once you’ve learned a basic vocabulary of
100-200 words and have learned how to use them effectively, you can say an incredible amount. With
500 words, you’ll really be able to say a lot.

Perhaps the most common and most useful word is “mau” (want). There are no tenses, genders or
any other nasty grammar forms to deal with, so you simply have to learn one word, “mau”.

Mau teh? (Do you want some tea? / Would you like some tea?)
Mau. (Yes, please.)

Replying with the verb, rather than saying “yes” is very common in Indonesian, as it is in other
languages. To make it a little more polite and friendly, you can say “Mau, dong.” The word ‘dong’ is
slang and doesn’t exactly translate to ‘please’ but often serves the same function.

You could also say: Mau, terima kasih.

As with English, the word ‘terima kasih’ (thank you) can be shortened to ‘ma kasih’ (thanks).

It’s also nice to be able to greet people, however in Indonesian it’s not common to simply say ‘Hai.’ (Hi.
/ Hello.). The following expressions need to be learned:

Selamat pagi. (Good morning.)

Selamat siang. (Good ‘day’.) (use d from about 11:00 am to 3 pm)
Selamat sore. (Good afternoon.) (used from about 3 pm to 6 pm)
Selamat malam. (Good evening.)

Note that the first syllable in the word ‘selamat’ is not generally pronounced distinctly, and if you simply
say ‘slamat’ you’ll be closer to the natural pronunciation.

Our plan is to provide 10 new words per page, so we’ve done that and we’ll continue to use these
words on subsequent pages, gradually getting into conversations and more advanced Indonesian.
We’ll also provide additional material focusing on each group of 50 words. That way everyone can
progress at their own pace.

Selamat belajar. [Good learning!] (Likewise, it’s better to say ‘blajar’ to get the pronunciation right.)

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Let’s start off this page reviewing the words learned on the previous page, since we all know that
turning a page has a nasty habit of erasing everything from our memory. 

Let’s start of with ‘Selamat pagi!’ (Good morning.) which can be shortened to ‘Pagi!’ (Morning!).

The other greetings can also be shortened but they’re more often said in full.

Selamat siang. (Good ‘day’.) (used from about 11:00 am to 3 pm)

Selamat sore. (Good afternoon.) (used from about 3 pm to 6 pm)
Selamat malam. (Good evening.)

The word ‘selamat’ means ‘safe’ and also ‘happy, pleasant, blessed’ and can also be used alone to
mean ‘Congratulations!’ (Selamat!). It expresses a wish for ‘good fortune’ so is used in many ways,
like in the expression ‘Selamat belajar!’ (Good luck with your learning!)

A similar expression is “Selamat jalan.” which can simply mean ‘good bye’ or ‘have a good trip’. The
word ‘jalan’ means road, and the common expression ‘jalan-jalan’ means to go for a walk or simply
going around to different places.

Often Indonesians will ask you: “Mau ke mana?” [Want to where?] (Where are you going?) to which
the easiest reply is simply “Jalan jalan.”

The word ‘ke’ (to) is often sufficient to express the verb ‘go’ (pergi). And be careful with the
pronunciation. It sounds closer to the sound in ‘cup’, not ‘cake’, or the letter ‘k’.

You might also reply: “Mau ke kantor.” (kantor = office)

Or: “Mau ke pantai.” (pantai = beach)

Perhaps you can already begin to see the simplicity of Indonesian.

The most common word for ‘I, me’ is ‘saya’, so to say: I’d like some tea.
Saya mau teh.

Or, perhaps you’d prefer ‘kopi’ (coffee). And what do you say when you receive your ‘teh' or ‘kopi’?

Terima kasih. (Thank you.)

And they’ll likely say: Sama sama. (You’re welcome.)

Another thing people will often ask you is: Dari mana? [From where?] which is a very open ended
question. Many times they mean “Where are you from?” but sometimes they simply mean “Where
were you?” As with many expressions, you need to take the meaning from the context of the situation.

The most common form for ‘you’ is ‘kamu’ but you can also use ‘anda’ to be very polite, or it’s common
to say ‘pak’ to a man and ‘bu’ or ‘ibu’ to a woman. It’s also very common to use the person’s name.

Indonesian is also very flexible in word order, but try and get used to the most common order since it’s
often ‘backwards’ from English.

Kamu dari mana? (most common word order) = Dari mana kamu? = Dari mana?

If someone calls you on your handphone (cell phone, mobile) then either of you might ask:
Kamu di mana? (Where are you?) [You at where?]

Now let’s make a simple list for you to keep track of the words introduced so far.

terima kasih (thank you) jalan (road) mau (want) teh (tea)
sama sama (you’re welcome) jalan jalan belajar (learn, study) kopi (coffee)

selamat (safe; best wishes) mana (where) saya (I, me) kantor (office)
pagi (morning) kamu (you) pantai (beach)
siang (mid-day) ke (to) bu, ibu (miss, mrs, ma'am)
sore (afternoon) di (at) pak (sir, mr)
malam (evening, night) dari (from)

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Now that you know a few key words to help you ‘get around’ day to day, let’s look at a few basic words
and expressions that are the foundation of all languages.

What’s this? = Apa ini? / Ini apa?

What’s that? = Apa itu? / Itu apa?

Note again that the word order in Indonesian is flexible. And note also that for the plural form, (What
are these? / What are those?) there is no change in the Indonesian.

Placing a few simple objects, such as ‘buku’ (book), ‘majalah’ (magazine) and ‘koran’ (newspaper),
around the room creates a perfect situation for the student to practice answering and asking questions.

Ini buku, ini majalah dan ini koran. (This is a book, this is a magazine and this is a newspaper.)

The word ‘ini’ (this, these) is essentially used for things that are ‘within hands reach’. Keeping a bit of
distance between the student and the teacher then allows the following simple dialogue.

Apa ini?
Itu buku.
Bagus, ini buku. (Good, this is a book.)
Ini apa?
Itu majalah dan koran .

It’s best to get a lot of practice with this so that it becomes ‘automatic’, but we’ll move on and you can
get more practice with all this material in our dialogues and exercises, or with your teacher.

We use this same approach to learn the word ‘siapa’ (who) and by going back and forth between a
series of questions using ‘apa’ (what) and then ‘siapa’ (who), it helps push it all deeper into the
students memory. It becomes ‘muscle memory’; a bit like riding a bike, which you never forget, right?

And don’t worry if you get ‘dyslexic’ at times, mixing up letters or words. It’s very common with
everyone and simply takes physical practice to get over that hump. You’re literally making new neuron
connections in your brain, so the repetition helps build that new link by repetitive ‘sparks’ across the
synapses.

Imagine the following dialogue of someone looking at a picture and asking their friend:

Siapa ini? (Who’s this?)

Siapa? (Who?)
Ini. (This.)
Oh, itu teman saya. (Oh, that’s my friend. / Oh, that’s a friend of mine.)

Now, we’ll point it out here, but in the lessons we don’t bother since it’s self evident and it simply
needs to be practiced many times so that it becomes ‘automatic’.

In Indonesian the ‘possessive’ form is opposite to English.

teman saya = my friend

buku saya = my book
majalah kamu = your magazine
koran saya = my newspaper

It’s extremely simple since the form of the Indonesian word doesn’t change.

saya = I, me, my
kamu = you, your

Even though it’s simple, without proper practice, it’s easy to make a mistake and say ‘saya teman’ if
you’re translating from English and thinking ‘my friend’. Don’t think in English!! It’s very important to
simply begin ‘thinking’ in Indonesian and using the words you know in patterns that you’ve become
accustomed to hearing and saying.

In many ways, the less you think at all, the better off you’ll be. Remember, it’s more of a physical
process than a mental one.

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In this series however, we are indeed catering to your ‘mental wishes’ and allowing you to think about
it all and process it mentally. That’s why this is ‘supplemental’ to the other primary lesson material
which focuses on physical and intuitive learning.

In the previous example you saw that in Indonesian, the following expression matches what we would
say in English:

Siapa ini? (Who’s this?)

Siapa? (Who?)

And similarly with ‘apa’ (what) when the person doesn’t know what is being referred to:

Apa ini? (What’s this?)

Apa? (What?)

However, in many cases when we would say in English, “What?”, Indonesians would say, “Kenapa?”
(Why?). You’ll quickly notice this from the dialogues and from your everyday experiences if you’re
living in Indonesia.

Similarly, the word ‘kalau’ (if) is often used instead of ‘dan’ (and) if you compare it to English.

Ini apa? (What’s this?)

Itu buku. (That’s a book.)
Kalau ini? (And this?)
Itu majalah. (That’s a magazine.)

Another one that is quite common but completely incorrect, is to use ‘apa’ (what) instead of ‘atau’ (or).
Quite often if you’re eating at the small roadside places you’ll hear:

Mau ini, apa ini? = (Kamu) Mau ini, atau ini? = Do you want this, or this?
Ini. = This. (and point)

This next one isn’t a problem, unless you insist on thinking in English.

Siapa nama kamu? = Siapa namanya? = Namanya siapa? = What’s your name?

As with many languages, Indonesian doesn’t use ‘what’ (apa) for asking someone’s name.

You shouldn’t have any trouble remembering the word ‘nama’ (name), and it’s much more common to
use the ending -nya, rather than ‘kamu’ or ‘anda’ (you).

The ending -nya is actually very, very common and is used much more often than the rules dictate.
Remember that fact and use it more than you would normally.

bukunya = the book ; his/her book ( buku = a book )

majalahnya = the magazine
korannya = the newspaper

When used in the possessive form, it becomes short for ‘buku dia’ (his book). Likewise ‘teman kamu’
(your friend) can be shortened to ‘temanmu’. For ‘teman saya’ (my friend), the shortened form is
‘temanku’ which comes from ‘aku’, which is a friendly, casual form of ‘saya’.

Let’s continue with the rest of the pronouns now and get you started with them.

dia = he, she

kita = we (and includes the person you’re talking to) (remember ‘i', include, k ita)
kami = we (and doesn’t include the person you’re talking to)
mereka = they, them

ibu kita = our mother

Note that it’s common to use the word ‘kita’ even when the rule says it should be ‘kami’. Perhaps
because it seems friendlier to include the person you’re talking to.

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When doing the ‘Apa ini? / Apa itu?’ exercises, we naturally also introduce the words ‘sini’ (here) and
‘sana’ (there).

Bukunya di mana? (Where’s the book?)

Bukunya di sini. (The book is here.)
Kalau majalahnya? (And the magazine?)
Majalahnya di sana. (The magazine is there.)

There’s another common word for ‘there’ : situ, which generally refers to something closer than ‘sana’
which can be used for something close or far.

And notice, that it’s more common for the word ‘mana’ (where) to be placed at the end of the sentence,
and pay attention to the intonation as well and try and match what you hear.

Kamu di mana? (Where are you?)

Mereka di mana? (Where are they?)
Di sini. (Here.)
Di sana. (There.)
Di kantor. (At work. / At the office.)
Di pantai. (At the beach.)

Kamu di kantor? (Are you at work?)

Iya, saya di kantor. Kenapa? (Yes, I’m at work. Why?)
Tidak, saya di rumah. Kenapa?) (No, I’m at home. Why?)

The word for ‘no’ (tidak), is often expressed ‘nggak’ which can be spelled in a variety of ways.

Teman kamu ke mana? (Where did your friend go?)

Nggak tahu. (I don’t know. / Dunno.)

It’s much more common to say “Saya nggak tahu.” compared to the ‘proper’ form “Saya tidak tahu.”
but you can use whichever you like. And be very careful not to emphasize the ‘h’ in ‘tahu’ (know), in
fact it’s often written as ‘tau’ which is incorrect, but matches the actual sound. In our dialogues we
often write ‘tau’ since it matches the casual conversation between friends and it helps emphasize the
proper pronunciation to students. The word ‘tahu’, with the ‘h’ sound means ‘tofu’.

You might also reply: Nggak ke mana-mana. (He’s/She’s not going anywhere.) (or ..hasn’t gone
anywhere.) The tense is taken out of context.

If you don’t understand some one, you can say:

Maaf, saya tidak mengerti. (Sorry, I don’t understand.)

In this situation, it’s better to use ‘tidak’ since it’s matches the situation and the fact that you don’t
know Indonesian well. In casual Indonesian you will hear, “Nggak ngerti.” (I don’t understand.)

See if you can catch the meaning of the following sentences:

Maaf, saya nggak tahu. (Sorry, I don’t know.)

Kopinya di mana? (Where’s the coffee?)
Mana kopinya? (Where the heck is the coffee?)

And you could say this also to someone who offered you some coffee but then forgot to give it to you.

Mana kopinya? (Where’s my coffee?) (and remember this would be casual, to a friend)
Oh, maaf, saya lupa! (Oh, sorry, I forgot!)

Mau ini di mana? (Where do you want this? / Where do you want me to put this?)

Kantor kamu di mana? atau “Kantornya di mana?” (Where’s your office.)

Mau ke rumah saya? (Do you want to come (over) to my place?)

Mau. (Sure.)

Maaf, saya lupa, siapa namanya? (Sorry, I forget, what’s your name again?)

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Hopefully, you’re now getting a feel for putting Indonesian words together without directly matching it
to English or thinking in English. That’s really a major key to having success in learning Indonesian.
Selamat! Congratulations! You’ve just ‘learned’ 50 Indonesian words. Perhaps you don’t yet remember
them all yet, but don’t worry, you will soon enough.

We strongly recommend that you now take some time to go through some of our basic dialogues,
which you can find on our website (BintangBahasa.com), in order to get more practice with these
words, as well as get an introduction to other basic words. You can then continue with this series and
use it more as a ‘summary’ or ‘check’ of your progress.

Our Introductory Learning Package is ideal for helping you learn Indonesian quickly and easily, and
most importantly, the quality of your Indonesian will be much better since you’ll be maximizing your
intuitive and physical learning abilities. You can get your copy at our website (BintangBahasa.com) or
simply get practicing with Indonesians you know.

To meet more Indonesians who can help you, you’re welcome to join our Facebook group:
Learn Indonesian, Learn English

Before doing a review, we’ll add in one more useful word: ‘permisi’ (excuse me), which can sometimes
be interchanged with ‘maaf’ (sorry), same as it is in English. So, the next time you’re struggling to get
through a crowd, or get past someone, you can politely say, “Permisi.”

Now, check to see how many of the 50 words you remember. The answers are on the next page.

terima kasih apa teh

sama-sama siapa kopi
kenapa
maaf mana buku
permisi majalah
ini koran
selamat pagi itu
selamat siang kantor
selamat sore sini rumah
selamat malam sana pantai
situ jalan
selamat belajar
Selamat! ke
di
bagus dari

saya, aku iya

kamu tidak, nggak
anda
dia dan
kita, kami kalau
mereka atau

teman mau
pak tahu
bu, ibu mengerti
lupa
nama jalan-jalan
-nya

Here you can see another useful feature of our material. By grouping words together of similar or
related ideas, it helps ‘organize’ everything within your own memory and makes it easier to remember
words when you need them.

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Before we show the answers side by side with the English, see how many of the Indonesians you can
actively recall and write beside the equivalent English word or expression.

thank you what tea

you're welcome who coffee
why
sorry where book
excuse me magazine
this, these newspaper
good morning that, those
good day office
good afternoon here house
good evening there beach
there (close) road
good luck studying
Congratulations! to
in, at, on
good, nice from

I, me, my yes
you no
you (formal)
he, she and
we if
they or

friend want
sir, mister know
ma'am, mom understand
forget, forgot
name go for a walk
the, his/her

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Okay, here they all are together so that you can review them quickly whenever you want or need to.

terima kasih thank you apa what teh tea

sama-sama you're welcome siapa who kopi coffee
kenapa why
maaf sorry mana where buku book
permisi excuse me majalah magazine
ini this, these koran newspaper
selamat pagi good morning itu that, those
selamat siang good day kantor office
selamat sore good afternoon sini here rumah house
selamat malam good evening sana there pantai beach
situ there (close) jalan road
selamat belajar good luck studying
Selamat! Congratulations! ke to
di in, at, on
bagus good, nice dari from

saya, aku I, me, my iya yes

kamu you tidak, nggak no
anda you (formal)
dia he, she dan and
kita, kami we kalau if
mereka they atau or

teman friend mau want

pak sir, mister tahu know
bu, ibu ma'am, mom mengerti understand
lupa forget, forgot
nama name jalan-jalan go for a walk
-nya the, his/her

To get some practice with basic words in a conversation, try our ‘Bob Saja’ (Just Bob) series, and try
out other material at our website: BintangBahasa.com

Then, when you’re ready to really maximize your time spent learning Indonesian, get our Introductory
Learning Package and sign up with a teacher for private lessons, in person or via Skype.

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