Is Indonesian Easy to Learn, Or Just Easier Than You Think?

Consistently mounting up the stairs of one of the world’s most spoken languages, is Indonesian easy to learn? English Café Bali – freshly introducing Indonesian Language for Foreign Speakers – aspires to cover what you need to know on the matter.

1. Is Indonesian easy to learn?
2. Challenges learners might face in learning Indonesian language
3. Tips for learning Indonesian effectively
4. Learn Indonesian Language for Foreign Speakers with English Café Bali

You are one step closer to the fluency of Indonesian Language by attending Indonesian Language for Foreign Speakers with English Café Bali, here!

Is Indonesian easy to learn?

For those who are currently doing their own research on the internet wondering “Is Indonesian easy to learn?” must no longer hesitate that it is that easy to learn Indonesian. Help get yourself convinced by these mind-soothing concepts.

• Simple Grammar

  Practically, the grammatical structure of the Indonesian language is considered very simple. The sentence composition follows the basic format of Subject-Verb-Object.

Is Indonesian easy to learn, then? Or surprisingly just much easier as you learn its simplicity?

• • No verb conjugation

    No extra work needed to anticipate a change of verb. Feel freely careless using the same verb over and over even on different time periods.

e.g.
In English
Martha writes an anonymous letter every Saturday.
Martha wrote an anonymous letter yesterday.
Martha has written an anonymous letter before midnight.

In Indonesian
Martha menulis surat tanpa nama setiap Sabtu.
Martha menulis surat tanpa nama kemarin.
Martha sudah menulis surat tanpa nama sebelum tengah malam.

• • No gender

    Some who still wonder “Is Indonesian easy to learn?” often find the non-existent genders in Indonesian nouns pretty tempting.

e.g.
In German
Der Lehrer : male teacher
Die Lehrerin : female teacher
Die Lehrer : male teachers (plural)
Die Lehrerinnen : female teachers (plural)

In Indonesian
Guru (male or female teacher)
Para guru or guru-guru (plural both male and female teachers)

When it comes to plural forms, Indonesian language will require a word like “para” before the nouns. We can also replace “para” with the number of nouns. Adding a number before the nouns will not necessarily require a change of the nouns at all.
e.g.
Aku akan bertemu 2 (dua) guru hari ini.
I will meet 2 (two) teachers today.

• • No plural form

    You keep coming back to thinking whether a certain plural form needs a letter ‘s’ as a suffix or they possibly have other options. A second language like this could be rather frustrating.
    e.g.
    In English :
    1 ring, 2 rings
    1 mango, 2 mangoes
    1 child, 2 children
    1 sheep, 2 sheep
    Many books
    Much water

In Indonesian :
1 cincin, 2 cincin
1 mangga, 2 mangga
1 anak, 2 anak
1 domba, 2 domba
Banyak buku
Banyak air

But if you keep asking “Is Indonesian easy to learn?” you will always come to a quick and easy YES!

• Consistent pronunciation

  Indonesian language is a phonetic language, spoken as is written, with no necessary knowledge on how some certain letters should be possibly pronounced in different words.

The most similar sound of the letter “a” in both languages is found in the word “calm”, because English doesn’t use /a/ in its native words. However, you can find borrowed words in English, pronounced the same as the Indonesian letter “a” or written in a phonetic symbol as “/a/” too, like the word “pasta”.

Challenges learners might face

Anyway, is Indonesian easy? You tend to obviously expect some challenges to surely come in your way. Here are some concerns you’ll need to take longer notes on:

• Indonesian Slangs

  To sound more fluent in Indonesian Language, try to copy what the native Indonesian usually do. They frequently favor the use of slang. Slang words are derived from various ways.

  • Dynamic use of affixes

    The use of affixes in Indonesian language is neatly standardized, with every single affix carrying its own function in a word it is attached to. However, as beginner learners, you should expect when affixes are not used as are provided by the rules, hence they form Indonesian slang.

    1. Indonesian prefix di- or ter-
       In a standardized and formal Indonesian language, prefix di- and ter- are used to describe passive verbs. In the less formal situation, Indonesian will tend to replace this particular prefix into a totally unstandardized one i.e. ke-.
    2. Indonesian suffix -kan
       Is Indonesian easy to learn when it comes to its slang? Yes, the pattern will still be manageably predicted. Take a suffix now. Indonesians are predictably prone to always use unstandardized suffix forms in a non-formal situation.Suffix -kan is supposedly used to describe imperative verbs (to give commands or instructions to do something). Everyday Indonesian found a way to shift the suffix -kan into -in.
       
       

  • Acronym

    Many Indonesian slangs are formed by acronyms when two words are shortened and thus combined.
    

  • Change of letter

    Indonesian language is a language where multiple modification can unofficially occur, depending on how the speakers of this language want to simply pronounce the words.

    In many 2-syllable words, the second syllable that contains the sound of the letter “a” will be more easily pronounced by producing the sound of schwa /ə/ and will also sometimes be written in the letter “e”.
    

• Influence of Indonesian regional languages

  Are you aware of how Indonesia is a country of hundreds of thousands of regional languages? The existence of the regional languages massively cooperated in Indonesian language immediately affects the wide variety of vocabularies used in Indonesian language itself.
  e.g.
  edan (Javanese) : crazy
  mampus (Betawi) : dead
  mending (Sundanese) : better

Tips for learning Indonesian effectively

Hone your Indonesian language skills by diligently demonstrating these helpful tips below.

1. Start with pronunciation and listening
   Those who speak non-phonetic language must find it hard to adapt to a total reset of pronunciation.
   • Try reading Indonesian out loud. Remember to consistently pronounce the same letter the same way
   • Listen to native speakers through various sources like news program on TV, songs, or other recitation of work like audiobooks
   • Practice copying the sound as well as the intonation
   • Practice speaking regularly by finding an Indonesian-speaking partner
2. Master basic vocab and phrases
   Vocabulary is the earliest and one of the most fundamental aspects you need to get yourself used to.
   • Immerse yourself in the Indonesian everyday situation by learning the vocabularies related to doing some practical activities. Phrases for greeting, asking direction, and ordering food can be your best starters
   • Learn essential related vocabularies to survive in the Indonesian environment
3. Understand simple grammar patterns
   We have understood that there is no longer a need to ask “Is Indonesian easy to learn?” as the grammar is simple. You just need to remember the basic format of the sentence: Subject-Verb-Object.
4. Immerse yourself culturally
   Be ready to enter the world of Indonesia by learning their culture. You will see why exactly Indonesia is a distinctively unique country to start with.
   • Listen to Indonesian music and see how people react to certain types of music
   • Get the best out of this digitalized era! Find more information in a fun way by looking up to an entertaining social media influencer to catch up culturally-related news about Indonesia
5. Use simple reading materials
   The Indonesian language is a beginner-friendly language. You may use simple reading material like a children’s book to begin with. You will be exposed to a huge opportunity in finding out the most commonly used Indonesian phrases.
6. Learn common slang and informal language
   Provided the abundance of slangs being used by the native Indonesia, finally, is Indonesian easy to learn? The answer remains unscathed. You just need to find or make your type of slang. Slangs help you to communicate more naturally. Follow an Indonesian friend on social media and learn their slang and try to use it in the appropriate context.

Learn Indonesian Language for Foreign Speakers with English Café Bali

Coming to Indonesia as a foreigner cannot hold you back from becoming part of the country. The Indonesian language offers you a welcoming hand to master it in a beginner-friendly manner. Compared to other delicate languages in the world, foreign speakers should not find Indonesian language hard to handle but rather manageable instead. Your stay in Indonesia no matter the purpose will be much more enjoyable with the Indonesian Language in your tongue.