Indonesian is the official language of one of Asia’s most populous countries: Indonesia. It is estimated that there are approximately 230 million Indonesian speakers in the world. If you have decided to learn Indonesian, why not start with a general overview of the language and some useful Indonesian sentences?
Learn Indonesian: understanding basic grammar and pronunciation
As different as Indonesian is from English, there are some similarities between the two languages. For example, word order in Indonesian follows the same pattern as English (subject + verb + object). Also, and despite being an Asian language, Indonesian uses the Roman alphabet, so there are no mind-boggling characters to learn.
If you intend to learn Indonesian, you need to be aware of other grammar peculiarities. One striking feature of Indonesian sentences is that there are no tenses involved. You only need to know the base form of the verb and add temporal markers (like today, yesterday, tomorrow, etc.). Words are formed by adding prefixes or suffixes, so even if you don’t know a word, you can easily recognise the general concept behind it. Indonesian nouns are not affected by gender, and plural forms are created by repeating the noun twice.
In terms of pronunciation, Indonesian is pretty much pronounced as it is written, and most of the sounds have an English equivalent (with the exception of “r”, which sounds like a rolled Spanish “r”).
Learn Indonesian: basic Indonesian sentences
Indonesian sentences to introduce yourself
- Hello / Halo
- My name is … / Nama saya …
- What’s your name? / Namamu siapa?
- How are you? / Apa kabar?
- Nice to meet you / Senang bertemu anda
- Goodbye / Selamat tinggal
Indonesian sentences to ask for directions and prices
- Where is the bus station / train station / ATM? / Di mana terminal bus / stasiun kereta api / ATM?
- How can I get to …? / Bagaimana saya bisa ke …?
- Is there a restaurant nearby? Apaka ada restoran terdekat?
- How much is this? / Ini berapa?
- Can I have a discount? / Saya bisa diskon?
How to learn Indonesian phrases
It is important not to limit your learning of Indonesian phrases to just one method. You can attend a language course, take lessons online, talk to native Indonesian speakers, read Indonesian books or newspapers that are available online, or even move to Indonesia to take an immersion course. Remember that the more methods you use, the faster you will learn.
Learning Indonesian phrases with Babbel
Babbel can help you make real progress with your Indonesian sentences. Babbel courses cover the four skills (reading, writing, listening, and speaking) in an interactive and entertaining manner. The Babbel Community helps you to practice your Indonesian skills with other users and even Indonesian native speakers via chat or instant messaging. This way you can keep learning more Indonesian phrases. Other special features include voice recognition software to help you work on pronunciation, numerous thematic courses covering business, idioms, colloquial speech, etc., a mobile application, academic support, and the fact that over 7 million language learners worldwide have chosen Babbel to help them learn a language.