Speak basic Indonesian in Bali
Learning Indonesian is fun and rewarding
All local people in Bali speak primarily the national language of Bahasa Indonesia along with the local Balinese dialect which is mainly spoken in the home and among friends. Balinese is a purely oral dialect with no official text books available and extremely difficult to understand without prior knowledge of Indonesian. Very few foreigners are able to master Balinese, however Indonesian is one of the easiest and most logical languages in the world.
All newspapers, TV, books and official documents are in Indonesian and it unifies all communication in Indonesia, a country with over 500 different local dialects. Anyone who has travelled to Malaysia before will notice that Indonesian and Bahasa Malaysia are almost identical, differing only in some vocabulary and pronunciation.
English is widely spoken and understood everywhere in Bali, even in the smallest rural village, however a few basic words and phrases of Indonesian will be greeted with delight by local people and will certainly make for a more rewarding experience. Many people become fairly confident Indonesian speakers within a short space of time. There are a lot of similarities with English vocabulary but without all the confusing grammar.
In fact getting to grips with Indonesian grammar is almost like child’s play. There are no verb tenses, instead Indonesians use a simple prefix before the verb such as sudah (already), belum (not yet) or akan (will). For example, if you would like to convey ‘I am going’ you would say ‘saya pergi’ and ‘I will go’ would be ‘saya akan pergi’. Nouns do not have a gender and for a plural, you just simply repeat the noun. Orang (a person) would become orang-orang (people).
Indonesian is also a very phonetic language and generally follows English pronunciation. The major differences you will encounter will be the letter ‘c’ which has a ‘ch’ sound and ‘g’ which is always a hard sound as in ‘garden’. Much of Indonesian vocabulary has been anglicised and you will come across many familiar looking words. Examples include ‘cek in’ (check in), ‘paspor’ (passport) and ‘restoran’ (restaurant).
When addressing people, the polite term of ‘you’ is ‘anda’ or the more formal ‘kamu’ when speaking among friends of a similar age. A safe alternative is to simply use ‘bapak’ for adult males or ’ibu’ for females, especially when speaking to somebody in authority. Here are some of the most common phrases and questions you are likely to encounter, but the Murni Language page has eight useful powerpoint lessons for beginners that can be downloaded for only US$2 each.
Greetings and introductions in Bahasa Indonesia
Welcome Selamat datang
Good Morning Selamat pagi
Good evening Selamat malam
How are you? Apa kabar?
I’m fine, thanks. Baik-baik saja, terima kasih.
What’s your name? Siapa nama anda?
My name is… Nama saya …
Where are you from? Anda berasal dari mana
I’m from… Saya dari…
Please Tolong
Thank you Terima Kasih
Sorry Maaf
Excuse me Permisi
I don’t understand Saya tidak mengerti
Do you speak English? Apakah anda bisa bicara bahasa Indonesia?
Where’s the toilet? Di mana kamar kecil?
Do you have a room free? Apakah ada kamar kosong?
How much is it? Berapa harganya?
Can I have another beer? Minta satu lagi bir
Good bye Selamat jalan / selamat tinggal
See you again Sampai jumpa lagi
Bahasa vocabulary
Airport Bandara
Flight Penerbangan
Car Mobil
Beach Pantai
Market Pasar
Hospital Rumah Sakit
Shop Toko
Expensive Mahal
Cheap Murah
Hot Panas
Hot (spicy) Pedas
Cold Dingin
Delicious Enak
Good Bagus
Sun Matahari
Rain Hujan
Bahasa numbers
1- Satu, 2-Dua, 3-Tiga, 4-Empat, 5-Lima, 6-Enam, 7-Tujuh, 8-Delapan, 9-Sembilan, 10-Sepuluh
