Indonesian Lesson

This post decided to people who will be in Indonesia or already in Indonesia and want to learn some basic Indonesian language or we call it Bahasa.

Greeting:

Basically it's the same with English, we use hello, but in different pronunciation. We pronounce it 'halo', the 'a' sound just like 'a' in 'ball'. Or you can say 'hai' which is the same pronunciation with 'hi' in English.

How are you?:

The sentence in Bahasa is 'Apa kabar?' Pronounce the 'a' letter just like 'a' in 'ball'.

I'm good:

Usually we delete the subject. So, to answer 'how are you' question, you just say 'baik' which means 'good'. The sound you produce is almost the same with the word 'bike'. Remember, ALMOST, not the same.

Thank you:

The translation to this phrase is 'terima kasih'. Pronounce the 'i' with short 'i' vowel sound. The 'h' letter would produce the sound of breath. Sometimes, we just use 'makasih', it's like shorter word for 'terima kasih'.

How much:

This is an important part to know. Even you have a 'bule' (that's how Indonesian call western people) face, but if you can speak Bahasa, you will get lower price, or they just don't give you foreign price. The translation for this is 'berapa'. Or if you want to make it clearer just say 'berapa harganya'. 'Harganya means 'price'.

Direction:

Left: kiri

Right: kanan

If you are taking taxi and want to show direction to the driver u can tell them these words. Or you can say 'belok kanan' or 'belok kiri'. Belok means turn, the letter 'e' pronounce like 'e' n bell.

Number and Money:

We don't use one rupiah. The least amount that we use is hundred. But maybe you can find 25 rupiahs when shopping in supermarket. Don't worry, we usually round it up or down.

Number:

one: satu six: enam eleven: sebelas

two: dua seven: tujuh twelve: dua belas

three: tiga eight: delapan 13-19: tiga belas, ..., sembilan belas

four: empat nine: sembilan twenty: dua puluh

five: lima ten: sepuluh twenty one: dua puluh satu, n so on.

one hundred: seratus

two hundred: dua ratus

hundred: ratus

thousand: ribu

one thousand: seribu

two thousand: dua ribu

million: juta

billion: milyar

 

Days:

Monday: Senin Friday: Jumat

Tuesday: Selasa Saturday: Sabtu

Wednesday: Rabu Sunday: Minggu

Thursday: Kamis

week: minggu

 

Ok, I guess that's all. Will add some more on another post.

• indonesian
• bahasa
• translation
• language
• lesson