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How hard is it to learn Indonesian?

I understand they use the english alphabet. Is it possible to speak the language fairly well after learning it for 3 or 4 years from a book/cd?
Reply 1
Avatar for rainbird
rainbird
No worries. Indonesian is probably one of the easiest languages. The grammar is extremely simple and the vocabulary is fairly easy to master too. And unlike English, it is read as written. And it's kind of logical too in many ways.

I visited Indonesia last year for a few weeks and decided to learn some bahasa indonesia before going there. I studied it by myself for maybe a month, and not particularly intensively (using the "teach yourself bahasa indonesia" book+cd and watching some indonesian movies on youtube). I was able to tell taxi drivers where to go, ask the prices, talk with kids and simple stuff like that. I've never felt so comfortable using a language that i had only learned for such a short time. So I imagine 3-4 years will easily be enough to gain some fluency!

I'm not sure though how hard the pronunciation is for an english speaking person. I'm from Finland and we tend to find it quite easy (and vice versa! i've never heard anyone pronouncing finnish so perfectly after the first time hearing it as some of the indonesians! :biggrin: )
rainbird
No worries. Indonesian is probably one of the easiest languages. The grammar is extremely simple and the vocabulary is fairly easy to master too. And unlike English, it is read as written. And it's kind of logical too in many ways.

I visited Indonesia last year for a few weeks and decided to learn some bahasa indonesia before going there. I studied it by myself for maybe a month, and not particularly intensively (using the "teach yourself bahasa indonesia" book+cd and watching some indonesian movies on youtube). I was able to tell taxi drivers where to go, ask the prices, talk with kids and simple stuff like that. I've never felt so comfortable using a language that i had only learned for such a short time. So I imagine 3-4 years will easily be enough to gain some fluency!

I'm not sure though how hard the pronunciation is for an english speaking person. I'm from Finland and we tend to find it quite easy (and vice versa! i've never heard anyone pronouncing finnish so perfectly after the first time hearing it as some of the indonesians! :biggrin: )


Pronunciation shouldn't be an issue, I think. Which book/cd did you use mate?
Reply 3
Avatar for asparkyn
asparkyn
15
I am an Indonesian myself, and although my command of the language has gotten rusty over time, I can safely guarantee that any half-brained idiot can easily grasp the language :biggrin: In my honest opinion, Indonesian is the easiest language around ... far easier than any European language or Asian language!

The reason why it's so easy is because you can get all your grammar muddled up and STILL have people understanding you... It's very lax on grammatical structure, and compared to its European counterparts, it has far less difficult vocab. Spelling and punctuation is very simple too (memorise a few fundamental rules, and you'll be able to read pages and pages of long text without even understanding it!) I strongly encourage you to take up Indonesian. It's a very fulfilling language!:P
I think 3/4 years should be enough time to learn any language to a fairly good degree, as long as you stick at it and learn it properly. From what I know Indonesian is quite a simple language to learn, although this can often differ from person to person.
Reply 5
Avatar for haydenong
haydenong
I picked up the language as a child when we had an indon maid around. The language is relatively simple and certain people sound really good when they speak it. :biggrin:

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