No-one speaks Indonesia’s language?5 (3)
In the article “Why no-one speaks Indonesia’s language” published in BBC Travel, BBC correspondent David Fettling claims that “Bahasa Indonesia has fewer words than most languages.” How does he know? He doesn’t. Instead, he relies on Endy Bayuni of The Jakarta Post, who has written that foreign translations of Indonesian novels tend to read better, while Indonesian translations of foreign novels sound ‘verbose and repetitive’. I completely agree with Mr. Endy Bayuni, but this is simply because Indonesia is indeed
Dictionaries and Grammars for Learners of Indonesian5 (2)
Grammars There are numerous grammars on the market and all have their advantages and disadvantages. The Indonesian Reference Grammar by James Neil Sneddon is one of the most comprehensive grammars and we highly recommend it. Sneddon also published Understanding Indonesian Grammar. This a reference and workbook designed primarily for intermediate and advanced students in senior years of high school and at the university level. It is very useful for learners as it contains exercises that you will not find in
Indonesian—An Austronesian Language5 (1)
Austronesian Languages* In Indonesian, the Indonesian language is called bahasa Indonesia. It is essentially the same language as Malay (Bahasa Melayu) or Malaysian (Bahasa Malaysia). Bahasa Indonesia is the national language of Indonesia and Bahasa Malaysia is the national language of Malaysia and Brunei, and one of four national languages of Singapore. In 1928 Indonesian nationalists declared that the Malay language shall be called Indonesian. However, the Dutch, the colonial masters, continued to call the language Malay and it was
Authentic Indonesian Conversation Starters0 (0)
There is no question whether a learner should be taught authentic Indonesian or not. Yet, many textbooks and Indonesian language Internet sites teach Indonesian phrases that no Indonesian would ever use. For instance, it is quite common to find textbooks that translate ‘good bye’ as selamat tinggal. Selamat tinggal is the reply to selamat jalan. Selamat is ‘safe’, tinggal is ‘leave behind’, and jalan is ‘journey’. Hence selamat jalan is ‘bon voyage/have a good trip’. And yes, selamat tinggal is
Susu (in Indonesian and Samoan!)0 (0)
A few weeks ago I had to sit in a Samoan language class for evaluating purposes. The teacher explained that in the Samoan language susu is the word for ‘milk’. It is hence exactly the same word as in Indonesian. Samoan and Malay—Two Austronesian Languages Samoan and Malay (Indonesian) are both descendants of the same language family, which is called Austronesian (“The Southern Islands”). Essential and frequently used words tend to be conservative and do not change easily. So the
Voice Recording0 (0)
We have added yet another feature to The Indonesian Way. Almost every lessons has one or more exercises which are always named like Exercise 04-01 etc. To many of these exercises we have added a voice recording feature. In the exercise a certain task is given, which contains the instruction to record a few sentences. For instance in Exercise 04-02 (Lesson 04 of The Indonesian Way), the following instruction is given: Listen to each of the ten items below and
Quizzes and More to Come0 (0)
Dear all, There are four announcements today: Testimonials – Terima Kasih This is number one. I don’t know if you have ever looked at our testimonials, but we, the «Indonesian Way» team, feel truely honoured that we have received so many wonderful testimonials. It is hard to believe, but so far «Indonesian Way» has received a rating of 4.9 out of 5 points. This is wonderful! Thank you so much. Quizzes for Each Module We have just finished adding a
New Dictionary0 (0)
I would like to call your attention to a brand new dictionary that has become available through the Internet as an Open Access Publication: Title of Publication: A Dictionary of Indonesian Prepositional Constructions Authors: dr.Totok Suhardijanto (Universitas Indonesia, Depok), Miel Slager, m.hum. (formerly Utrecht University, the Netherlands) Date: 22 October 2019 Download link: https://zenodo.org/record/3515813#.Xa7A3uj7SuA I have personally examined the dictionary and was quite impressed. The world of Indonesian prepositions is not quite as complex as English prepositions which are a
Important New Features0 (0)
A few weeks ago, Stuart, one of the indonesian-online subscribers, wrote to me complaining that “it is quite difficult to keep track of what lesson has been completed and get an understanding of how you are going.” No doubt, Stuart is right, and this shortcoming has bothered me for a long time. So I took his suggestions by heart and asked my developer whether he could come up with a solution. So, this is what he has done: 1.) First
Street Children in Indonesia0 (0)
We’ve achieved another milestone! – interesting that even in 2020, more than a century after the mile was replaced by the kilometre, we still use this ancient expression. Indonesia actually adopted the metrical system very late. It was introduced in 1923 but became compulsory only in 1938. Before that they used the imperial system and the mile was called batu. But, no, we don’t want to talk about the metrical system in Indonesia. Today we want to celebrate with you
Become a Better Learner0 (0)
Everybody wants to become a better, more successful learner. But how can we do that? Here is an interesting article. In this world full of misinformation it is important if we can rely on newspapers that are trustworthy. One of the better newspapers of that kind is The Guardian, an independent daily British newspaper, which has a British, an Australian, a US, and an international online edition, all accessible through theguardian.com. The Guardian has today (16/2/2020) posted a very interesting
Flashcard Support for Vocabulary Learning0 (0)
What are Anki Flashcards? Anki, derived from the Japanese word meaning ‘to memorise,’ is not only a term but also a powerful application designed to aid in the memorisation process. With Anki, you can effectively memorise a wide range of information, including vocabulary items. This program revolutionises the way we remember things by offering an efficient alternative to traditional study methods. As a result, you have the option to significantly reduce the time spent studying while simultaneously increasing the amount