Bahasa Indonesia is the national and official language in the entire country. It is the language of official communication, taught in schools and spoken on television. Most Indonesians today speak at least two languages or more, Bahasa Indonesia and their local language, of which Indonesia counts more than 300 regional languages.
Bahasa Indonesia (The Indonesian Language)
Bahasa Indonesia is both old and new language, it is based on Malay, which has been the lingua-franca throughout much of south-east Asia for centuries, but it has changed rapidly in the past few decades to meet the needs of a modern nation. Although formal Indonesian is a complex language demanding serious study, the construction of basic Indonesian sentences is relatively easy. _____Indonesian is written in the Roman alphabet and, unlike some Asian languages, is not tonal. Indonesian always use their language to show their respect when addressing others, especially when a younger person speaks to his elders. The custom is to address an elder man as bapak or pak (father) and as elder woman as ibu (mother), and even in the case of slightly younger people who are obviously VIPs, this form of address is suitable and correct. Bung (in West Java) and mas (in Central and East Java) roughly translate as “brother” and are used with equals, people your own age whom you don’t know all that well, and with hotel clerks, taxi drivers, personal drivers, tour guides and waiters (it’s friendly and a few notches above “buddy” or mate).
To get you started, here to try some samples Indonesian phrases:
Greetings and Civilities:
good morning – selamat pagi
good afternoon/evening/night – selamat siang/selamat sore/selamat malam
goodbye (to person staying) – selamat tinggal
goodbye (to person going) – selamat jalan
how are you? – apa kabar?
I’m fine – kabar baik
please – silakan
thank you (very much) – terimakasih (banyak)
Time:
when? – kapan?
at what time…? – jam berapa…?
today – hari ini
tonight – nanti malam
tomorrow – besok
Yesterday – kemarin
Other Useful Words & Phrases:
I /me – saya
you – kamu
they – mereka
excuse me – permisi
sorry – maaf
help – tolong
yes/no – ya/tidak
I don’t understand – saya tidak mengerti
how much (price)? – berapa (harga)?
expensive – mahal
what is this? – apa ini?
what is that? – apa itu?
Taste:
spicy – pedas
tasty – enak
sweet – manis
sour – asam
Temperature:
hot / cold – panas/dingin
mild (weather) – sejuk
Numbers:
1/2 – setengah
1 – satu
2 – dua
3 – tiga
4 – empat
5 – lima
6 – enam
7 – tujuh
8 – delapan
9 – sembilan
10 – sepuluh
12 – duabelas, 14 – empatbelas
20 – duapuluh, 21 – duapuluh satu
30 – tigapuluh, 31 – tigapuluh satu
50 – limapuluh, 51 – limapuluh satu
100 – seratus, 1000 – seribu, 10.000 – sepuluh ribu, 15.000 – limabelas ribu, 20.000 – duapuluh ribu,
Emergencies:
help! – tolong!
doctor – dokter
police – polisi
hospital – rumah sakit
Around Town:
where is…? – dimana…?
post office – kantor pos
police office – kantor polisi
here/there – disini/disana
left/right – kiri/kanan
near/far – dekat/jauh
straight ahead – terus
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