Job Discussion Forums

[El Llama]

I've been in Indo for about two years now, so my Bahasa is fine for my day to day needs, chatting with friends, etc. However, in my new job I'm expected to talk to prospective students or their parents. I can get my point across, but I'm aware that there's great room for improvement.

I know many Indonesians are amazed and entertained by any Bahasa Indonesia coming out of a foreigner's mouth (see "Bule Gila" et al) and often agree with the statement "the wonder is not that it is done well, but that it is done at all," but I'd like to speak more 'correctly.'

Has anyone out there used or heard of a good self-study Bahasa Indonesia coursebook? I already have a dictionary (the 2 volume set by Echols and Shadily) and it's useful and fairly accurate, if a little dated, but I feel I need something extra.

Any tips?

Cheers.

El Llama

[Winmar]

I'm studying Indonesian at uni (off campus) now, but before that I used the Bahasa Tetanggaku books, which are aimed at high school students. They're very good. They've been repackaged under a different name, but I can't remember what it is..... They're published in Australia, so you'd have to order them from here.

[Cardinal Synn]

These two come recomended.

Colloquial Indonesian - About ten years old but pretty good.

Teach yourself Indonesian - Complete Course. This is only a year old (Dec 2003) and includes CDs.

Amazon has these books. You could either order them there or at least get the titles and try to find them yourself.

Link for ordering Colloquial Indonesian
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0415092019/ref=ase_helloindonesi-20/104-4926167-4366329?v=glance&s=books

Link for ordering Teach yourself Indonesian (note.The audio pack has to be bought seperately)

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0071420266/ref=pd_sxp_elt_l1/104-4926167-4366329

Hope that is of help!

The Cardinal

[KCA420]

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[El Llama]

Thanks for all the help, guys. Looks like it's time to go Christmas shopping for myself.

Selamat Hari natal dan Tahun baru.

El Llama

[guru]

The best way is to study at a language school.

i recommend Wisma Bahasa in Yogya. http://www.wisma-bahasa.or.id/

You can do homestay or stay at a hotel. You will definetly improve!

[El Llama]

Well, I've yet to get round to tracking down the textbooks mentioned above but I have found another helpful website. It's from the University of Victoria (Canada, not Australia). Starts out easy, but you're soon onto the differences between "masuk," "memasukkan," "dimasuki" and "dimasukkan" which has always had me foxed. For anyone who's interested, here's the link:

http://web.uvic.ca/lancenrd/indonesian/

Selamat belajar!

El Llama

P.S. Would a literal translation of "terima kasih" be something like "received with love?" If so - aaahhh.

[zpivat]

Hi,

The literal translation for terima kasih would be something like "to accept what's given", or something like that. "Kasih" in this context means "to give". It's actually one of those "daily Indonesian" (informal) words.