Parlez Vous Bahasa

For most people, the Indonesian language is actually without doubt one of the easiest languages to learn. the item has very simple grammatical structure, the item has no tenses as well as the item uses the same alphabet as English as well as many some other languages. Even better, the language is actually very phonetic as well as therefore words are very easy to spell.

Among non-native speakers of Indonesian, there are six basic ability stages:

1. Not a word: This kind of is actually obviously the level everyone is actually at before they start learning as well as the level at which some expats remain, even if they live in Indonesia for 50 years. Many of those who do progress coming from stage one to stage two or beyond may as well stay at stage one because they speak Indonesian with their native accent as well as no Indonesian understands a word they say anyway.

2. Taxi language: The basic vocabulary of This kind of language is actually four words; kiri, kanan, terus as well as “stop”, as well as for the majority of expats each of these words must be accompanied by animated pointing as well as gesturing – regular pointing left or right for kiri or kanan, index finger straight down as well as sweeping forward for terus, as well as vigorous tapping on the driver’s shoulder for “stop”. At the end, the more adventurous expat may add the word berapa in a questioning tone to find out how much the journey cost, yet the majority will just read the meter, hand over the amount rounded up to the nearest ten thousand as well as get out. A few will add a cursory ‘makasih’ as they exit the taxi. There are, however, some expats who will engage in a tense as well as time-consuming stand-off with the driver as he fumbles animatedly in his pockets pretending to look for change while hoping the expat will get tired of waiting as well as let him keep the item. I have seen This kind of battle go on for quite some time when my friend Jock the English teacher gets out of a taxi.

3. Enough to get into trouble: At This kind of stage, non-native speakers of Indonesian can confidently find their way round in taxis, order in restaurants as well as astound visitors (as well as fellow expats who are still at stage one). As long as everything goes to plan This kind of level is actually quite impressive, yet things can go horribly wrong when Indonesians assume which the expats’ Indonesian is actually fluent as well as start speaking to them at the same speed they would likely speak to an Indonesian. This kind of is actually when expats shopping for a brand new pair of shoes end up going home having a bag of sugar as well as a toothbrush.

4. Conversational: At This kind of stage the expat speaks pretty Great Indonesian as well as can actually get through a conversation with an Indonesian by understanding most of what is actually said as well as nodding knowingly at the right times. Occasionally there will be a word or phrase which the expat has not heard before, yet generally the meaning can be gleaned coming from the context as well as the expat will go away having a fair idea of what the conversation was about, as well as the Indonesian will go home convinced the expat speaks fluent Indonesian. Later on, both find out how wrong they were.

5. Fluent spoken: This kind of is actually the stage where Indonesians compliment expats on their Indonesian as well as ask how long they have been within the country. Every possible answer is actually met with an expression of surprise, either because the expat has been here for such a long time or because the expat has learned such Great Indonesian in such a short space of time. Either way, the conversation will often go into areas which most foreigners are not actually comfortable talking about with somebody they just met, so the expat will end up pretending to be at stage one to avoid sharing the more embarrassing details of their lives.

6. Fluent spoken as well as written: Very few will reach This kind of stage, as well as those who do will sit proudly in Indonesian restaurants smoking kreteks as well as reading Kompas. Many will also wear a batik all the time, bring their hand up to their chest after they shake hands with you as well as drive like there’s no tomorrow.

The vast majority of expats will be somewhere between stages two as well as three no matter how long they have been in Indonesia. What stage are you at?