Are you interested in learning the language of Republik Indonesia (Bahasa Indonesia)? Here are some tricky ways that you can try. All points discussed here are free. You will not be charged except your internet payment fees. NOTE: The term “Indonesian” used in the title above should be Bahasa Indonesia. That term is used to ease you in finding this post on Google Search.
Previously, I have covered tricks and secret in learning Indonesian in a post entitled “How to Learn Indonesian Quickly.” You might be interested to read the secret before applying my suggestion below.
Facebok Group
In Facebook, there are many groups which are especially maintained for foreigners who want to learn Bahasa Indonesia. If you have Facebook account, just type some keywords like ‘learn bahasa Indonesia’ on Facebook search bar. You will find hundreds of Facebook groups that offer the learning of Bahasa Indonesia for free.
This is the best method that I can suggest. Facebook groups are great for learning Bahasa Indonesia because there are thousands Indonesians you can find there. To take advantage of this method, just try to post some questions there. I guarantee that your post will be answered by friendly Indonesians who want to make friends with you. They will voluntarily teach you Bahasa Indonesia. In return, you will be asked to teach them English - the most popular foreign language in Indonesia.
Most of Indonesians do not speak English. However, in Facebook groups, you will find majority of the members are able to speak English - at least a litle. Their English will be sufficient to teach you Bahasa Indonesia.
Podcast
If you have smart-phone, laptop, or any internet-connected device, why don’t you try to listen to podcast channels which offer the learning of Bahasa Indonesia for free?
Englinesian Podcast is one of podcast channel that you can listen. It covers various themes as well as topics regarding Indonesia, Indonesian, as well as Bahasa Indonesia. This web that focuses on written lesson can also beneficial to complete your learning of Bahasa Indonesia as it covers grammar lesson, transcript of Englinesian Podcast, Resource, and Blog that discusses all about Indonesia. Besides, there are various podcast channels that you can listen to learn Indonesian - honestly, Englinesian is not the only one.
Youtube
On Youtube, there are abundant channels that offer the learning of Bahasa Indonesia. It is very easy to find them. Just click on search bar on your internet-connected device, write some keywords there, and that’s it.
If you prefer this method over two other methods suggested previously, I suggest you to watch official news portals as they apply a more formal language rather than random channels that speak semi-formal or even less-formal language.
Websites and Blogs
Indonesians are everywhere on the internet. Majority of them are in social media. Abundant are also on the websites and blogs. However, in learning Indonesian throgh websites and blogs, be so careful with your desired style as majority of Indonesians who are on the websites and blogs write Indonesian in less-formal style.
To learn formal Indonesian, read articles published by news sites. Indonesia has many trusted news sites such as Republika and Okezone. Besides, you can also take advantage of official government websites.
Online Journal
Online journal is written in formal language. This is the best resource that you can maintain to learn Indonesian. When a journal is published, it has passed some criteria set by the publisher. All sentences contained in online journal must be free from grammatical mistake, apply appropriate diction, sematically correct and pragmatically accepted sentence.
To get the translation, you can simply maintain the Google Translate service. Although being able to translate passage is not your core target, but it is great as a start. What beginner foreign language learners need is rich input. To familiarize yourself with Indonesian, just find journal publisher that match your interests, take some of journals there, read, and try to comprehend the content. As the time goes by, you will be familiar with how forma sentences are structured.
