Complete

Indonesian
Christopher Byrnes and
Eva Nyimas

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Contents

Meet the authors

Only got a minute?
Only got five minutes?
Only got ten minutes?
Introduction
Pronunciation guide
Welcome to Indonesia!
Greeting people introducing yourself and others
saying where you come from shaking hands
At the airport
Using less formal yes/no questions showing possession
taxi drivers
Getting to know you
Giving information about yourself and asking about
other people expressing nationalities and languages
asking basic questions some conversation pointers
forms of address
Working and studying
Talking about your job and asking about what other
people do expressing your capabilities talking about
education and study agriculture the role of women
education
Family and home
Talking about members of your family expressing where
things are in your house saying the numbers 1 to 10
bathing facilities Arabic greetings
Tourist information
Asking what there is to see and do expressing
existence using numbers 1 to 99 telling the time
saying the days of the week something for everyone!
Invitations
Making, accepting and declining an invitation
giving reasons saying the months
invitations Indonesian style

vii
viii
xii
xiv
xvii
xxv
1

17

31

56

76

105

134

Contents

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10

11

12

13

14

15

16

Asking the way

Asking for directions understanding the
directions body language
Changing money
Changing money understanding and expressing higher
numbers expressing distance, weight, height etc.
cash, travellers cheques or plastic?
Transport
Buying tickets for journeys talking about using
various modes of transport using more time expressions
getting around
Checking in
Getting rooms in a hotel asking about services
saying what you usually do where to stay
Beautiful batik
Going shopping for clothes talking about sizes,
colours, and what things are made of bartering with
a street seller about batik
Eating out
Understanding an Indonesian menu ordering
food in restaurants and from street vendors
eating out Indonesian style
At the supermarket
Shopping for food at a shop or supermarket
understanding an Indonesian recipe
supermarkets; four words for rice
Hobbies
Talking about likes, dislikes and favourites in detail
saying what your hobbies are and what sports you do
saying how long something has been happening
entertainment Indonesian style
At the doctors
Talking about your body saying how you feel
talking about various common ailments
dealing with a visit to the doctor herbal
medicines; drinking water

154

168

188

208

224

250

270

286

304

iv
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17 A phone call
Making a phone call talking about the weather
understanding some of the features of street Indonesian
using a dictionary taking your Indonesian further
The Indonesian alphabet
Key to the exercises
Listening transcripts
IndonesianEnglish vocabulary
EnglishIndonesian vocabulary

323

340
341
354
359
376

Acknowledgements
We are grateful to the staff at Teach Yourself books for their
diligence and patience and John Pride for his expertise and
input for this edition.

Contents

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1
Welcome to Indonesia!
In this unit you will learn how to
greet people
introduce yourself and others
say where you come from

PART ONE
Dialogue
CD1, TR 2, 0:03

Selamat siang!
Nama saya Ken Knight.
Saya berasal dari Slandia Baru.

Unit 1 Welcome to Indonesia!

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Selamat siang!
Nama saya Jamilah Knight.
Saya berasal dari Indonesia.

Selamat siang!
Saya Mark.
Saya dari Inggeris.

Selamat siang!
Saya Rza.
Saya dari Indonesia.

Insight
We have marked the on the name Rza for this unit only
to show how it is pronounced. In further units we have
omitted the accent on the name.

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QUICK VOCAB

nama saya my name is

nama name
saya I am
Saya berasal dari I am from
dari from
Slandia Baru New Zealand
Inggeris England
Indonesia Indonesia
Selamat pagi! Good morning!
Selamat siang! Good afternoon!/Good day!
Selamat sor! Good afternoon!
Selamat malam! Good evening!

How the language works 1

1 Unlike English, there is no multipurpose word like Hello! in
Indonesian. Instead the greetings for the specic time of the day
are used: Selamat pagi in the morning, selamat siang which would
correspond to good day in older style English, selamat sor which
is used between 2 and 6 p.m., and selamat malam which is used
throughout the evening and night.
2 You do not need to use words for am, are, is in Indonesian.
So saya can mean both I and I am. Compare the following sentences
in English and Indonesian:
I am Reza.
Saya Rza.
I am from England.
Saya dari Inggeris.

Unit 1 Welcome to Indonesia!

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EXERCISE 1
See if you can make these sentences.

QV

a I am John. I am from America.

b I am Kylie. I am from Australia.
c I am Suzie. I am from Canada.
Amrika America
Kanada Canada
Australia Australia
3 To give your name in Indonesian you can use nama saya + your
name or you can just use saya ..., I am ... Saya is far more natural
and, consequently, more frequently used, especially in the spoken
language, than nama saya. We do the same in English. Consider
how much more likely you are to say I am John, for example, than
My name is John.
The same thing applies to saya dari and saya berasal dari
when you want to say where you are from. The latter form is
considered to be more formal and less natural than saya dari In
writing, however, it would be better style to use saya berasal dari

Understanding Indonesian
EXERCISE 2
CD1, TR 2, 2:08
First familiarize yourself with the new vocabulary.

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pengusaha

mahasiswa

pelancong

penari Bali

QV

pengusaha businessman
mahasiswa student (at college or university)
pelancong tourist
penari Bali Balinese dancer
If you are not using the recording turn to the Listening transcripts
section and treat this as a reading exercise. You will hear these
people introduce themselves in the order indicated by the number
next to their names. Listen to what each person says and link the
persons name, the part of Indonesia he/she is from and, nally,
the other piece of information about that person.

Insight
Heres an extra clue for the following exercise: some
Indonesian words have different forms depending on whether
they refer to men or women. Mahasiswa is specically a male
student; a female university student is mahasiswi.

Unit 1 Welcome to Indonesia!

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Muhammad (1)

Sutrisno (2)

Tuti (3)

Endang (4)

Sumatra
Sulawesi
Irian Jaya

Kalimantan

Bali
Java
pengusaha

mahasiswa

pelancong

penari Bali

EXERCISE 3
True or false?
When you have completed the listening exercise try the following
true/false test.
a
b
c
d

Muhammad is a student from Sumatra.

Endang is a student from Java.
Tuti is a dancer from Bali.
Sutrisno is a tourist from Bali.

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PART TWO

Dialogue

Bapak Anton
Bapak Knight
Bapak Anton

(They shake hands.)

Bapak Bambang
Bapak Knight

Maaf! Apakah anda Bapak Knight?

Ya, betul.
Selamat datang di Jakarta. Kami dari
perusahaan CITRA. Kenalkan, saya Anton
dan ini Bapak Bambang.
Senang berkenalan dengan anda.
Senang berkenalan dengan anda juga.

QUICK VOCAB

maaf! excuse me, I am sorry

apakah anda? are you?
bapak Mr
ya yes
betul thats correct
selamat datang welcome
di in
selamat datang di welcome to
kami we
dari from
perusahaan company
Kenalkan, saya Allow me to introduce myself. Im...
dan and
ini this/this is
senang happy

Unit 1 Welcome to Indonesia!

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CD1, TR 2, 3:05

Mr Knight, a businessman from New Zealand, has arrived at

Soekarno International Airport in Jakarta. He has come to Jakarta
on business. His Indonesian wife, Jamilah, will be joining him later.
Two men from the CITRA company have come to meet him.

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dengan with
Senang berkenalan dengan anda. Pleased to meet you.
juga too, also
Senang berkenalan dengan anda juga. Pleased to meet you too.

Insight
In the early stages of learning Indonesian, do not worry about
a word like dengan in the vocabulary above. The Indonesian
phrase needs dengan whereas the English phrase does not.
Just concentrate on learning the phrase for now.
TRANSLATION
Mr Anton
Mr Knight
Mr Anton

Mr Bambang
Mr Knight

Excuse me! Are you Mr Knight?

Yes, thats correct.
Welcome to Jakarta. We are from the CITRA
company. Pleased to meet you. Im Anton and
this is Mr Bambang.
Pleased to meet you.
Pleased to meet you too.

How the language works 2

1 To introduce yourself to someone in Indonesian use Kenalkan,
saya + your name.

Insight
Kenalkan, saya is the common colloquial variant of
the expression. In hyper-correct Indonesian it would be
perkenalkan saya
When you pronounce this expression, note that there is a
pause between kenalkan and saya, marked by the comma in
writing. Listen for this on the recording if you have it.

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1 To introduce someone else, simply use the word ini which means
this (is)...:
Ini Peter Robinson.

This is Peter Robinson.

2 When you welcome someone to a place in Indonesian you say

welcome in rather than to as in English. For example,
Selamat datang di Bandung, Welcome to Bandung.
EXERCISE 4
How would you welcome someone to the following places in
Indonesian?
a
b
c
d

Sydney
Washington
London
Your home town.

2 In this unit you have come across the words saya, I, anda, you
and dia, he/she. Words such as these that can be used instead of
repeating a persons name are known as personal pronouns.
Here are the formal personal pronouns in Indonesian:
saya
anda
saudara
dia
kami/kita
merka

I
you
you
he/she
we
they

They are called formal personal pronouns because you should use
them in a situation where you are not familiar with the speaker
or where you would be expected to maintain a respectful tone to
whomever you are addressing.

Unit 1 Welcome to Indonesia!

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There are two words for you and two words for we. Saudara and
anda can be used interchangeably. The words for we, however,
have specic meanings and usage depending on the situation.
Kita is used when you are including the person or people you are
speaking to in what you say. Kami is used when you mean us
but not you. For instance, imagine you are at a party with your
spouse. When it comes time for you both to leave you announce
your departure by saying We must be leaving now. You would
use kami in Indonesian. If you used kita it would mean that you
expect everybody else to leave with you! Obviously, it would not
be taken literally. It is just an illustration, but it is worth bearing in
mind the distinction when you are speaking Indonesian as you may
unintentionally nd yourself altering the meaning of what you want
to say otherwise.

Insight
Learnt the words, but cant remember the difference? Try
this! Take the ka of kami as the rst syllable in the name
KAren (it helps enormously if you have a friend called Karen)
and the mi as ME in English. Think of kami as Karen and
me, i.e. we, but not you. Kita is the other one.
3 In Part One, you saw that you do not need to use words for
am/are/is in Indonesian. You may also have noticed that you do
not need to use a word for a (an) or the either. You just say I
from England or I businessman, etc. Compare these English and
Indonesian sentences:
I am a businessman.
Saya pengusaha.
This is a book.
Ini buku.
In a sentence such as That is tobacco, where there would be
no a in English anyway, the pattern is the same:
That is tobacco.
Itu tembakau.

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Kita

Kami

Unit 1 Welcome to Indonesia!

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EXERCISE 5
Put these sentences into Indonesian.

QUICK VOCAB

a
b
c
d
e
f

This is a dictionary.
He is a businessman.
That is coffee.
This is a shop.
She is a teacher.
This is water.

buku book
tembakau tobacco
kamus dictionary
kopi coffee
toko shop
guru teacher
air water
nasi rice
4 There are two types of question ones that require an
explanation and ones that simply require the answer yes or no.
One way to form a yes/no question in Indonesian is by using
apakah. In English, we change the word order, for example to turn
the statement This is a book into a question we say Is this a book?
To form the question in Indonesian simply take the statement and
add apakah to the beginning:
Ini buku.
Apakah ini buku?

This is a book.
Is this a book?

Similarly:
Anda pengusaha.
Apakah anda pengusaha?
Itu nasi.
Apakah itu nasi?

You are a businessman.

Are you a businessman?
That is rice.
Is that rice?

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Insight
Notice that the punctuation rules (capital letter at the
beginning of the sentence and question mark at the end)
apply in Indonesian too. Also, as in English, you should use
a rising intonation at the end of the question.
EXERCISE 6
See if you can form apakah-type questions using the statement you
made in Indonesian in Exercise 5. For example:
a (This is a dictionary.) Ini kamus. Apakah ini kamus?

Using Indonesian
EXERCISE 7
Look at the dialogue between two people. Can you unscramble it
so that it makes sense? Then translate it.
Ya betul.
Senang berkenalan dengan anda juga.
Selamat datang di Inggeris. Kenalkan, saya Robert Davies.
Maaf... Apakah anda Bapak Pranoto dari Indonesia?
Ya betul. Senang berkenalan dengan anda.
Apakah anda dari perusahaan BRITIMPORT?
EXERCISE 8
Over to you!
Imagine that you (A) are from a company called ANGLOTRANS.
As the only Indonesian speaker at your rm you have been sent to
the airport to meet an Indonesian lady (B) called Mrs Nasution (Ibu
Nasution). You see a lady waiting who might just be Mrs Nasution.
Write out the dialogue replacing the English in brackets with
suitable Indonesian phrases you have learnt in this unit.
Unit 1 Welcome to Indonesia!

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CD1, TR 2, 3:54

A
B
A
B
A

Excuse me. Are you Mrs Nasution?

Ya betul.
Im from the ANGLOTRANS company. Im (your name).
Senang berkenalan dengan anda.
Im pleased to meet you too.

Insight
Its normal if you found the Over to you! exercise hard-going
to begin with! It is expected that you will have to listen, and
interact with it several times to be able to do it perfectly.
Trust us on this one. The Over to you! exercises are designed
to stretch you linguistically, and the only way to do that is to
push you slightly beyond your comfort zone, so do persevere
with them!

Shaking hands
Young Indonesians and those who are used to contact with
foreigners will probably greet you with a western-style handshake
and a slight forward bow.
Out of respect, young Indonesians may kiss the hand of their older
relatives.
In certain areas, you may encounter a traditional Indonesian style
handshake. The hands are clasped together as though in prayer and
held, ngers pointing upwards, just above the nose. The hands are
brought down until they are horizontal and at a level between the
chest and the waist. The ngers of the hands only interlock with
the other persons in a sort of clasping motion, but with the ngers
still held straight and together and then the hands are withdrawn
to the starting position, above the nose.
This is the Javanese way. The Sundanese start the handshake with
the hands in the lower position and then bring them up to the

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nose. This has given rise to a certain amount of humour among

Indonesians. They say that a Javanese and a Sundanese can never
shake hands as their hands will never meet!

Unit 1 Welcome to Indonesia!

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TEST YOURSELF
1 How would you greet someone at 1 p.m.?
2 How would you greet someone at 9.30 a.m.?
3 How would you give your name in Indonesian?
4 How would you introduce yourself in Indonesian?
5 How would you say Im from Java?
6 How would you say Welcome to England?
7 Kami or kita? Which one do you use to include everyone
in what you say?
8 How would you introduce Mrs Walters to someone in
Indonesian?
9 What word can you add to the beginning of a statement to
form a question?
10 If someone said Senang berkenalan dengan anda to you,
how would you respond?

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