Such is the diversity of tongues in Indonesia (200 indigenous speech forms, each with its own regional dialects) that often the inhabitants of the same island don’t speak the same native language. On the tiny island of Alor in Nusa Tenggara there are some 70 dialects, on Sulawesi 62 languages have been identified, and Papua alone is home to an astounding 10% of the world’s languages.
Fortunately, one language, Bahasa Indonesia, is taught in all schools to all students from the age of five. It’s estimated that about 70% of the population is literate in Bahasa Indonesia. The language is the only cultural element unifying the entire geographic, national and political entity known as “Indonesia.”
When you think of it, it’s pretty amazing that you say goodbye to your friends in Indonesian and get on a plane on tiny Sabang Island off the northern tip of Sumatra and fly across the entire 4200-kilometer archipelago and get off the plane in Papua and speak the same language. This is why it behooves visitors and residents alike to learn this highly-evolved pidgin lingua franca if we want to travel in this watery and impossibly splintered nation, perhaps the most broken-up country in the world.
When traveling in Indonesia, it’s impossible to really understand the culture without some knowledge of the language. Language teaches culture, not the other way around.
Indonesian publishers themselves produce scores of specialized phrasebooks for use in transportation, tourism, computer and banking – and for many more professions. These are meant for Indonesians who already know the local languages and are trying to learn English, and are often of poor quality. But they are cheap, readily available and far better than no phrasebook at all.
Perhaps the most valuable aspect of these native publications is that their selection of words, phrases and expressions make an excellent introduction to the concepts and values that are considered important in Indonesian culture.
Not matter what phrasebook is used, one proviso must be accepted: using a phrasebook to learn a language can be helpful as long as you realize that you are not really using the language. You’re simply holding up verbal signs: “Where is the toilet? What does that cost?” God forbid you should get back an answer not in the phrasebook!
In truth, the most important sentence in any phrasebook is “I don’t speak the language,” then you ask your question. If you don’t profess your ignorance, you’re likely to receive an outpouring of verbiage impossible to comprehend.
An even more important question to learn is: “What is the word for that/this in Indonesian?” which would make any warung, boring bus trips or long waits in government offices ideal language labs.
The Indonesian communication aids listed below are, because of their small trim size, very handy. Designed specifically with the tourist and traveler in mind, whether it be asking for directions, bargaining in a shop, getting to know people, making small talk.
The phrasebooks, with the exception of John Barker’s, have bilingual dictionaries in the back which contain the most commonly used words. Each also contains notes on grammar, body language, spelling as well as pronunciation tips.
A phrasebook can help minimize culture shock, makes a visit go more smoothly, enables the traveler to settle in more quickly and pay the right prices - in a word, all the essential vocabularies to begin communicating effectively from day-to-day. A phrasebook is a tool, not a complete course in Bahasa Indonesia.
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Pocket Dictionary, ISBN 0-945971-66-4, 72 pages, Periplus 1992. Rp20,000.
Practical Indonesian: A Communication Guide by John Barker, ISBN 0-945971-52-4, 70 pages, Periplus 2000. Rp20,000.
Practical Balinese: A Communication Guide by Gunter Spitzing, ISBN 962-593-068-X, 138 pages, Periplus 2000. Rp25,000.
Indonesian Phrasebook, ISBN 0-86442-651, 280 pages, Lonely Planet 2000. Rp65,000.
Available at Periplus Bookshops in the Bali Galleria and in the Matahari in Kuta, Warung Made in Seminyak, Ngurah Rai Airport (both the international and domestic terminals), Keris Gallery in Nusa Dua and in Gramedia Bookstores.
For comments and suggestions, please write : pakbill2003@yahoo.com
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