free online bahasa indonesia courses

Proven Course Teaches Indonesian Quickly with Audio and Video

Beginner and advanced levels alike will enjoy IndonesianPod101, an excellent online and mobile way to learn Indonesian quickly.

IndonesianPod101's fun method and modern platform immerse you in the Indonesian language, giving you just what you need to achieve your goals for travel, business, family and other needs.

IndonesianPod101 is web and mobile based, giving you a custom Indonesian Learning Center anywhere. Download podcasts on your iPhone, Android, iPod Touch, iPod or any mp3 player and take them with you for practice and learning on the go.

High-Quality Content for Learning Indonesian

A key aspect to learning a language is quality content. IndonesianPod101 creates a steady flow of fresh content covering everything from cultural aspects of Indonesian to tidbits about navigating in Indonesia, plus practical information to help you get by.

Beyond Audio and Video

Engage in a combination of audio and video lessons, lesson notes and checklists, transcripts, PDFs, vocabulary training with flashcards and quizzes plus a Indonesian dictionary, grammar bank, a verb reference, social network and plenty more.

It's simple to get a free lifetime account.

From the site:

"Learning Bahasa Indonesia

The best time to start learning Bahasa Indonesia is before you even make your move to Indonesia, however it may be difficult to find language materials in your home country. Ask your sponsoring company to help you obtain tapes and books several months before you move, so that you can start becoming used to the sound of the language.

Formal Courses

Soon after your arrival in Indonesia, make it a priority to register for a Bahasa Indonesia course. There are several excellent schools and community organizations in Jakarta (and other cities) which have comprehensive, structured programs to help you begin learning Indonesian. Learning Indonesian properly from the beginning can not be stressed enough.

Another advantage of signing up for a course is that it's a great place to meet other newcomers and make friends. The people that you will be taking the course with will also be facing many of the settling in and adjustments challenges that you too face as a newcomer.

Tutors

Others opt for private lessons in their home or office from private tutors. This option tends to be the most expensive, and there is little control over the quality of the curriculum and instruction. Even though the tutor may come highly recommended from others, that does not ensure the quality of their instruction. You may, however, find it useful to meet with a tutor for a period after you have completed several levels of a formal course. That way they can help you with any special problems or requirements you may have.

Self-Taught Bahasa Indonesia

Some expats opt to learn Bahasa Indonesia on their own. Excellent books to learn Bahasa Indonesia are available in bookstores around Jakarta. Once you are in Indonesia, practice your fledgling Indonesian with your servants, driver, vendors and people you meet in the stores and social encounters. The diligent will quickly pick up enough Bahasa Indonesia to feel comfortable interacting with Indonesians on a daily basis.

Pen Pals and Indonesian Friends

True fluency in a language requires active use of the language. Many expats find it helpful to get a pen pal or have a "language buddy" relationship with an Indonesian where you help each other to learn a desired languages by sharing your skills. This can be as simple as setting up a time to meet once or twice a week where you focus on learning language and developing a friendship over coffee or email each other any questions you have about the language.

Many Indonesians want to learn English, or French, or German ... so if you want to learn Bahasa Indonesia, offer to "trade" skills by investing time in each other's language studies. Obviously you can pay a private tutor to do the same thing, but this type of a relationship is based on mutual benefit and doesn't involve payment. One time you focus on helping the expat to learn Indonesian, and the next time you meet you focus on helping the Indonesian to learn the foreign language."

Comments

This site has some audio recordings of some basic words and phrases for Bahasa Indonesia. It also has lots of cultural information and links to other resources.

Visit Learn Bahasa Indonesia at Expat.or.id

From the site:

"The purpose of this site is to give elementary students of Indonesian the opportunity to practise and review basic vocabulary, grammar and sentence structures as they work through their course and prepare for the examination. Each unit contains a range of exercises of various types, including:

* Multiple-choice quizzes
* Gap-fill exercises
* Matching exercises
* Short-answer questions
* Word-ordering exercises
* Sentence-ordering exercises
* Crosswords

All the exercises are interactive, so you can check your answers and get hints and feedback as you work."

Comments

This is a course that takes you through learning some initial vocabulary and practical use of Bahasa Indonesia.

The entire course is conducted in Indonesian, which might be daunting for some... but give it a try and you might find you like it!

Visit Beginning Indonesian.