Indonesian language and culture

#1 February 4th, 2005, 02:14 AM

Hello!
I am novice to this kind of "communication". I found your discussions very exciting. I'd like to introduce some diversity in your "europeanized" discussions. I have a particular interest for Indonesia, but have no idea about its language, culture, people, etc.
Could somebody help me?

Yaroslav

**Ocean gipsy** · #2 February 4th, 2005, 06:19 AM

I don’t know the first thing about Indonesian, except that fellow dive instructors working in Indonesia tell me it’s relatively easy to learn.

I found this link offering some basic information:

http://www.expat.or.id/info/bahasa.html

Jorgen

#3 February 7th, 2005, 04:03 AM

Hello Jorgen!

I want to thank you very much! Now I know that in Indonesia people speak bahasa Indonesia and it is the language of round 200 million people! can you imagine that? hopefully in business, tourism and study they use English. this calms me a lot

I believe they should have a rich culture too. do you know some great Indonesian authors or writers, may be poets or composers? I will be glad to take a course in Bahasa Indonesia

**Ocean gipsy** · #4 February 7th, 2005, 07:01 AM

Hi Yaroslav,

I am sure the wealth and interest of Indonesian culture will match the great physical beauty of this very lovely country

- but I have to admit to sad ignorance in this question.

I took a quick look at the web and found a link to the Lontar Foundation, a non-profit organization based in Jakarta, publishing English translations of Indonesian literature:

http://www.lontar.org/publications/titlelist.php

… another link to a company offering courses in Indonesian language and culture:

http://www.galangbudaya.com/

You might try to contact them for more competent information

Friendly regards
Jorgen

Montekristo · #5 February 8th, 2005, 01:53 AM

Selamat Pagi people!

Jorgen I have to thank you for the very informative link to Indonesian language. I just made use of it.

Hope that nobody got upset. You know this little trick made me think of starting to value Asian languages. Besides the fact it is an exotic language, in my opinion, it has also some charm. Also the fact it is spoken by 200 mln. gives it weght.

Selamat tinggal!

#6 February 15th, 2005, 01:48 AM

Hi Jorgen,
I came back and tahnks a lot for the useful information. Unfortunatelly my wage doesn't allow me to go to Indonesia. Maybe there is something like a world network for studying Indonesian? I can understand that it can sound pretty weird, but it could happen there is at least one Indonesian culture center here in Europe. Could you advise me something?

**Ocean gipsy** · #7 February 15th, 2005, 06:48 AM

Hi Yaroslav,

Sorry, I haven’t been able to find references to Indonesian language courses outside of Indonesia, nor an international network for Indonesian studies.

Here are a few links which may possibly help you advance in your search. One of them is a link to an online course, but I have no idea if it’s worth your money.

http://search.asiaco.com/Indonesia/S...ure/Languages/

http://users.skynet.be/dvran/bahasa_links1.htm

http://home.universalclass.com/i/lea.../course/25.htm

However, here’s another idea: you might try to contact the Cultural Attaches of Indonesian embassies in Europe. Embassies are usually very helpful and might have some relevant information for you.

Most friendly regards

Jorgen

#8 February 17th, 2005, 02:34 AM

Jorgen you keep my hope alive

I think it is better to try the idea with embassies, because namely them should have the information regarding any links to Indonesian culture, I hope. In any case, I am grateful for your help. you may laugh, but I want to find some TV stations which broadcast Indonesian TV posts. This also may be a way out for me.

#9 April 21st, 2005, 05:33 AM

Hi Yaroslav,
I don't know what are your achievements with finding Indonesian courses in Europe, but I will disappoint you, because I found that there is such a possibility only at the Indonesian embassy in Washington DC and Ottawa. Nothing for Europe. You can learn it on internet but cannot say it's useful or not. If you have any plans for going to South east Asia, you will be able to find something appropriate for you.
Cheers,
Roger

spicebube · #10 August 20th, 2006, 01:02 PM

Hi Yaroslav,

I'm an Indonesian living in Germany for almost four years now.

If you got any questions concerning Indonesia. You can pose them here.

I'll be happy to help you. :-)

MarX