Customer Reviews

Instant Indonesian: How to express 1,000 different ideas with just 100 key words and phrases! (Instant Phrasebook Series)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Do not let this phrasebook's diminuitive size fool you; it most certainly packs a whallop! The phrasebook is broken into ten segments, with each segment containing ten vocabulary words and their different uses. At the end of each segment is a brief treatment of a particular aspect of Indonesian culture and life.

For example, the first segment concerns itself with simple Indonesian words, such as "selamat" (a word used in greetings), "ibu" (mother) and "sudah" (already). For each vocabulary word, several sentences are provided to give the reader an idea of the different contexts that are available. At the end of the first segment is an informational section on the eating and drinking habits of Indonesians.

Indeed, this phrasebook is by no means a comprehensive guide to the Indonesian language, but it is extremely useful in providing anyone planning to undertake a trip to Indonesia a better grasp of their surroundings. From an individual who has lived and traveled extensively in Indonesia, I strongly recommend this phrasebook.

The usefulness of this book really is in its compactness. It's easy to carry and allows a traveller to express basic concepts easily. It is not a guide to learning the language in depth but rather, could be used as an aid to such a guide. It really is more suitable for travellers to Indonesia who would like to express basic ideas in the local language simply.

The book is divided into sections covering different topics. These include eating and drinking, social etiquette, times and sessions, personal pronouns, religion and culture, social chatting, social relations and family, Indonesian names and verb prefixes.

While the information presented is limited, what is there is enough to help you out in difficult situations while travelling. However, I found it hard to intuitively find the section I require quickly without resorting to the contents or index page. I resorted to sticking post it notes at the start of each section and labelling them with the chapter topic so I could find what I needed fast while I am waiting in queues, conversing with service people, etc. This proved successful.

Most language courses promise the world but this little inexpensive jem actuallly lives up to its promise. The vocabulary is concise and well-explained. The author succeeds in linking the lessons to each other as the book proceeds. While not a comprehensive grammar to Bahasa Indonesia, it does serve as a great start in learning the language.

I purchased this little book so that I may be able to learn some Indonesian before traveling there this winter... I understand why some other reviews mentioned it is not well organized - the author could have done a little better by making dividers and such, so I'm using one reviewer's advice by having stickynotes - but I am finding this book to be rather helpful for learning some key words and phrases! I did, however, also purchase the Lonely Planet's phrasebook, as I find it to be very detailed and divided into catagories that will hopefully be easy to use in specific situations. Knowing that I'll be in areas without English speakers for weeks and weeks, I think I can use all the help I can get!
There is also some helpful advice in here about social situations, and the importance of Pak and Ibu (similar to the importance of Usted in Spanish) for respect.
I know it got some bad reviews, but I bought it anyway, and I like it! If you're willing to spend some time studying, and want to become a decent speaker, this book will work for you.

this little book is great. the style of info presentation is what is so different, gets you started learning the most commonly used words first. my mom was from java indonesia, and was a bahasa indonesia and jawa (indonesian and javanese language) teacher for 45 years, so i've seen a lot of indonesian language books through the years. she thought highly of this book and even bought one for all of her kids. ibu sri always knew quality when she saw it! grab the book, check it out - it's reasonably priced so what can you really lose?

can anyone recommend a similar style book for learning french?

thanks / terima kasih banyak / matur nuwun

I used this book as a follow-up to Pimsleur's and was impressed with its quick-start format. I'm a language buff, so have used a lot of methods and products covering many languages over the years. This is a handy way to quickly pick up useful vocabulary.

I also have the "Instant Thai", and I must say the words are really well chosen in the Indonesian book. I was in Bali, and had this around when talking to some Balinese, and these words were always handy. Not only that, I had a few dictionaries, and you would be surprised how many times you would find the word in its dictionary, all while being a very small sample.

Excellent book. Super small and convenient to fit in a pants pocket or small pouch (I carried mine around in a small camera bag). Perfect amount of vocab for <=2 month trip. Starts you off with the most important words. Example sentences under each word are useful and make use of other words in the book, strengthening your knowledge.

One person on here complained about not being able to flip directly to vocab as needed. This is largely true. I would recommend afixing a few post-it labels to the sections for dates, times, money etc. Also it's not a dictionary (though there is a small one way dictionary in back). If you want a straight up pocket dictionary to nail words as they are needed, LP makes a good one with a lot of words. But if you learn the words in here and try to use them when speaking with locals, you'll pick up a very solid base which you can elaborate on.

One other note: past the first 15 or 20 words, the relative importance of the words compared to one another declines. So if you start learning words that don't seem useful for your circumstances, just skip them and move on to some words later in the book...

Why take this book, with it's limited information, poorly organized information and small vocabulary? I bought both this and Lonely Planet's Indonesian guide; I found that the LP guide was more comprehensive, perfectly organized, and terrific. This language guide enables you to just memorize phrases, and the usefullness of those phrases is sickening. In the dictionary, in the appendix, it lists words such as 'intent','sponge' and 'alliegance', but not 'stop', 'bathroom tissue' or 'hungry'. If you are already a good Indonesian speaker, this book might have the slightest bit of relevance, but other than that, it was a collasal waste of money, and a hassel.

for someone going to indonesia for just a few weeks and wanting to know enough of the language to get around, this book was perfect. it taught all the essentials and wasn't too overwhelming. definitely recommend it.