Customer Reviews

Teach Yourself: Indonesian

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This new version is vastly different from the 1965 version by Mr Kwee, which is good, but heavily based uppon grammar rather than communication! The new version is the most functional, up-to-date text book for learning Indonesian on the market today, to my knowledge, and a valuable addition to your tool-kit if you are planning to visit Indonesia or study Indonesian. The approach is communicative and based around dialogues that reflect the way people speak as closely as possible. That is one of the great strengths of the course. Another strength is that you are only learning what you really need to know, but without skimping on the all-important grammar which is presented in a very user-friendly way with plenty of exercises to check undrestanding and to reinforce usage. Each unit looks at both formal spoken Indonesian and more colloquial spoken Indonesian, but the key is that the focus is on the spoken language and developing useful skills in that area. Of course, written language is also covered, but Indonesian poses few problems to learners compared to most other languages! Another major feature compared to the Kwee version is the addition of audio CDs which are excellent! The quality is very clear and there is plenty, (and I mean plenty!) of material for developing speaking skills in the form of simulated dialogues. If I have one minor complaint it is that sometimes the pauses on the CDs during the simulated conversations are not long enough to fill in your part, but then again, if there were long pauses on the CDs I would probably be complaining that the recording time on the CDs had not been used to the full. As a linguist myself, I sometimes feel that the explanations are a little too simple, but I am sure that this is a good thing for non-linguists or lay-persons who need to get to grips with a language in the least complicated way possible. Admittedly, Teach Yourself Indonesian doesn't take you very far in the language but it is a great start and will give you a basic and useful knowledge of the language that you will be glad of on your travels. If you are contemplating learning Indonesian and you want to delve much deeper into the language than a phrasebook can give you, but you don't want to be burdened by the grammar based approach you might have had when learning languages at school, then this course is for you! I highly reccomend it, both as a first level introduction to idiomatic and colloquial expression in Indonesian, and as an introduction to Indonesian life and culture. I have seen a great many language books in my time, but I have never seen one as good as this for teaching communicative and functional language. The methodology is truly innovative and allows for painless, gradual assimilation of the language.

To reiterate what a previous reviewer had pointed out, the "Teach Yourself Indonesian Complete Course" includes just the textbook, whereas the "Teach Yourself Indonesian Complete Course Audiopack" includes both the text book and compact discs. Contrary to what Amazon.com suggests, you need to only buy the "Teach Yourself Indonesian Complete Course Audiopack" to get the full benefits of the program.

I purchased the "Teach Yourself Indonesian Complete Course Audiopack" several days ago, and after having had the opportunity to peruse the material for a bit, I must say that I am very impressed with what I have seen thus far. The material is presented in such a way as to make learning Indonesian effectively and effortless.

For example, each chapter begins with a dialogue in Indonesian that pertains to everyday activities, such as eating out or asking for directions. Below the dialogue is a box filled with pertinent vocabulary words from the preceding dialogue. Next is an English translation of the dialogue to ensure that the student fully understands the meaning of the Indonesian dialogue. Succeeding that is a section entitled, "How the language works." Here, grammatical concepts and contexts of the vocabulary words relevant to the dialogue are discussed. Finally, several exercises are included in each chapter to reinforce the lessons taught. Do not worry, the answers are in the back!

The compact discs mesh perfectly with the material in the chapters. Native Indonesian speakers act out the chapter dialogues, thus providing the student with the opportunity to practice their listening skills and learn how to properly speak Indonesian. The speakers on the compact discs clearly enunciate so there is plenty of time for the student to practice their Indonesian out loud if desired.

Overall, the "Teach Yourself Indonesian Complete Course Audiopack" is a wonderful resource for anyone interested in learning Indonesian. As a student of Indonesian myself, I highly recommend this product for its exceptional effectiveness.

I'm half way through this course and it's pretty easy to use, and the topics and dialogues are relevant and interesting. There is material on the cd's to help you get accustomed to hearing spoken Indonesian, which is great if you live somewhere with very few Indonesian people like I do.

I have two minor criticisms:

1) During the dialog practice there is often not a long enough pause on the cd to allow you to finish saying your part of the exchange. This is not a big deal if you have an ipod and can easily pause and rewind with little trouble. But it's a bit of a hassle when you're using a home stereo and you have to pause it.

2) Sometimes the dialogues contain a couple of words that are not in the vocabulary key for that dialogue, and sometimes not even in the glossary at the back of the book. That has caught me off-guard a few times when I didn't have my dictionary with me.

But all in this is the best introductory course I've seen, and a much more interesting way to start off than using Yohanna Johns's "Bahasa Indonesia" (which looks better for long term serious study).

You know, I have been to Indonesia quite a few times, usually on surfing trips with the gang and you get to pick up a few things from what you learn in a phrase book or from the people you hang around in bars with. Well last year I went home with an Indoneisan wife so I decided to go to our local community center to learn a bit of the lingo and this is what they were using. The teacher loved this course in fact she could not praise it enought for its real language and authenticity. I ordered the Cds to go with it to study at home and I'm telling you these make a great course even better. The speaking exercises the get you to memorise and then use a conversation are great. They are real tough going at first but the results you get are great. Thoroughly recommended for anyone going to Indonesia. Grabbing my surf board now...

This book is very easy to use, being well laid out and organized and introducing vocabulary in manageable pieces throughout each chapter. Another nice thing is that the book alternates 50-50 between formal situations and casual situations so you can become familiar with both styles of the language. So far the book is fun and motivating and makes me want to study much more than my other books do.

Bagus means good. I took it to Indonesia with me for two months. Indonesian is the easiest language I have ever studied, by far. Your learning curve is very high and Indonesians are very friendly and easy to talk to. Learning the language is very rewarding and this book does a pretty good job of helping you speak the language. No book is complete and you should always organize your own grammar notes and vocabulary words but this is the best book I have come upon. It also has the added bonus of being made on cheap paper so it is light to carry if you are traveling with it.

This book is very detail & percise. It makes it easy to learn the language with ease. It is written with a manner that is simple to follow. Authors took there time to make sure all of the contents was clear & correct. Step by step instructions to make it easy to learn & understand. I give this book 5 stars & I recommend it to anyone who want to learn Indonesian language very fast & correct.

Great content but poor organization as with every TY book. I would just once like to find one that has any kind of logical order. I mean really can you really have awful order that many times over and over. Do you never learn anything from all the comments saying so with EVERY language book TY does. If you are willing to sort out the order of things than you will make good use of this book.

My husband started using this book before I did..... as I preferred to speak to the people and learn that way.
NOW I WISH I had started sooner using this very book myself!

I does teach you all the necessary vocabulary easily!

THUMBS UP!

Wish it was available on Kindle!