Amazon.com: Lonely Planet Indonesian Phrasebook, Fourth Edition: Patrick Witton: Books

Book Description

From the balmy nights of Bali to the monkey jungles of Sulawesi, you'll know your kepala, 'head', from your kelapa, 'coconut' with this book. Learn what to say on a wild night of dangdut - and when you're in a hurry to leave, know you'll need to catch a bajaj, not a becak. Selamat jalan!, 'Happy travels!'

dive, surf & hike your way around the islands
join in the banter at the market, beach or bar
experience a range of exotic dishes
have the edge bartering at a pasar malam
cultural tips & protocol to smooth the way

Paperback: 284 pages
Publisher: Lonely Planet Publications; 4th edition (February 2001)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0864426518
ISBN-13: 978-0864426512
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 3.7 x 0.7 inches
Shipping Weight: 5.9 ounces

Average Customer Review:

(4 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #820,943 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
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This item is part of The Lonely Planet Phrasebooks Series.

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4 Reviews

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Average Customer Review

(4 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

A pretty good phrasebook, December 9, 2001

By	CJ (East Asia) - See all my reviews

If you are going to Indonesia and you feel you need a language guide, but you are not inclined to study the language by means of a graduated text book, you might like to consider this. You do get a very limited section on how the language works (ie grammar) but not enough to be really useful. What you do get of great value are subject grouped word lists and phrases that even include some of the colloquial language that you will encounter whilst on your travels.
However, I believe that this little book grows in usefulness if you are studying/have studied the basic language and you need something to enlarge your vocabulary and boost your communication power in Bahasa Indonesia. The word lists can be a great help in filling in the gaps that some basic courses might necessarily have left in vocaublary while aiming to teach you to use the structures of the language. In this way, this phrasebook can be very useful.
An Indonesian friend of mine who saw the cultural information in the book said that the author has definitely spent a lot of time in the country and has really done his homework! Some language courses completely neglect cultural information while they are concentrating on language (such as "Colloquial Indonesian" by Routledge) so in addition to the extra vocabulary, the cultural inforamtion you find here could really make a difference to your trip, as it is very easy for an unsuspecting westerner to make cultural gaffs and end up looking "sombong".
In short, if you just want a travel phrasebook and cultural guide, then this is a good choice.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

How can a small book like this contain so much?, March 6, 2005

By	Jan Husdal (Molde, Norway) - See all my reviews

How can a small book like this contain so much (that is actually useful)?

Amazing! This book doesn't teach you Indonesian, and that's not the purpose of the book either, but it goes very far in almost doing so.

I have an Indonesian friend, and she was impressed with the number of everyday and not so everyday situations covered in the book, besides being written by someone who really knows this foreign turf.

I can attest to the nearly indestructible cover. And it is small enough to fit in most shirt pockets.

If you already know some basic knowledge and/or understanding of Indonesian, this book will be of great help.

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