Archive for August, 2014
Common Indonesian Greetings (Dialogues) Posted by asimonoff on Aug 31, 2014
Shake hands lightly and give a slight nod when greeting and taking leave of a person. Sometimes, a handshake is not necessary after the first meeting. Never use the left hand to greet or touch someone, as it is considered impolite and unclean. A man does not touch a woman’s hand when greeting her, except…
Common Indonesian Greetings (Video) Posted by sasha on Aug 26, 2014
Learn lots of common greetings in Indonesian by following this simple video. Listen to a native speaker, read the subtitles, and practice.
Traveling Across Java Video Posted by sasha on Aug 21, 2014
Explore some of the highlights of the most populous island in the world – Java, Indonesia – in this short video. From the chaotic capital of Jakarta, to the largest Buddhist temple on Earth, to the amazing Kawah Ijen volcano with its blue flames, Java is an amazing place that should be on every traveler’s…
Indonesian Independence Day Posted by sasha on Aug 17, 2014
Today is Indonesia’s Independence Day, known as Hari Kemerdekaan Republik Indonesia (Hari Merdeka for short) in Indonesian. To better understand this important Indonesian holiday, here’s some background information as well as modern day customs and celebrations: Background At 10 AM on August 17th, 1945, the Proclamation of Indonesian Independence (Proklamasi Kemerdekaan Indonesia) was read in…
Indonesian – Travel Phrases and More … Posted by asimonoff on Aug 15, 2014
You might have checked the traveling preparation checklist; momentarily, you sit back and wait for the time to leave for the country and enjoy your vacation. So, what do you have left? If it is your first time to visit the country, you might be curious about how you were going to communicate with the…
Jakarta to Bali: Traveling Across Java Posted by sasha on Aug 5, 2014
Many visitors to Indonesia simply fly in and out of Bali and spend their entire trip there. For my first trip to the country a few years ago, we did just that. It was a short holiday, we had a friend studying there, and we just wanted to enjoy a nice vacation – Bali was…
Indonesian Alphabet and Its Pronunciation Posted by asimonoff on Aug 1, 2014
The Indonesian language, officially called Bahasa Indonesia, is written in the Latin alphabet; the spelling is phonetically precise, as the words are spelled as they sound. It is the consistency in the one-on-one relationship between sound and symbol that make reading and writing the language relatively easy and simple. Indonesian language standardization The standard Indonesian spelling…