Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia)
is the official and national language of Indonesia. It is a standardised variety of Malay. It is closely related to other varieties of Malay spoken in Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore, East Timor and parts of Thailand. It has been used as a lingua franca in the multilingual Indonesian archipelago for centuries. Indonesia is the fourth most populous nation in the world, with over 279 million inhabitants of which the majority speak Indonesian, which makes it one of the most widely spoken languages in the world.
Below is a list of resources for learning Indonesian, tailored to include both beginner and intermediate-level materials, with a balance across language skills.
Textbooks & Grammar Guides
- Let’s Speak Indonesia: Ayo Berbahasa Indonesia vol. 1
- Let’s Speak Indonesia: Ayo Berbahasa Indonesia vol. 2
- Indonesian for Beginners: Learning Conversational Indonesian
- Get Started in Beginner’s Indonesian – Absolute Beginner Course
- Easy Indonesian: A Complete Language Course and Pocket Dictionary in One
- Complete Indonesian Beginner to Intermediate Course
- Tuttle Compact Indonesian Dictionary: Indonesian-English English-Indonesian
- Understanding Indonesian Grammar: A student’s reference and workbook
- The Learner’s Dictionary of Today’s Indonesian
- Indonesian Stories for Language Learners: Traditional Stories in Indonesian and English
- Lonely Planet Indonesian Phrasebook & Dictionary
Apps
- Duolingo (good for getting your feet wet)
- Mango Languages – iPhone | Android
- Drops (really good for vocabulary)
- Pimsleur – iPhone | Android
- Mondly – Android | Apple (really good for phrases)
YouTube Channels
- Learn Indonesian Online
- Pak Guru Iman
- IndonesianPod101
- Cecilia Indonesian Teacher
- Learn Indonesian with Language Studies Indonesia
- Learn Indonesian With Lina
Websites
- Indonesian Online – The Indonesian Way
- Babbel – Indonesian
- Memrise – Indonesian
- IndonesianPod101
- Pimsleur – Indonesian (monthly subsription on mobile app is cheaper)