Indonesian easy or difficult?<\/p>\n
I refer to the two interesting letters this month about
\nwhether or not Indonesian is an easy-to-learn language. I have
\nlived here for a total of about 10 years (in three stints) and
\nfelt like writing about my experience.<\/p>\n
If you are not in Jakarta, you learn Indonesian in no time
\nbecause there is no alternative. Very few people can speak
\nEnglish even in other big cities like Surabaya or Semarang. So
\nyou either learn it or depend on an interpreter (and hope that
\nhe\/she is really translating correctly what you are
\nsaying\/hearing) or you return to your home ground.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, you don't have to learn Indonesian because a
\nreasonably big proportion of Jakartans know English. Quite a few
\nof them, in fact, prefer to polish their English by speaking to
\nEnglish-speaking foreigners.<\/p>\n
Indonesian is one of the simplest languages as long as your
\nobjective is its "working knowledge" because (a) It uses Roman
\nscript, (b) It is not necessary to remember singular-plural
\nforms, (c) Construction of sentences in active voice as well as
\npassive voice is very simple. In fact you don't even need to use
\noleh in the passive construction, (d) You do not need to mug up
\nthe PPPs like you need to do in English, as in leave-left,
\ndeliver-delivered, speak-spoken, etc., (e) The verb does not
\nchange according to the subject (singular, plural, masculine,
\nfeminine etc.) or the tense of the sentence. In fact in how many
\nlanguages would a word for both an elder brother and an elder
\nsister be the same (like kakak in Indonesian)?<\/p>\n
But there the simplicity ends. When you meet ke...an, pe...an,
\nper...an etc., the meanings change in a major way. The vocabulary
\nof Indonesian is as big and as difficult to remember as that of
\nany other language. Of course the most difficult part in
\nIndonesian is how to use the dictionary, because you have to
\nlearn to locate the root word first.<\/p>\n
Although there are exceptions to prove the rule, I have
\ngenerally seen that people who are born in countries where only
\nEnglish is spoken are used to others learning their language and
\ntherefore they hardly use their in-born faculty of learning
\nadditional languages and eventually lose it. Remember Darwin's
\nlaw?<\/p>\n
On the other hand, Indians who (like me) have to learn at
\nleast three languages (and sometimes end up learning four or
\nfive), have no hassles in learning the language of the state or
\ncountry where they work and do so in a jiffy. In fact, I often
\nfeel that Indians are born with an additional language
\nproficiency "genetic ship."<\/p>\n
But I agree with the views expressed by the author of the
\nfirst letter. I feel that living in Indonesia and not learning
\nIndonesian borders on being impolite to the nice and polite
\nIndonesians. In two of my three jobs, I have given friendly
\nlessons in elementary Indonesian to my fellow expatriates (In the
\nthird, I was the only expatriate) and wouldn't mind doing it
\nagain. I have seen that it improves my English ...!<\/p>\n
K.B. KALE<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indonesian-easy-or-difficult-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }