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Wanting to share your trip with a group?
See our guaranteed departures
The language you will hear the most during your holiday in Indonesia is the Bahasa Indonesia. It is the official language since 1945. The origins to the language are diverse: Arabic, Chinese and even Latin! Most of the inhabitants of the archipelago are fluent, they learn Bahasa Indonesia at school, but there are more than 700 local dialects used in the country.
The elderly, born before the 50’s, didn’t get a chance to go to school and only speak local dialects. Youth will talk in English with you. Whatever their age, most of the Indonesians will use local dialects in their daily life.
Below are a few words to get you started…
| ENGLISH | BAHASA INDONESIA | | --- | --- | | Reception | Kembali | | Hi | Salam | | Hello | Selamat pagi / siang / sore / malam | | Goodbye (if you’re leaving) | Selamat tinggal | | Goodbye (if you’re staying) | Selamat Jalan | | Thank you | Terima kasih | | Yes | Ya | | No | Tidak | | Well | Bagus | | Ok | Okedeh | | How are you ? | Apa kabar ? | | Excuse me | Permisi | | Sorry | Maaf | | I am British | Saya dari Inggris | | My name is... | Nama saya… | | I don't understand | Saya tidak mengerti |
| ENGLISH | BAHASA INDONESIA | | --- | --- | | Can you help me? | Bisa bantu saya ? | | Do you speak English? | Apakah kamu bias berbicara bahasa inggris ? | | Can you repeat please? | Bisa tolong di ulang ? | | Can you speak slowly? | Bisa bicara lebih pelan ? | | Can we stop for a minute? | Apakah kita bisa berhenti untuk beberapa menit ? | | Can we stop to take pictures? | Apakah kita bisa berenti untuk mengambil poto ? | | Where can we find…? | Dimana kita bisa cari… | | Do you have postcards? | Apakah kamu ada perangko ? | | Do you have stamps? | Apakah kamu jual kartu pos ? | | How? | KBagaimana ? | | Why? | Kenapa ? | | When? | Kapan ? | | Where? | Di mana ? |
| ENGLISH | BAHASA INDONESIA | | --- | --- | | Could you please wake me up at 8 tomorrow morning? | Bisa tolong bangunkan saya jam 8 pagi besok ? | | Let’s meet at 10AM tomorrow | Besok kita bertemu jam 10 pagi. | | Let’s meet here in…. | Kita bertemu lagi disini setelah… | | Can we stop at… | Apakah kita bisa ke / melihat… | | How long is it to get there? | Berapa lama perjalananya ? | | What time is it? | Jam berapa, ya ? | | Tomorrow | Besok | | Yesterday | Kemarin | | Tonight | Malam ini | | Today | Hari ini |
| ENGLISH | Bahasa Indonesia | | --- | --- | | Do you have coffee/sandwich? | Bisa order satu kopi / sandwich ? | | Can I have breakfast/lunch/dinner? | Saya mau makan pagi / siang / malam. | | How much is it? | Berapa harganya ? | | Eat | Makan | | Drink | Minum |
| ENGLISH | BAHASA INDONESIA | | --- | --- | | Train station | stasiun kereta | | Airport | Airport | | Price | Harganya | | Spoon | Sendok | | Fork | Garpu | | Knife | Pisau | | Glass | Gelas | | Bank | Bank | | Post | Kantor pos | | Doctor | ODP - Dokter | | Hospital | Rumah sakit | | Bill | Billnya / Notanya | | Stop | Stop | | Washroom | Jorlon | | Pharmacy | Apotek | | Toilet paper | Tissue | | More | Lebih | | Less | Kurang |
