3 comments about Comprehensive Indonesian-English Dictionary.

1. let me give an example 'obat:remedy,berobat:to take medicine,mengobatikan:to cre,terobati:cured,bengobat:medicine used to treat,bengobatan:therapy'. so,you see two many variations deriving from the word 'obat'we can multiply similar examples.this dictionary is full with derivations of a great deal is used in sample sentences. a monumental work on indonesian language.



2. I'm so happy to find this book. This is the most comprehensive Indonesian-English Dictionary you could find. Highly recommend to anybody!!!



3. It's simply the best Indonesian-English dico there is, better than the other alternative An Indonesian-English Dictionary (Hardcover). The lemmata are more current.

No comments about Tuttle Pocket Indonesian Dictionary: Indonesian-English English-Indonesian (Dictionary).

4 comments about Indonesian: A Comprehensive Grammar (Routledge Grammars).

1. This is an excellent grammar description of Bahasa Indonesia, the language spoken by almost 200 million people. It is suitable both for students of the language and linguists interested in studying the intricasies of its morphology and syntax. It is easy to follow, and surpasses other available grammars for this language.



2. I know of no other Indonesian grammar books and I don't think you need another one if you have this! In its pages you will find a full description Indonesian that is complete and as easy to understand as possible while still retaining an academic perspective. Every feature of Indonesian is covered including an excellent description of the affixes that often pose a challenge to learners. All parts of speech are well addressed. Also included is a glossary of many grammatical terms that you may come accross in studying Indonesian. In fact I think some of them are unique to concepts of Indonesian (and Malay). I am still fairly new at Indonesian so another feature of this book I like is that the examples chosen use everyday words that you are likely to encounter in newspapers and just generally living in an Indonesian speaking environment. Well done on that score Mr Sneddon! If you are a serious student of Bahasa Indonesia then you would do well to have this book at your side. There seem to be so few resources for learning Indonesian but this is definitly a quality resource. One of the only drawbacks, but an understandable one considering the approach taken, is that the informal language that you are likely to hear in Indonesia is not covered. But what the heck! This is a grammar of university Indonesian after all. (Bythe way, if you want informal Indonesian I recommend "Making Out In Indonesian" by Pater Constantine.



3. Although this book is only of use in combination with other learning resources, it covers just about every thing you could ever want to know on Indonesian grammer.

   Do not get it thinking you will master Indonesian with it alone, buy it as it will help you to understand just about everything that the other courses, books, tapes etc leave out.

   A must have for the serious student and although it is expensive you can not put a price on the information it contains.




4. You should always carry this book along with a good dictionary when reading bahasa Indonesia. Sneddon provides clear, self-contained descriptions about the constructs of this language. I highly recommend this publication for those who aspire to be fluent in Indonesian.

5 comments about Pimsleur Indonesian: Learn to Speak and Understand Indonesian with Pimsleur Language Programs (Simon & Schuster's Pimsleur).

1. Simply the best to quickly learn a basic way of communicating in Bahasa Indonesia.



2. Well, I bought this program primarily for a friend of mine who doesn't know any Indonesian at all (I know the Indonesian language). At the first instance of going through it, she could follow the program quite well. She could participate in the conversation and practices. I can see that the situations in the program are quite real, and easy to follow.
   
   Although I have not gone through the whole program myself, I can see the relevancy of the different settings within the program. It should be good for anyone who wants to have some understanding of the Indonesian language, particularly in situational conversation.



3. This is one of the best language learning CD sets I have used, The content is easy to stay with, voices are good (many of these type of discs have nasal, or otherwise annoying people to listen to) I would recommend primsleur to anyone looking to learn Indonesian.



4. Pimsleur is the fastest way I've found to learn to speak a language. Their method gives you the ability to make a sentence in a very short time, whereas every other course I've found simply has you memorizing words (eg, Rosetta Stone), without every knowing how to use them in conversation. Unfortunately, this course is just a teaser. Apparently, Simon and Schuster doesn't believe that anyone wants to continue learning this language, because they only put 10 lessons in this course, and they don't have any more courses in this language! That is very disappointing, because now I must find another way to build my vocabulary. S&S - get off your butts and finish the job!!!!!



5. I've used the Pimsleur method in the past for learning basic German. They use a good pace for learning pronunciation and rythem of a language. You're not going to get any grammar lessons but it's a great start to get the gist of the language.

No comments about Indonesian: Lonely Planet Phrasebook.

No comments about Language, Identity, and Marginality in Indonesia: The Changing Nature of Ritual Speech on the Island of Sumba (Studies in the Social and Cultural Foundations of Language).

5 comments about Bahasa Indonesia Book 1: Introduction to Indonesian Language and Culture (Bahasa Indonesia).

1. This book is ideal for the absolute beginner who wants a systematic introduction to the Indonesian language without overload. The 18 chapters are carefully structured so that each text can be understood with the words and grammar that have been covered up to that point. There are lots of exercises involving word substition that help the student to gain fluency. (I found this very useful, as I was learning on my own without a teacher.) After you have completed the book you are able to ask questions, tell the time, and say a lot else besides, and you get a good grounding in grammar including, for example, the object focus (kind of passive, very often used in Indonesian) which will stand you in good stead later. By the very nature of the book, the quantity of vocabulary covered is not overwhelming, but there is a 24 page Indonesian to English mini-dictionary at the back, and the second book (Bahasa Indonesia : Book 2 : Introduction to Indonesian Language and Culture) makes up for this deficit.



2. this book has a good amount of vocabulary and gives good explainations for every exercise. sometimes, infact you feel like you're reading the same thing over and over. the only problems i have are, there are no answers for the homework problems which consist of ten questions per chapter in addition to the regular exercises, the other is that i have not yet been able to find the tapes which would be a good accompaniment to the text. so far, though, i like what i've seen.



3. This is a great, inexpensive book for Indonesian. I was hoping for a it more about Indonesian because of the title, but it is still very good. I DO miss any audio supplements for the text.

   The text is easy to read, I do find my self flipping through the text to earlier parts because sometimes the words you learn are not carried through all the lessons. Maybe my problem, not the books.

   The text seems to be natural. There are not a lot of "stutter sentences" I have seen in many language books.

   I like it alot.




4. Most language learning books are quite similar. No one writing a book is going to make a breakthrough in teaching a foreign language. The trick is to write a book in a way that the reader will be interested and will not give up. The format of this wook is exactly that. It tells short stories in every chapter. Readers are naturally intrigued about what will happen next, so if the book is written well, readers will keep on going. An interesting story will also make it easier to remember the vocabulary, as it creates easier associations in the learner's mind. An interesting thread stays longer in someone's mind, so that it makes it easier to retrieve a particular sentence. The book does not overburden the reader with grammar explanations. Grammar explanations are necessary indeed, but they should never surpass the story or conversational section. The natural way of learning does not involve understanding why things are said one way or another, although the adult's mind tends to always want to understand "why." The natural way or acquiring a language, however, takes about 7 years of constant exposure. In order to accelerate this, memorization techniques and grammatical explanations are commonly used as tools to teach a language. As these tools are artificial, it is best to reduce them to the minimum level. This book follows quite well the above precepts and allows the learner to immerse himself in a story and start acquiring the language.



5. I'm really satisfied with this book! After three months of self-study, I was already able to communicate about everyday life issues in Bahasa Indonesia!
   It's well articulated and well done, really! You shouldn't miss this book!
   A+!

5 comments about Tuttle Concise Indonesian Dictionary: Indonesian-English English-Indonesian (Dictionary).

1. It is NOT nearly exhaustive as I had hoped! In communication with Indonesians, many words commonly used are not in Tuttle CONCISE Indonesian Dictionary --emphasis is on the "Concise" not the 20,000 words contained in it! . . . .But it a vast improvement over the dictionaries in phrasebooks, etc.



2. It is a "good" Concise Dictionary for a starter. There is another one "Oxford Study Indonesian Dictionary" by Oxford University Press that I like little more.



3. Excellent little dictionary. I'm studying Bahasa Indonesia in Indonesia & this is a wonderful companion. I have 2 teachers & check with them on entries & its spot-on so far & quite comprehensive for its carry-with-me-everywhere size!



4. This is my second Indonesia-English dictionary (other is Oxford), and I find that this one is a little more comprehensive. Indonesian is a language that uses prefixes on verbs, so sometimes the words are hard to find, if you don't understand the structure well. However, this one goes beyond the call of duty and lists many verbs with their prefixes. If you are looking for this type of reference, I don't think it gets much better than this, though it still falls short of a "full" dictionary.



5. I find the Tuttle Dictionary most useful as it usualy contains most of the words I am looking for. The only problem I found was that it does not allways explains the context of the word. For example: but -conj tetapi, tapi, namun; kecuali
   Luckily I have a friend in Indonesia whom I can ask. Otherwise I am very happy with my purchase and with the language course, it is very useful.

5 comments about Instant Indonesian: How to express 1,000 different ideas with just 100 key words and phrases! (Instant Phrasebook Series).

1. Do not let this phrasebook's diminuitive size fool you; it most certainly packs a whallop! The phrasebook is broken into ten segments, with each segment containing ten vocabulary words and their different uses. At the end of each segment is a brief treatment of a particular aspect of Indonesian culture and life.
   
   For example, the first segment concerns itself with simple Indonesian words, such as "selamat" (a word used in greetings), "ibu" (mother) and "sudah" (already). For each vocabulary word, several sentences are provided to give the reader an idea of the different contexts that are available. At the end of the first segment is an informational section on the eating and drinking habits of Indonesians.
   
   Indeed, this phrasebook is by no means a comprehensive guide to the Indonesian language, but it is extremely useful in providing anyone planning to undertake a trip to Indonesia a better grasp of their surroundings. From an individual who has lived and traveled extensively in Indonesia, I strongly recommend this phrasebook.



2. The usefulness of this book really is in its compactness. It's easy to carry and allows a traveller to express basic concepts easily. It is not a guide to learning the language in depth but rather, could be used as an aid to such a guide. It really is more suitable for travellers to Indonesia who would like to express basic ideas in the local language simply.
   
   The book is divided into sections covering different topics. These include eating and drinking, social etiquette, times and sessions, personal pronouns, religion and culture, social chatting, social relations and family, Indonesian names and verb prefixes.
   
   While the information presented is limited, what is there is enough to help you out in difficult situations while travelling. However, I found it hard to intuitively find the section I require quickly without resorting to the contents or index page. I resorted to sticking post it notes at the start of each section and labelling them with the chapter topic so I could find what I needed fast while I am waiting in queues, conversing with service people, etc. This proved successful.



3. Excellent book. Super small and convenient to fit in a pants pocket or small pouch (I carried mine around in a small camera bag). Perfect amount of vocab for <=2 month trip. Starts you off with the most important words. Example sentences under each word are useful and make use of other words in the book, strengthening your knowledge.
   
   One person on here complained about not being able to flip directly to vocab as needed. This is largely true. I would recommend afixing a few post-it labels to the sections for dates, times, money etc. Also it's not a dictionary (though there is a small one way dictionary in back). If you want a straight up pocket dictionary to nail words as they are needed, LP makes a good one with a lot of words. But if you learn the words in here and try to use them when speaking with locals, you'll pick up a very solid base which you can elaborate on.
   
   One other note: past the first 15 or 20 words, the relative importance of the words compared to one another declines. So if you start learning words that don't seem useful for your circumstances, just skip them and move on to some words later in the book...



4. I also have the "Instant Thai", and I must say the words are really well chosen in the Indonesian book. I was in Bali, and had this around when talking to some Balinese, and these words were always handy. Not only that, I had a few dictionaries, and you would be surprised how many times you would find the word in its dictionary, all while being a very small sample.



5. Why take this book, with it's limited information, poorly organized information and small vocabulary? I bought both this and Lonely Planet's Indonesian guide; I found that the LP guide was more comprehensive, perfectly organized, and terrific. This language guide enables you to just memorize phrases, and the usefullness of those phrases is sickening. In the dictionary, in the appendix, it lists words such as 'intent','sponge' and 'alliegance', but not 'stop', 'bathroom tissue' or 'hungry'. If you are already a good Indonesian speaker, this book might have the slightest bit of relevance, but other than that, it was a collasal waste of money, and a hassel.

5 comments about Teach Yourself Indonesian Complete Course Audiopack.

1. Like many in the teach-yourself series, this book is well thought out, presents a lot of manterial, and incudes 2 CDs. But like others in the series, it leaves many words unexplained. This happens not only inside the text, but also in the glossaries at the end.
   
   The CD dialogs try to make people speak, which is a pretty good idea. But while getting students to repeat 3-4 times various texts, the authors leave very important works inside exercises and leave it up to students to figure out pronunciation and meanings.
   
   Only buy this book if you have an Indonesian-Malaysian dictionary and if you have access to someone who can help you pronounce the words and put the accents in the right place.



2. My wife and I are being transferred to Indonesia in a few months. One of the first things we did was purchase the Pimsleur and Teach Yourself audio cd sets to get a head start on language training.
   I realize that every person absorbs this information differently, but I would not recommend the Pimsleur method. The conversations on the five discs provided - "I like the color of your baby kagaroo" (not really on the disc - though it may be buried somewhere in the 4th hour of useless conversations:-) were more like listening to a foreign radio station than actually being taught a language.
   The ever more useful "Thank you very much.", "Where is the bathroom?", "Do you speak English?" found on the two "Teach Yourself" discs and accompanying paperback have proven to be much more learner friendly.
   Regardless of your choice, I hope you have fun and enjoy the experience.



3. I'm a professional and personal linguist, and decided to teach myself Indonesian as my ninth language, mostly out of curiosity to learn something totally different. I've completed this book/CD lesson kit, having studied with it for about 3 months, and I'd like to offer some pros and cons for future students to make an informed decision (and thanks to previous reviewers whom I thought were quite accurate).
   
   PROS:
   
   -Set follows an expected progression of knowledge. You start with the main character Ken's arrival in Indonesia for an extended stay and progress up through working, eating, living, going out, shopping, hobbies and finally an excellent, useful final chapter revolving around a typical Indonesian phone call, complete with slangy, coloquial terms for common words. This is great, because so many language kits are afraid of slang...but think about how silly English would sound if you didn't learn ok, gonna, can't, won't, no way, what's up, etc.
   
   -Speakers' voices are clear, and they speak at a fair pace throughout. That is, maybe not as rapid as two actual young people might talk in reality, but not sloooooooow either.
   
   -Vocab lists offer lots of great words.
   
   -Highly affordable price for a full kit that will essentially give you a strong baseline of the language.
   
   CONS:
   
   -A lot of these are linguistic peeves, please bear with me...First, the ONLY lesson on pronunciation you get is a blurb at the beginning that "Indonesian is USUALLY stressed on the penultimate (second-to-last) syllable." WOW! This is highly misguiding! First off, the speakers on the CDs do not sound like they're stressing the words there. In fact, about 75% of what they say is clearly stressed on the last syllable. After a little googling, I discovered the rule is actually: stressed on the penultimate syllable UNLESS that syllable contains the short-e sound. And indeed, about 60-70% of the words DO have that, so they really need to expand their explanations!
   
   -Be careful American learners! The alphabet lesson equates Indonesian sounds to BRITISH English ones...make sure you know what those sound like! For instance, if they say that the A's in the word "bagaimana" sound like the -or at the end of the word "doctor" an American might get thrown for a loop, not realizing that the Brits pronounce doctor "dok-tuh." Also, some words in the vocab are British. Remember, a biscuit=cookie and smart=handsome.
   
   -My biggest gripe is that they do not offer word-for-word pronunciations of the vocab. You just have to read them and figure it out from the dialogs! One extra CD would have allowed this important feature.
   
   -The audio lessons are comprised of two things: dialogs (2 per chapter usually) and "Over to You". I personally hated the Over to You. It's an exercise that goes on and on repeating the same sentences over and over. In them, you listen to a speaker, and then the English guide says "Now you reply, blah blah, etc." But they do not give you a pause! You have to keep pausing it yourself if you need more than 3 seconds to reply (which learners WILL, trust me). This makes it impossible to listen to them in the car.
   
   -As previously mentioned by reviewers, the book randomly chooses to omit vocab from the glossary, and leaves many words in the actual dialogs OUT of the vocab lists associated with them. But then it will sometimes give you the same vocab word in 3 consecutive lessons, as if you never learned them before. Bottom line: YOU DEFINITELY NEED A DICTIONARY.
   
   
   Well, all in all, this was a positive experience for me. I believe the affordability of this kit combined with being a FAIR language kit makes this a pretty good buy. Note: if you go on eBay there is a seller who offers his own Australian company's Indonesian kit for about $25 US. I have that too and am using it now.



4. I think it's a good item to start a self teaching or even as a support of a language course.
   It's very useful to memorize the native pronunciation exactly.
   Strongly recommended



5. I've owned this product for several weeks now, after having completed the only (introductory) course offered by Pimsleur. Sorry, guys, but this audio CD course presumes that one can master a dozen new words in 30 seconds, pushing you right into a real-time conversation after only having heard the parts once. You can learn some helpful phrases, if you listen to the same lesson 10 times (eventually, you can catch on). However, the method of learning is quite inferior. The only saving grace is that it does have a decent book that comes with the 2 CD's. If you study the book, you can learn a lot of words, and listening to the CD's will give you the proper pronunciation. I just wish Pimsleur would offer a complete course in all of their available languages, because they are the best! My suggestion - buy Pimsleur to get started, then get a good dictionary and an Indonesian friend.