Customs: Language

What language do they speak in Bali?
Bahasa Indonesia is the language of Indonesia and the Balinese speak Balinese among themselves. However, English is widely spoken everywhere and you can easily get by.


Bahasa Indonesia
In Indonesia this is particularly a problem with vowels. The letter 'I' is pronounced "ee" in Bahasa Indonesia … thus the westerner hears the letter "E".

The letter "E" in Bahasa Indonesia is pronounced "eh" which the westerner often interprets to mean "A".

A is pronounced 'aa' in Bahasa Indonesia. Thus I/E and A/E are often heard/written incorrectly. 

There is only one important point, though: in Indonesian, the letter 'c' is pronounced 'ch', so cap cai is pronounced 'chap-chai': the letter 'k' is used for hard k-sounds. There one notable exception, though: Coke is pronounced as in western English, probably because it wouldn't sell too well if pronounced correctly in Indonesian...

To locate a toilet, ask for the
KAMAR MANDI (bathroom)
KAMAR KECIL (little room)
WC (pronounced WAYSAY)


A = aa
E = eh
I = ee
C = ch
k = hard k

See the course section if you'd like to take a language course while in Bali (you can even use 'study' as a way of staying longer than the 30 days in Bali... )

Learn Bahasa Indonesia in 7 days (words and sound):
www.seasite.niu.edu/

Intensive 10 week course studying language, culture, and staying with a host family
12 - 23 July 2004 - AUD$1120.00
http://www.ialf.edu/bahasabali.html
Bali
Jalan Kapten Agung 17
Denpasar 80232 Bali
Tel. (62-361) 225-243
Fax (62-361) 263-509
ialfbali@ialf.edu
http://www.ialf.edu/bahasa.html
emailed them about "chit chat" program, which is a 2hr a day program (AUD$50 per hr!) OUCH!


Exchange english for indonesian, learn native talk
http://www.mylanguageexchange.com/Learn/Indonesia.asp


other tips from this travel writer:
learning_bahasa_indonesia.htmlcommon phrases:
http://www.lombok-network.com/learning/

Sanur
Bali International School in Sanur ph 288770



Balinese
Wow, click on the following link for a great site which covers a fair bit of the Balinese language:
http://www.balitouring.com/bali_articles/balinesean.htm
This person has spelled out words so one can read them phonetically and actually speak the language:
http://coralreeffish.com/balinese.htm
Learning Indonesian & Balinese (includes AUDIO)
http://www.batukaru.info/language/greeting.htm