Learn Indonesian with The Pimsleur Method

Comments about Indonesian Phase 1, Units 1-30:

You can learn the basics from youtube, you can test yourself on vocab from a free app on your phone. We all know the cheap option is googling for academic resources, but have you fallen in love with it yet? Download the course. Or don't, I don't care if you learn a language or not.

Service and delivery comments:

less numbers training. that's easy.

Comments about Indonesian Phase 1, Units 1-30:

I have used other methods that just didn't cut it. Pimsleur method is great, I use Pimsleur Indonesian products then supplement with online resources, mostly Indonesian newspapers.

You can sit at a desk and study if you like but the audio method lends itself to be used while driving to work, walking, etc.

Only improvement to be made is more Indonesian units (phase 2/3).

Comments about Indonesian, Comprehensive:

Every day while driving to work I practice my language skills. This works perfectly for me because you do not need any booklet or computer. The lessons are logical and easy to learn. I would really appreciate it if a folluwup course would be developed.

Comments about Indonesian Phase 1, Units 1-30:

I'm using this course as part of my preparation for linguistics field work in Indonesia. I always find it useful to be able to ask for the information I need in the local trade language, and people generally appreciate that I'm making the effort and not expecting them to speak English. As with all of the level-one Pimsleur courses, you'll get what you need to be polite and find out what you need to know in an efficient, effective, easy-to-use format.

Comments about Indonesian, Comprehensive:

I studied and learned Bahasa Melayu (hence the foundation for Bahasa Indonesa) about 40 years ago and enjoyed using it to good effect in Java and Bali, as well as in Malaysia. Now I am preparing to return to Central Java (work) and Bali (pleasure) and wanted to refresh. I am not a professional linguist, but I have studied and developed a degree of proficiency in other languages.

As a refresher, this course was helpful and the building block approach sound...given that the first several lessons were fairly elementary in my case. The pronunciation instruction was clear and sensibly developed; the degree of additive complexity from lesson to lesson was logical; the coverage per lesson was reasonable and effective for me. Initially, the instructions in English were less distinct about which gender role the student was playing, though this became clearer in lessons 10-16.

At the end of the course, however, the commentator said that there were more advanced units on offer -- if so, I can't locate them, and that is a shame because I feel I now have adequate phrase-book level re-familiarity for SOME routine transactions (greetings, directions-and-locations, time of day, currency and numbers, appointments, ordering simple food and drink) but nowhere to proceed: expressing intention, asking for critical services such as transportation, communications, medical assistance. Since so much of linguistic application and effectiveness rely upon social interaction, terms of address, social relations, cultural practices, courtesy and etiquette, etc., etc. are critical. Less critical but very useful are categories/types of food, much less common dishes -- this unit only specifies drink -- and how to engage politely about current events. These are all lacking, but could be effectively introduced in a Unit 2.

Beyond phrase book usage, three serious gaps are any serious introduction to sentence structure/word order in phrases, modals, and classifiers. There should be some orientation to the first of these in Lessons 0-16; the second two topics (modals and classifiers) are required elements of a second section, since they lay groundwork for coherent conversation.

In sum, the producers offer a useful introduction that supports phrase-book level learning. Serious language instruction requires more depth, and I look forward to a Unit 2.