About Learning Indonesian

An integrated set of resources for learning the Indonesian language skills of speaking, reading, listening and writing have been developed by a number of teams of Indonesian language teachers under the direction of Professor Ellen Rafferty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. See the descriptions below.

Let's Speak Indonesian: Ayo Berbahasa Indonesia

The two-volume Let's Speak Indonesian: Ayo Berbahasa Indonesia provides the beginning and intermediate student a communicative approach to learning conversational Indonesian through a graded set of thematically-based lessons that present language functions in recorded dialogues. The language functions taught range from tasks such as how to greet a stranger, introduce oneself, and ask for directions to more advanced tasks such as how to politely refuse a request, clarify negotiations, and persuade.
For more information, go to U. Hawai`i Press.

Indonesian Grammar in Context: Asyik Berbahasa Indonesia

The three-volume Indonesian Grammar in Context: Asyik Berbahasa Indonesia provides beginning to advanced learners a communicative approach to the study of Indonesian grammar. Each lesson consists of a presentation of a grammatical construction in a natural context, a recording of the presentation, task-based exercises, an explanation of the grammar in English, and cultural notes.
For more information, go to U. Hawai`i Press.

Warung Sinema

The Warung Sinema website offers twenty, interactive, multimedia, listening-comprehension lessons for students of Indonesian, ranging from the intermediate-low to advanced levels. The lessons, which are based on authentic clips from contemporary Indonesian television and film footage, have the three-fold objective of (1) teaching listening strategies, (2) developing cultural and linguistic knowledge, and (3) moving the student from the intermediate-low to advanced level on the American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) listening proficiency scale.
These lessons are accessible at the following link, http://warungsinema.wisc.edu/project.html.

Ayo Membaca

The Ayo Membaca website offers a set of online, interactive reading lessons, based on authentic readings from the mass media that are aimed at learners from the novice to intermediate high-levels. The three-fold objective of each lesson is to (1) teach reading strategies, (2) develop cultural and linguistic knowledge, and (3) move the student from the novice-mid to the advanced level on the American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) reading proficiency scale.
These lessons are accessbile at the following link, http://ayomembaca.wisc.edu.