Teach Yourself Indonesian Complete Course (Book Only) (Teach Yourself Language Complete Courses) [Paperback]

This new version is vastly different from the 1965 version by Mr Kwee, which is good, but heavily based uppon grammar rather than communication! The new version is the most functional, up-to-date text book for learning Indonesian on the market today, to my knowledge, and a valuable addition to your tool-kit if you are planning to visit Indonesia or study Indonesian. The approach is communicative and based around dialogues that reflect the way people speak as closely as possible. That is one of the great strengths of the course. Another strength is that you are only learning what you really need to know, but without skimping on the all-important grammar which is presented in a very user-friendly way with plenty of exercises to check undrestanding and to reinforce usage. Each unit looks at both formal spoken Indonesian and more colloquial spoken Indonesian, but the key is that the focus is on the spoken language and developing useful skills in that area. Of course, written language is also covered, but Indonesian poses few problems to learners compared to most other languages! Another major feature compared to the Kwee version is the addition of audio CDs which are excellent! The quality is very clear and there is plenty, (and I mean plenty!) of material for developing speaking skills in the form of simulated dialogues. If I have one minor complaint it is that sometimes the pauses on the CDs during the simulated conversations are not long enough to fill in your part, but then again, if there were long pauses on the CDs I would probably be complaining that the recording time on the CDs had not been used to the full. As a linguist myself, I sometimes feel that the explanations are a little too simple, but I am sure that this is a good thing for non-linguists or lay-persons who need to get to grips with a language in the least complicated way possible. Admittedly, Teach Yourself Indonesian doesn't take you very far in the language but it is a great start and will give you a basic and useful knowledge of the language that you will be glad of on your travels. If you are contemplating learning Indonesian and you want to delve much deeper into the language than a phrasebook can give you, but you don't want to be burdened by the grammar based approach you might have had when learning languages at school, then this course is for you! I highly reccomend it, both as a first level introduction to idiomatic and colloquial expression in Indonesian, and as an introduction to Indonesian life and culture. I have seen a great many language books in my time, but I have never seen one as good as this for teaching communicative and functional language. The methodology is truly innovative and allows for painless, gradual assimilation of the language.

To reiterate what a previous reviewer had pointed out, the "Teach Yourself Indonesian Complete Course" includes just the textbook, whereas the "Teach Yourself Indonesian Complete Course Audiopack" includes both the text book and compact discs. Contrary to what Amazon.com suggests, you need to only buy the "Teach Yourself Indonesian Complete Course Audiopack" to get the full benefits of the program.

I purchased the "Teach Yourself Indonesian Complete Course Audiopack" several days ago, and after having had the opportunity to peruse the material for a bit, I must say that I am very impressed with what I have seen thus far. The material is presented in such a way as to make learning Indonesian effectively and effortless.

For example, each chapter begins with a dialogue in Indonesian that pertains to everyday activities, such as eating out or asking for directions. Below the dialogue is a box filled with pertinent vocabulary words from the preceding dialogue. Next is an English translation of the dialogue to ensure that the student fully understands the meaning of the Indonesian dialogue. Succeeding that is a section entitled, "How the language works." Here, grammatical concepts and contexts of the vocabulary words relevant to the dialogue are discussed. Finally, several exercises are included in each chapter to reinforce the lessons taught. Do not worry, the answers are in the back!

The compact discs mesh perfectly with the material in the chapters. Native Indonesian speakers act out the chapter dialogues, thus providing the student with the opportunity to practice their listening skills and learn how to properly speak Indonesian. The speakers on the compact discs clearly enunciate so there is plenty of time for the student to practice their Indonesian out loud if desired.

Overall, the "Teach Yourself Indonesian Complete Course Audiopack" is a wonderful resource for anyone interested in learning Indonesian. As a student of Indonesian myself, I highly recommend this product for its exceptional effectiveness.

I'm half way through this course and it's pretty easy to use, and the topics and dialogues are relevant and interesting. There is material on the cd's to help you get accustomed to hearing spoken Indonesian, which is great if you live somewhere with very few Indonesian people like I do.

I have two minor criticisms:

1) During the dialog practice there is often not a long enough pause on the cd to allow you to finish saying your part of the exchange. This is not a big deal if you have an ipod and can easily pause and rewind with little trouble. But it's a bit of a hassle when you're using a home stereo and you have to pause it.

2) Sometimes the dialogues contain a couple of words that are not in the vocabulary key for that dialogue, and sometimes not even in the glossary at the back of the book. That has caught me off-guard a few times when I didn't have my dictionary with me.

But all in this is the best introductory course I've seen, and a much more interesting way to start off than using Yohanna Johns's "Bahasa Indonesia" (which looks better for long term serious study).