Sumpah Pemuda: The Role of Youth in The Nation’s Independence
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Did you know that Bahasa Indonesia is one of the most spoken languages in the world? Bahasa Indonesia is the national language of Indonesia.
Being the fourth most populated country and the world’s biggest Muslim-population, with a total population of nearly 274 million, makes Bahasa Indonesia a widely spoken language.
Although there are over 300 languages in Indonesia, Bahasa Indonesia acts as lingua franca among Indonesian people. It is commonly used for business, education, administrative purpose, etc.
If you are looking for a language to learn, then Bahasa Indonesia can be one of your very best options. There are many reasons, but these are four that will tell you why Bahasa Indonesia is a great language to learn.
Speaking about the most spoken language globally, we can confidently say that English, Mandarin, and Spanish will be on the list.
However, did you know that Indonesian makes an appearance on the list too? According to the Summer Institute of Linguistics, the Indonesian language ranked 10th place for the most spoken language globally, with approximately 199 million speakers around the globe.
Indonesia has over 300 various native languages and dialects. The official national language –Bahasa Indonesia– is spoken not only in Indonesia but also in Australia, Saudi Arabia, The Netherlands, and other countries.
Feel demotivated to learn a language because of its grammar? You would not find it here.
Once you know Bahasa Indonesia, you would not find it hard to understand it since it is written with the Latin alphabet.
The vocabulary itself also borrowed from many languages such as Sanskrit, Dutch, Chinese, Arabic, and English.
Sometimes, we find some similar words between Bahasa Indonesia and one of these languages.
Additionally, Bahasa Indonesia is a gender-neutral language; for example, you can use the term “dia,” which refers to him or her in English.
Last but not least, becoming one of the most important aspects is the structure of Bahasa Indonesia itself, which is the easiness to understand.
As we know, the sentence structure in the English language commonly goes by Subject-Verbs-Object, while most of the time, you can place the same order as you would do in Bahasa Indonesia.
These evidence shows that Bahasa Indonesia is comfortable and tells you that you need to learn it by now.
Another reason why it is essential to learn Bahasa Indonesia is that it is necessary to understand Indonesia’s rich culture and give a benefit when you decide to travel to Indonesia.
The relationship between Indonesia’s culture and language has always been described as inseparable. Learning a language means learning the culture as well.
It is not just about vocabulary, grammar, sentence structure, but also social and cultural norms. Understanding the language will result in learning about culture, and it is useful once you decide to travel to Indonesia.
If you have a basic knowledge of the local language, you will get the opportunity to talk to local people. As Indonesian people are known for their high nationalism, they would be excited if a foreigner can speak their language.
Therefore, learning Bahasa Indonesia would not allow you to understand Indonesia’s rich culture but could also make your holiday very interesting and memorable.
So far, the big picture of Indonesia is known as a nation for a tourism destination.
However, Indonesia’s government has been working hard to build a relationship with other countries by teaching Bahasa Indonesia and giving scholarships to foreigners (which is also known as Darmasiswa Scholarship) who want to learn the language and its culture.
Learning Bahasa Indonesia is a crucial factor, as it will help the cultural diplomacy works between Indonesia and your country.
In summary, for a foreigner who wishes to learn a new language, Bahasa Indonesia can be a great option.
The straightforward structure and uncomplicated grammar, the benefit for tourism, cultural understanding, and diplomacy are just a few reasons to learn Bahasa Indonesia.
Of course, there are many other reasons. Hopefully, these four reasons will gain your interest to learn Bahasa Indonesia.
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