In Reply to: speaking Basa Indonesian posted by kimmie on Monday, 5. March 2007 at 17:42 Bali Time:
Whenever you get the chance, mingle with the locals, you will pick it up very quickly. And they will love to try their english with you. I've known people who have lived in Indonesia for 10 years, but only hang out with other expats, and stay in the "expat" world... and they had hardly speak any bahasa... sad really
But then there are expats who get out into the "real" Indonesia, hang out with people in the kampungs everyday after work etc, and they speak it fluently, sometimes sounding just like an Indonesian with no foreign accent at all... they are the one's who can speak the language, understand the culture the best, and get to understand the way Indonesians think and live...
If you cant get to Indonesia, try joining an Indonesian chat room on the net, I know its not the same as "hearing and speaking" but it will improve your language... Maybe in your local community there are Indonesian students who want to learn/improve english, and need tutoring... and at the same time, they can help you with Indonesian... :)
Sally