In Reply to: CharlieBaliBear or any Expat ? EOM posted by Mambolib on Saturday, 21. February 2015 at 13:26 Bali Time:
This is the way it is for me.
*At work we speak 100% Balinese with all the staff (all Balinese)
*Personal relationships with Balinese 100% Balinese
(Out socially with my girlfriends - Indonesian, but they say when I am tired or drunk I use Balinese and they can't understand me, but have picked up a lot of sayings.
I find many Balinese use Indonesian for greetings, days of the week, month, years etc, the old Grandmas tell me they cant speak Indonesian but use it everyday in this context.
There are not different dialects for Indonesian but I find Balinese differs from village to village.
You can insult someone in one village by using a saying that is hilarious in another, so be careful.
But I think the most important thing is understanding the etiquette of where you are going, not the language. Respect is a big thing here and many tourists treat everyone equal, which is lovely, but that is not what the locals do or expect. So, when learning a language, learn a bit, but learn about the etiquette as well, it will get you a lot further and you can be excused for not knowing the language.
Oh, and I am not fluent by any means, using a language everyday does not make you fluent, I am constantly learning more words every day, and once I've just got a word to stick I get told to use a different one. I find that I am constantly being told off more and more, its a bit like, you chose to use this language now you must perfect it. Older men always act like teachers every day. Older woman don't seem to care as they just talk about the same stuff every single day..
Oh and a little secret. Balinese government officials, love to speak Balinese, if they know you speak Balinese they will only speak Balinese and love to talk dirty, so if you want to get something done in business and not be considered a Bule or pay Bule prices you get your husband to bond with them over who had sex this morning etc. They think it is even more funny if someone in their office is not Balinese and cant understand why you are all laughing your heads off.
Seriously! But shh, I didn't tell you that.