The Indonesian Language
Learning Indonesian will help you communicate with Indonesians of different ethnicities, including ethnic Malays, living throughout the region, including Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, parts of the Philippines, southern Thailand, and Timor-Leste.
OHIO is highly regarded for its excellence in Southeast Asian languages, with one of the largest collections of research materials on Southeast Asia in North America.
About the Indonesian Language
Indonesian, also known as Bahasa Indonesia, is the official language of Indonesia and is spoken by more than 200 million speakers throughout the Indonesian archipelago. Indonesia features rich cultural diversity with hundreds of different ethnic groups – and hundreds of recognizably different regional languages.
Bahasa Indonesia is an Austronesian language derived from Malay, which has been spoken throughout insular Southeast Asia for many centuries. When Indonesia declared its independence in 1945, Bahasa Indonesia became the official national language.
Learning Indonesian will help you communicate with Indonesians of different ethnicities, including ethnic Malays, living throughout the region, including Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, parts of the Philippines, southern Thailand, and Timor-Leste.
The Indonesian language is also a popular second language among Australians. Given Indonesia’s importance as an important neighbor and partner in the Asia-Pacific region, the Australian government has promoted Indonesian language through education, scholarships and exchanges, trade and business, and cultural and public diplomacy initiatives. This, taken together with the growing population of Indonesian expatriates living in Australia, means that Indonesian language students will find many opportunities to use their language skills.
Why Study Indonesian at Ohio University
Given Indonesia’s rich diversity, long history, and fascinating political landscape, students of Bahasa Indonesia typically come from a wide range of disciplines, including anthropology, political science, fine arts, business, education, communications and media, and development studies.
Ohio University's intellectual engagement with Indonesia goes back many decades, with extensive faculty and student research and publication. Ohio University Libraries houses one of the largest collections of research materials on Southeast Asia in the United States, including a renowned Indonesian collection.
Indonesian is a relatively simple language to learn. It has no gender and case differentiation; it also has simple plurals and an easy-to-understand system of word formation. It uses the Roman alphabet, and it does not have tones or specific stress patterns.
How We Teach
OHIO Indonesian language courses focus on all aspects of the language: speaking, listening, reading and writing. Our language model also emphasizes the importance of culture. Indonesian language students not only learn Indonesian but also understand its deep connections to the culture, history, traditions, and societal norms of the people who speak it.
OHIO Indonesian language courses focus on the language's structure and how to communicate effectively while also exploring Indonesian customs, beliefs, values, arts, literature, cuisine, social norms, and historical events that have shaped the language and its speakers. This approach helps students communicate more effectively and appropriately in various social and cultural contexts within Indonesia.