Stories, audio, and videos can all help you learn Indonesian when you can follow what they mean. That is the idea behind comprehensible input: learning from Indonesian you can mostly understand. Indonesian is written in the Latin alphabet, so you can start reading early. Everyday spoken Indonesian is often more casual than the standard Indonesian in books and the news, so it helps to hear both.
These apps and sites give you Indonesian at your level, or help you follow the Indonesian you pick yourself. For courses, speaking practice, and tutors, see our Indonesian app comparison.
Custom Lessons Made for You
Bubblegum
Learn Indonesian with a path made just for you. Start with your level, what you like, and why you want to learn. Your path grows as you learn, with new lessons that fit you. Bubblegum also has news and stories, so you can read and listen to a mix of Indonesian about music, food, family, or daily life.
Poppy, your AI tutor, writes each lesson for you. If a word or a sentence is hard to follow, just ask her to explain it.
The trade-off is that Bubblegum can't help with Indonesian you found yourself. For a show, a video, or an article you already picked, the apps in Read and Watch Indonesian You Choose are the better fit.
- Read and listen to lessons, news, and stories about things you like.
- New lessons fit your level, interests, and goals.
- Regenerative Review™ brings saved words back in new lessons, so you review them by reading instead of using flashcards.
- Ask Poppy about a sentence while you read.
- You cannot bring in your own books, articles, or shows.
- AI voices read each lesson, not recordings of Indonesian speakers.
- A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so you can ask Poppy for a free one, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn.
- Regenerative Review™
Mobile
Read Free Picture Books
Let's Read
Let's Read is a free library of children's books from The Asia Foundation, and learners on r/indonesian suggest it for reading practice. Short picture books are an easy first step, because the pictures help you follow the story.
- Free picture books in Indonesian, sorted into topics such as folktales, science, and family.
- Each book shows its reading level and the ages it suits.
- Tap to switch a book between Indonesian and English.
- Download books to read offline.
MobileWeb
Listen to Lessons Made for Learners
IndonesianPod101
IndonesianPod101 teaches Indonesian through recorded conversations, with a teacher who explains each one. A learner on r/indonesian says its YouTube channel was one of the main ways they first learned.
- Audio and video lessons of 3 to 15 minutes, built around dialogues.
- Real teachers make every lesson.
- New lessons come out each week, and you can slow the audio down.
- Flashcards
MobileWeb
Listen to the News in Indonesian
SBS Audio
SBS Audio carries SBS Indonesian, a program that learners on r/indonesian often suggest for listening practice because the hosts speak clearly. It suits learners who know the basics and want real news.
- News and community stories in Indonesian from SBS, Australia's public broadcaster.
- Short news updates of under ten minutes, plus longer programs with interviews.
- Listen free in the SBS Audio app, on the web, or as a podcast.
MobileWeb
Read and Watch Indonesian You Choose
These tools help you learn from videos, articles, and shows you pick yourself. They suit learners who already know what they want to read or watch.
LingQ
LingQ lets you read and listen to Indonesian from its library or bring in your own videos and articles. It highlights the words you have not met yet and the ones you are still learning, and you can review them with flashcards.
- Start with 63 Mini Stories that practice the basic patterns of Indonesian.
- Read along with Simply Indonesian stories and podcast episodes, shared with the creator's permission.
- Bring in YouTube videos, books, and songs of your own.
- Flashcards
MobileWeb
Language Reactor
Language Reactor shows Indonesian subtitles beside a translation while you watch Netflix and YouTube. It is suggested on r/indonesian for immersion, and it is free to install, with paid extras.
- Find Indonesian films and series on Netflix in its catalogue.
- See Indonesian subtitles beside a translation, and look up words.
- Pro mode can use speech recognition to make subtitles that match the audio.
Browser extension
Free Podcasts, Videos, and Books
Bahasa Indonesia Bersama Windah is a podcast that learners on r/indonesian often recommend. Windah talks about stories, news, and Indonesian culture for intermediate learners, and listeners say she speaks slowly. Its more than 230 episodes are sorted into low, mid, and high levels, and supporters on Patreon get the transcripts. Selaksa Senja is a podcast for people learning Indonesian, about the language, culture, and songs, and a learner on r/indonesian found its example dialogues easy to follow. EasyIndo has episodes for beginners and for advanced learners.
Simply Indonesian makes graded videos on YouTube, from short stories to simple news, with Indonesian and English subtitles. When you want standard Indonesian at full speed, learners point to TV news channels on YouTube, such as KompasTV.
For reading, StoryWeaver has more than 6,000 free Indonesian stories at four levels, and Bloom Library has 371 free Indonesian books, also sorted by level. Indonesia's Book Center shares free storybooks on SIBI, sorted into reader levels from A to E. Bobo, a children's magazine, has stories, fairy tales, and science articles online, and learners on Reddit recommend it. For older readers, Tuttle's book Indonesian Stories for Language Learners puts traditional stories in Indonesian beside English, with free audio for its stories on Tuttle's website.
Learn Indonesian in Your Language
These counts cover menu-language choices, including script variants. Other apps’ counts and full lists come from their iPhone listings, except Language Reactor (Chrome Web Store). Word meanings, lesson explanations, and other platforms may differ.
| App | Supported Display Languages | Full List |
|---|---|---|
| Bubblegum | 74 | Full list
|
| Let's Read | 1 | Full list |
| IndonesianPod101 | 1 | Full list |
| SBS Audio | 1 | Full list |
| LingQ | 17 | Full list |
| Language Reactor | 27 | Full list |
Other Apps We Looked At (5)
- ReadlangTap a word or phrase in Indonesian text on the web to see what it means, then review the words you saved with flashcards.
- BeelinguappStories and audiobooks with the Indonesian text beside a language you know, so you can read and listen at the same time.
- SensonymStory games you can read in Indonesian, where you learn each new word by moving your phone. It is new and growing.
- FluentFiction IndonesianA podcast of short stories in Indonesian with bilingual audio and word lists, with new episodes often.
- WebtoonThe Indonesian edition of Webtoon has free comics in Indonesian every day, in genres from romance to horror.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much of it should I understand?
Aim for Indonesian where you know almost every word. Hu and Nation found that readers follow a story well when they know about 98% of its words, which is about one new word in fifty. If you stop at almost every line, try something easier.
What can I watch in Indonesian as a beginner?
Learners on r/indonesian suggest cartoons dubbed in Indonesian, such as Doraemon and Chibi Maruko-chan, because the dubs use clear, standard Indonesian. One learner began with BabyBus videos made for three-year-olds, then moved up to Doraemon. For shows made in Indonesia, the Vidio app streams Indonesian TV channels, series, and films.
Is Bubblegum free?
Yes. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn. It holds lessons that other learners asked Poppy for. A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so you can ask Poppy for a free one, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons.
Sources
- Indonesian language: Latin alphabet, standard and colloquial Indonesian
- Hu and Nation (2000), Unknown vocabulary density and reading comprehension
- Bahasa Indonesia Bersama Windah (for intermediate Indonesian language learners)
- Simply Indonesian on YouTube
- Selaksa Senja podcast
- EasyIndo: Learn Indonesian podcast
- StoryWeaver: Bahasa Indonesia stories
- Bloom Library: Bahasa Indonesia books
- SIBI (Pusat Perbukuan): free non-textbook reading books by reader level
- Tuttle Publishing: Indonesian Stories for Language Learners, online audio
- Bobo.id, children's magazine
- r/indonesian: Looking for movies, shows, and YouTube channels in standard Bahasa Indonesia
- r/indonesian: Any very simple Bahasa Indonesia TV or YouTube channel recommendations?
- r/indonesian: Training listening comprehension
- r/indonesian: How to practice Indonesian listening
- Vidio: current iPhone listing
- Bubblegum
- Let's Read
- IndonesianPod101
- SBS Audio
- LingQ
- Language Reactor
Checked on October 8, 2026 against each app's own pages.
