The fastest way to learn Indonesian is to spend most of your study time on Indonesian you can mostly understand. That kind of Indonesian is called comprehensible input. What you read and listen to should change as you improve, so the plan below shows what to do at each level and how to split an hour of study.
What to Do at Each Level
Find the level that sounds like you. Its bar shows how to spend an hour of study.
- Level 1
I'm just starting out or know only a few words.
Read and listen 35 min. Review 15 min. Speak 10 min.
Read short dialogues with audio and a translation, and listen to each one twice. Watch the easiest Simply Indonesian stories with English subtitles, and say a few lines out loud.
- Level 2
I can handle simple exchanges.
Read and listen 40 min. Review 10 min. Speak 10 min.
Hide the translation and look up only the words that stop you. Read the easiest picture books on Let's Read, and start short talks with a tutor or a friend.
- Level 3
I follow conversations on familiar topics.
Read and listen 40 min. Review 5 min. Speak 15 min.
Add a podcast for learners, such as Bahasa Indonesia Bersama Windah, which sorts its episodes into low, mid and high levels. Read the short stories in Bobo, a children's magazine, and talk about what you heard and read for longer.
- Level 4
I understand most content but miss some nuance.
Read and watch 45 min. Review 5 min. Speak 10 min.
Listen to the news on SBS Indonesian, and watch an Indonesian film or series with Indonesian subtitles, one episode a week.
- Level 5
I read complex topics but rare words slow me down.
Read and watch 50 min. Speak 10 min.
Read and watch the news on BBC News Indonesia, and look up only the words that block the story.
- Level 6
I read at near-native level.
Read and watch 50 min. Speak 10 min.
Read Indonesian novels and newspapers such as Kompas, and talk about them, for their own sake.
Move up a level when your lessons start to feel easy, and move back down if you lose the thread by the third line.
How Long Does It Take to Learn Indonesian?
Indonesian takes about 828 class hours to reach professional fluency, according to the U.S. Foreign Service Institute. That puts Indonesian in its second group for English speakers, with Malay, German, Swahili and Haitian Creole.
| Language | FSI group | Full-time weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Spanish, French | Category I | 30 |
| Indonesian, Malay, German | Category II | 36 |
| Russian, Vietnamese | Category III | 44 |
| Korean, Japanese, Mandarin | Category IV | 88 |
Universitas Indonesia (UI) teaches Indonesian to foreigners in three levels, from beginner to advanced, with 250 hours of study in each. Its first two levels take 500 hours. Here is how long those take at different amounts of study a week:
| Study per week | UI Level 1 (250 hours) | UI Levels 1–2 (500 hours) | FSI professional fluency (828 hours) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3½ hours | About 16 months | About 2¾ years | About 4½ years |
| 7 hours | About 8 months | About 16 months | About 2¼ years |
| 14 hours | About 4 months | About 8 months | About 14 months |
| 28 hours | About 2 months | About 4 months | About 7 months |
These are class hours, so treat them as a rough guide. Time you spend understanding Indonesian on your own counts too.
What Slows Learners Down
- Only Formal IndonesianStandard Indonesian is mostly kept for formal situations, and in everyday talk tidak (not) often becomes nggak. Listen to both kinds from your first weeks.
- Word Lists AloneIndonesian builds many words from one root, so belajar (learn), mengajar (teach) and pelajar (student) all grow from ajar. You see how these parts work when you meet the words in sentences.
- Content Far Too HardA TV news show where you know one word in five teaches you very little.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Indonesian app should a beginner choose?
If you are serious about learning Indonesian, start with Bubblegum. Poppy writes lessons at your level about things you like. Our Indonesian app comparison covers courses, tutors and speaking apps too.
Can I learn Indonesian in three months?
You can learn enough Indonesian to greet people, order food and talk about your day. At 14 hours a week, three months is about 180 hours, which is less than one 250-hour level at Universitas Indonesia. UI fits that level into 12 to 13 weeks by holding classes every weekday morning.
How much should I study Indonesian each week?
Aim for three to five hours a week of Indonesian you understand, in sessions of at least 15 to 30 minutes. A longer session lets you get lost in a story, which teaches more than five minutes a day, and steady time each week matters more than a daily streak. Our post on deep sessions over daily streaks explains why.
Is Indonesian hard for English speakers?
It is in the middle, by the Foreign Service Institute's measure: Indonesian is in its second group, so it takes longer than Spanish and less time than Russian. Indonesian verbs don't change for who does the action or when it happens, and nouns have no gender, so most of the time goes into learning words, which you pick up fastest from Indonesian you understand.
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 your first one is free, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons.
Sources
- U.S. Department of State, Foreign Language Training (FSI language categories)
- Universitas Indonesia, LBI FIB UI, BIPA Regular Program (three levels of 250 hours each)
- Wikipedia: Indonesian language (standard and colloquial Indonesian)
- Wikipedia: Indonesian grammar (affixes, no tense marking, no grammatical gender)
