Indonesian has a formal style and an everyday style, and they use different words for the same thing. In the news, "not" is tidak and "how" is bagaimana. Chatting with friends, people say nggak and gimana. Name the style you want in each prompt, so every line of a reading uses the same one.
Which ChatGPT Prompts Work for Indonesian?
Read Formal or Everyday Indonesian
Have ChatGPT give the root next to each new word. Indonesian builds many words from one root, and the dictionary files them under it.
I'm learning Indonesian. I can follow simple sentences about my day. Write 6 to 8 sentences in everyday Indonesian about a weekend trip to Bandung. Use these words: macet, kereta, oleh-oleh. After the text, list the new words with their roots and their English meanings.
Ask How a Word Is Built
Indonesian adds parts to a root to make new words. From baca (read), you get membaca (to read), dibaca (is read), and membacakan (to read aloud to someone).
Here's an Indonesian word I found: "memperkenalkan" Split it into its root and its added parts, like me- and -kan, and tell me what each part adds. Give me two more words built from the same root, each in a short example sentence. Explain it all in simple English.
Order at a Warung
A warung is a small, family-run place to eat. Ordering there means saying how spicy you want your food, and maybe asking for es teh manis, a sweet iced tea.
Let's role-play in everyday Indonesian. You run a warung in Jakarta, and I'm ordering nasi goreng and a sweet iced tea. Call me Kak, and use the casual words people say at a warung. Ask me one thing at a time, and let me answer. If I sound too formal or too casual, carry on, and at the end tell me which words to swap.
Check a Message to Someone
When you check your Indonesian, look hardest at the word parts, like a me- verb where a di- verb belongs. Tell ChatGPT who the message is for, so it can judge the style too.
Check this Indonesian message I wrote to my landlord: "Paste what you wrote here" Check the word parts, like me-, di-, ber-, and -kan, and tell me if my style is too formal or too casual for that person. Rewrite only the lines that need it, with a reason for each in English.
Type Indonesian into the language box of these five prompts, and they work here too.
How Do You Check ChatGPT's Indonesian?
Look up each new word in KBBI and read its label too. A word marked as casual is fine in a chat and out of place in a work email.
- Search KBBIKBBI is the official Indonesian dictionary, free online. It lists membaca under its root, baca, so you can see the whole family of words.
- Read the LabelKBBI marks casual words with cak. Look up nggak, and KBBI labels it cak and gives tidak, the word for formal writing, as its meaning.
- Ask for Both StylesAsk ChatGPT to write one line in formal and everyday Indonesian, side by side. Words like saya and aku, or Anda and kamu, show the change fast.
- Update What It RemembersIf memory is on, ask ChatGPT what it remembers about your Indonesian. OpenAI says you can tell it when that information is out of date, like your level.
Where Does Bubblegum Fit?
Bubblegum is a language app, and you can start its Indonesian lessons at Level 1 even if you're new to the language.
Bubblegum
For serious learners, Bubblegum is the best app to learn Indonesian. You learn from Indonesian you can mostly understand, which is called comprehensible input.
Tell Poppy, your AI tutor, that you're planning a trip to Bali, and your next Indonesian lesson can be about it.
- Ask Poppy what a word like memperkenalkan is built from, and she splits it into its parts.
- Poppy can tell you if a message from a friend is casual Indonesian or the kind you'd use at work.
- Talk with Poppy in Indonesian in live voice chat whenever you want to try speaking.
- Clear, expressive AI voices read every lesson aloud, with a different voice for each speaker.
- To read an Indonesian novel or news site you found, you'll need another app, since Bubblegum can't import one.
- A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so your first one is free, 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
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Indonesian Have Verb Tenses?
Indonesian verbs don't change for time. Small words carry it instead: sudah means something already happened, sedang means it's happening now, and akan means it will happen.
Is Indonesian the Same as Malay?
They're close, and many words are the same, but some everyday words and spellings differ. Tell ChatGPT you're learning Indonesian, so it uses the words of Indonesia.
Which App Should an Indonesian Beginner Choose?
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
- OpenAI Help Center, Memory FAQ (checked 2026-10-15)
- KBBI VI Daring, Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia (checked 2026-10-15)
- KBBI VI Daring, entry for nggak, labelled cak (casual) (checked 2026-10-15)
- KBBI VI Daring, entry for membaca, listed under baca (checked 2026-10-15)
- Wikipedia, Indonesian language (checked 2026-10-15)
- Bubblegum
Checked on October 5, 2026 against each app's own pages.
