Indonesia Language : Bahasa

Indonesia language is the official language of Indonesia or Bahasa Indonesia. It is a standardized register of Malay, written in Roman script and based on European spelling.

Indonesia is the fourth most populous nation in the world. Due to its large population, the number of people who fluently speak Indonesia language is fast approaching 100%, making Indonesian, and thus Malay, is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world.

There are about 583 languages and dialects spoken in the Indonesia. They normally belong to the different ethnic groups of the population. Some of the distinctly different local languages are: Acehnese, Batak, Sundanese, Javanese, Sasak, Tetum of Timor, Dayak, Minahasa, Toraja, Buginese, Halmahera, Ambonese, Ceramese, and several Irianese languages. These languages are also spoken in different dialects, make it even more complex and colorful.

Most formal education, as well as nearly all national media and other forms of communication, are conducted in Indonesian. In East Timor, Indonesian and English are recognized by the constitution as the two working languages, alongside with the official languages of Tetum and Portuguese.

English use in Indonesia

In all the tourist destinations English is the number one foreign language. In big cities Dutch is still spoken, while popularity of French is increasing at good hotels and restaurants. In Australia, Indonesian is one of three Asian target languages, together with Japanese and Mandarin, taught in some of schools as part of the Languages other than English program.