Following on from my previous post, which I should add was a response to a comment made on a forum that Indonesian is an easy language to learn, the following is a second response to add more clarification to my initial point:
My point is, it's the difference between the vagueness of Indonesian (I mean 'vague' in a positive sense), which relies to a high(er) degree on context rather than words, thus 'High-Context language' and languages such as English which rely to a high(er) degree on spoken words over context, hence 'Low-Context language'.
In that sense, Westerners need to come to grips with being able to understand all the words, yet struggle with the gaps because the context-based message is far less apparent. Indonesians learning English need to come to terms with the speed and the many idioms found, especially in Australian English, amongst other hindrances that Australian English presents. I'm being overly simply here. It's far more complex than that.
I should point out too, that between US English, British English and Australian English, US English could be considered to be a 'lower-context' variety of English than British English, whereas Australian English could be considered to be the highest-context form of the three. Meaning, Americans tend to use more words than Australians to get their messages across. Australians have a subtle vagueness which means our meaning, especially in our humour, is often lost on Americans.
I actually struggle speaking Indonesian with other western learners of Indonesian because, having become more accustomed to the Central Javanese vagueness (again I mean this in a positive sense), I find westerners try to use way too many Indonesian words, comparatively speaking, in a single sentence to get their points across. And for some reason Westerners, myself included simply cannot pronounce Indonesian all that well. No matter how much I practice and try to mimic Indonesian pronunciation, I just cannot stop sounding like a westerner.
In a nutshell, the point I'm making is that no language should be considered any easier or difficult than any other language. All languages present their own unique challenges to learners.
* Update on this post (10-08-2012)
In response to my statement above that, "westerners try to use way too many Indonesian words..." a forum member made the following statement:
'True, we do this, and we also have the annoying habit of ending way too
many sentences with a "yaa?", turning the simplest observations into
questions.'
I have observed exactly the same thing. I wonder, why is it that westerners like to append a 'Yaa?' on to the end of so many of their Indonesian statements?
I know this is an old post but I just came across it. I am finding, as a new learner of Bahasa Indonesia that what one sees and hears in the real world bears only a mild relationship to language resources. I'm not talking about diglossia so much as the wonderful and creative use of word order, throwing words in which seem to be 'wrong' when one looks up a dictionary and the all pervading 'yang' (and 'itu'). It's probably just the level I'm at! Something clicked when you say "I find westerners try to use way too many Indonesian words..." and I realised it would be all so much easier if I spoke and thought, almost like a child (and I mean no disrespect). "Mau susu" is so much to the point than "I would like a glass of milk please" ! Must stop thinking in English is my new mantra.
ReplyDeleteHi Tim,
ReplyDeletesorry, been away in Central Java with very limited internet access. In short, yes, your mantra is absolutely correct. I think the largets part of language learning is not how to say anything, but rather, listen, read and comprehend what is said and why it is said. Once you start to get an understanding of that, then you can begin to start to speak with more confidence.
Before learning the language you have to learn first the culture itself. You have to take Indonesian language step-by-step process wherein it is very helpful for you to know some basic and useful words. Visit this website: http://www.bahasaindonesian.com/ for more information.
ReplyDeleteBefore learning the language you have to learn first the culture itself. You have to take Indonesian language step-by-step process wherein it is very helpful for you to know some basic and useful words. Visit this website: http://www.bahasaindonesian.com/ for more information.
ReplyDelete