Bahasa Indonesia is often said to be one of the easier non-romance languages for English speakers to learn, and a large part of this is due to Indonesia’s linguistic structures. Grammatically, it is similar to English because both languages use an SVO word order. Another facet of Indonesian grammar is that there are no tenses to learn; vocabulary words provide context for when the action occurred. Adjectives also follow nouns, which I haven’t had as much trouble with, thanks to my previous Spanish learning. While there are many pronouns in Indonesian, in informal speaking/writing, people are referred to by name or by adding 'sir '/'ma'am' (Pak/Bu) before their name. Combining different disciplinary perspectives helps me better understand Bahasa Indonesia by allowing me to process my learning in chunks and connect my interests outside linguistics to my language study. Learning about the history and culture of Indonesia will give me a richer understanding of vocabulary and how to use it most effectively. I have a slight preference for De Saussure’s approach, as it highlights the interconnectedness of languages without treating them as a monolith. De Saussure’s early to mid-twentieth-century view of language as being made up of “interwoven elements.” If language is “like a game of chess,” as De Saussure put it, then each language is a different piece on the board playing together. With my new knowledge of language structure and different methodologies, I plan to implement this into my learning plan. I now know that I need to pay attention to vocabulary words that describe time/place since these are crucial to contextual understanding. I also need to pay closer attention to sentence “chunks” and how to put them together correctly.
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