Selamat datang! Welcome to the Indonesian language, people, culture and nation!

By completing the 12 lessons in Indonesian for Beginners, you will learn not only to understand, speak, read and write basic Indonesian, but also about many vital aspects of Indonesia''s amazingly diverse culture, and about the people and places in its 17,000 islands. This course provides a gateway to understanding the language and the country and helps you to apply what you learn in a way that is relevant and meaningful to young people, as well as appropriate.

The course includes reading, writing and speaking tasks based on authentic real-life materials. The passages are adapted from or inspired by a variety of sources and media (online, print, electronic, visual, etc.) from across the archipelago. They feature people from many different social and ethnic settings. This provides learners with a broad overview of contemporary Indonesia, its people and the way the language is evolving today.

The course is structured around the concept of spending a year in Indonesia, experiencing different seasonal events which bring the learner on a journey. In this way, the cultural and background information become a natural part of the learner''s understanding of the language and help her or him to place what they have learned into context as part of a more full narrative about life in Indonesia.

Each chapter follows a similar format that contains the following elements:

• An introduction, with images and captions
• Indonesian grammar points
• A word bank containing essential vocabulary
• One or more sample conversations
• Listening practice
• And "Indonesian and me" section that uses Indonesian to talk about yourself
• Key questions and statements
• Readings
• Drills and exercises

While this course is aimed at learners taking a classroom course, it can also be used by anyone studying Indonesian in other ways—in a high school course or as a self-study text with or without the use of a tutor.