Learning Indonesian: Update 7

Long-time-no-see!

As I  mentioned some time back, I’m currently going through the motions, studying each day with slow but steady progress. Hence why I haven’t written in a while. There just hasn’t been anything to write about, until now.

I’ve finished all of the formal courses and started reading Harry Potter about a month ago. The progress was extremely slow. I’m not sure how long it was taking to read a single page but it wasn’t quick. I read the Indo and English books side-by-side.

At first I had to constantly look at the English translation. Slowly but surely my reading has sped up. I feel much more comfortable with the book and am about 50 pages away from finishing it.

I’ve also started listening to Indonesian radio regularly. I’m at the stage where I recognise most of the words the speaker is using I just can’t get the meaning of the sentence. That’s a massive improvement from a few months back when I struggled to even notice words I’d been studying for a while.

I also had my first Indonesian conversation here in Gwangju. I met the guy at an international food festival and he was kind enough to let me practice with him. I understood a decent amount, but as you’d expect, my speaking seriously lagged behind.

We’ll be in Indonesia in 2 months and 10 days. I really need to up the studying and start producing more.

Anyway, sampai ketemu lagi.