The short answer is: Yes, Indonesian is a good language to learn, if you have a strong enough reason to learn it.
So, what is the strong enough reason, or reasons, that would make it worthwhile to learn Indonesian (or Bahasa Indonesia) ?
Based on our years of experience teaching the language, students learn Bahasa Indonesia because of one or more of these good reasons:
Business, Work & Career
Since Indonesia is Singapore’s closest neighbouring country (second only to Malaysia), the country provides a lot of career and business opportunities for those who are based in Singapore.
Indonesia is the world’s fourth largest country in terms of population with close to 270 million people. Based on market size alone, it’s the biggest in South East Asia and behind only China & India in Asia.
Coupled with the fact that it’s a rapidly developing country, financial and economic opportunities are growing exponentially in the Indonesian Archipelago.
Majority of Indonesians speak only Bahasa Indonesia and the local dialect. So, the ability to speak Indonesian will be a strong advantage in building professional relationships with clients or partners. This additional ability in your resume (CV) will also give you a competitive advantage over your peers and competitors.
Personal & Social
Not everything in life can be measured financially. If you have an Indonesian partner, family members, relatives, or even close friends that you communicate frequently with, then learning Bahasa Indonesia is something you should seriously consider.
Your effort in learning Indonesian will be greatly appreciated by them and reciprocated positively, one way or another.
Nothing beats a deep human connection that’s built on a common language, especially in one’s mother tongue. Nothing.
Travelling
As the largest archipelago in the world with 17,508 islands and more than 300 ethnic groups, Indonesia offers a plethora of exploration opportunities.
Indonesia is more than just Bali island & the capital city Jakarta. There’s Mount Bromo & Ijen Crater in Surabaya, Komodo Island, Flores, Raja Ampat, Yogyakarta & its historical sites, Manado & Bunaken National Park, Medan & Lake Toba, Lombok & Mount Rinjani, Makassar & Tana Toraja, Central Kalimantan & Tanjung Puting National Park, and lots more cultural & historical destinations.
If you’re living tens of thousands of kilometres away from Indonesia and plans to visit the country just a couple of times in the foreseeable future, then learning Indonesian may not be a good investment of your time.
But if you live in Asia or you simply love to travel with the intention of visiting the country multiple times, learning Bahasa Indonesia would help you in more ways than you can imagine.
By knowing a few Indonesian greetings and words, you could get around easily, obtain help readily, befriend the locals quickly, learn more things about places, attractions and cultures, and get more discounts!
Remember, most locals don’t speak any other language besides Bahasa Indonesia and their local dialect.
Culture & Entertainment
With a sprawling land size, huge population, rich history and more than 300 unique ethnic groups, Indonesia offers diverse entertainment, cultural discovery, extensive history, and literature studies.
Having learned Bahasa Indonesia, you could explore Indonesian movies, songs, books, dances, paintings, sculptures, martial arts, food, history, stories, traditions, and many more.
The explorations and possibilities are endless!
Personal Development
If you’re one of those learners who loves learning languages, whether to have fun or to train your brain, Indonesian language should be one of your target languages.
Bahasa Indonesia is considerably easier than many other languages. In the language learning communities all around the world, Indonesian consistently ranks in the top 10 or even top 5 of the easiest languages to learn.
Bahasa Indonesia is even easier if you know English or any other language that uses the Roman or Latin alphabets. Just like English, Bahasa Indonesia uses the same A to Z alphabets.
In essence, learning Indonesian will take a lot less time than most other languages.
If you are curious to know how easy Bahasa Indonesia is, check out our article ‘Is Indonesian easy?’ and ‘How to say Thank You in Indonesian‘
In conclusion, if any of the above reasons resonate with you, then ‘Yes, Indonesian is a good language to learn’. The benefits of learning a language almost always outweighs the costs and effort. A good language skill would elevate your personal and professional value as well as open up a new world of opportunities and possibilities.