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If you’ve been looking for an Asian language to learn, but you’re a bit intimidated by languages like Chinese or Japanese, then consider Indonesian. Free from tones, tenses and foreign alphabets, Indonesian is one of the simpler Asian languages to learn for native English speakers.

It doesn’t take more than a few months of hard work for you to begin seeing the fruits of your labor. In that timeframe, it’s not uncommon to be able to begin holding conversations with native Indonesian speakers!

Join the approximately 250 million people who speak Indonesian and begin learning this amazing language. You definitely won’t be alone; you can find online communities of language learners who are all sharing your journey.

Whether you choose to take an in-person class or online course, listening to Indonesian podcasts can be a great complement to any language course. Podcasts are easy to access and there are a ton of options available. Check out these six Indonesian podcasts for more on what you can expect!

Podcasts for Beginners

If you have zero experience with the Indonesian language and you don’t even know where to start, then these podcasts made especially for beginners can help you find your bearings and begin establishing a good foundation of language skills.

IndonesianPod101

IndonesianPod101 provides you with a ton of different episodes, many catered to beginners, but with a few for more intermediate and advanced learners as well. The beginner-level episodes focus on the very basics of learning Indonesian, including basic vocabulary words and grammar concepts. You’ll also learn a little bit about Indonesian culture and history.

Additionally, if you’re only learning Indonesian for travel purposes and you’re short on time, IndonesianPod101 offers a smaller series of travel-related episodes that will teach you just what you need to know to get through a trip.

IndonesianPod101 offers a ton of extra resources to language learners, too, such as transcripts, videos, and vocabulary sheets. However, most of the content requires a subscription, which, fortunately, is very affordable. Check out our full review of IndonesianPod101 to learn more.

Learning Indonesian

Another great option is Learning Indonesian, a self-paced course that is no longer being updated, but that has nearly 50 episodes, with each episode covering a lesson. Lessons are focused on growing your vocabulary, and each episode has a different vocabulary theme. Themes range from animals to the six senses, jobs to food items. Some of the episodes get into more advanced grammar concepts such as noun classifiers and comparisons.

Survival Phrases: Indonesian

If you’re only learning Indonesian in preparation for an upcoming trip, then you might prefer this Indonesian podcast that is based all around common travel phrases and vocabulary words. There are only a handful of episodes available and the podcast no longer is uploading new episodes, but you’ll still find what is available to be helpful. Learn phrases you might need to order at a restaurant, to speak with locals to get directions and more.

Intermediate

If you’ve managed to build a robust Indonesian vocabulary and you’re relatively familiar with the way the language works, then you might consider moving on to an intermediate-level Indonesian podcast.

World Languages Podcasting: The Indonesian Podcast

This podcast was created with Indonesian language learners in mind. It helps you improve your Indonesian language skills by listening to Indonesian-spoken podcasts, but with additional resources that allow you to follow along to what’s being presented, so you don’t become totally lost.

There are only two episodes of this podcast available and it’s no longer active, but it can’t hurt to check out the two original episodes if you have an extra few minutes during your commute or while working on chores around the house.

Advanced

Once you know the basics of the Indonesian language pretty well, you’ll want to move on to podcasts that are more advanced in nature. Usually, these podcasts are spoken entirely in Indonesian. They may, however, cover topics that are familiar to you, or provide translations of the podcast in English, so you can follow along in that way and see where you might want to recap something you learned via earlier podcasts.

Bahasa Indonesia Alkitab (Non-Didramatisasi)

This podcast is the Indonesian Audio New Testament. You can easily find the English translations of the podcasts online and then listen to the Indonesian spoken words while you read the English version.

This gives you a bit of a different experience from listening to the English spoken words while reading the Indonesian version. Both options help your brain become more acclimated to the language in different ways and are not to be missed. There are tons of episodes with this podcast to choose from, each episode covering a biblical chapter and typically lasting less than 10 minutes.

Talking Indonesia

Lastly, whether you’re learning Indonesian for travel, work or just for fun, it’s always helpful to brush up on your knowledge of the country from which a language stems as you learn it. This podcast covers Indonesian politics, culture, language and more, with episodes uploaded on a regular basis. Each episode is around 30 to 40 minutes in length.

Final Thoughts

Learning Indonesian can be an enriching experience made just a little easier with the help of language-learning podcasts!

Did we miss any of your favorite Indonesian language-learning podcasts in our list above? Tell us about them!

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