Bahasa Indonesian
Although there are over 500 languages in Indonesia, and Bali has many of its own dialects, Bahasa is the national Indonesian language and is widely spoken. Most Balinese in the tourist areas, however, will speak some sort of broken English. You can get by without knowing a word of Bahasa and be fine, but I always thing it is nice to try and learn a little bit of the language in order to get some respect or acknowledgement that I am trying. Here are a few common phrases and words that you can use in Bali when around the town to impress your English speaking buddies.
Note: People speak Bahasa in a very short, sloppy, and slang way in Bali. For instance, “Selemat Siang” gets shorted to “slemat sian” and then just to “sian.” I will give you the full phrase and then how to pronounce it in slang if I know how. But, the Balinese will not really care if you pronounce something wrong, they will just be happy you are trying to speak their language. Another thing to note is that the letter “c” is pronounced like “ch” in the English language, and “k” is generally used for all pronunciations like “c” and “k.”
Word Meaning Pronunciation
Selemat Siang Good Day Sle-mott see-awn
Selemat Soreh Good Afternoon Sle-mott so-ray
Selemat Datang Welcome Sle-mott dah-tahng
Apa kabar How are you? Ah-pah kah-bar
Bagus Awesome/Great Ba-goose
Bicik-Bicik (Balinese) Good Bih-cheek bih-cheek
Terima Kasih Thank you Ma Kah-see
Sama-Sama Your welcome Saw-mah saw-mah
Tidat/Tanpa No/Without Tea-dot/Than-Paw
Ayam Chicken Ah-yahm
Bebek Duck Beh-beck
Ikan Fish Ee-kahn
Cumi-Cumi Calamari/Squid Choo-mee Choo-mee
Tahu Tofu Tah-hoo
Daging Meat Dah-ging
Hati-Hati Caution Haw-tea haw-tea
Jalan-Jalan Im walking Jaw-lahn jaw-lahn
Ma-af Im sorry Mah-awf
Kecap asin Soy Sauce Kay-chap ah-seen
Kecap manis Sweet/Teriyaki Sauce Kay-chap mahn-is
Kecap sambal Spicy Sauce Sahm-bahl
Air minum Drinking Water Air mee-numb
Warung Restaurant War-ung
Buka Open Boo-kah
Tutup Closed Tuh-tuhp
