For a time, Malay was the most widely spoken language. However, after the Indonesian Youth Congress in 1928, the need to create a single national language was felt. Thus was born Indonesian, the official language of Bali and the rest of the archipelago.
Indonesian is a mixture of Malay, Arabic, Persian, Chinese, Dutch, and Portuguese. Some words are also influenced by French and English. Indonesian is thought to be a very simple language to learn. Grammar and conjugation are not issues in this language. The plural is expressed by repeating the same word twice.
Even if this mother tongue is supposed to be learned from birth, it happens that in some remote areas, it is not known. In these cases, more regional languages are used.
OTHER LANGUAGES IN BALI :
In Bali, there is a language that is spoken only on the island: Balinese. It is, unfortunately, more and more put aside in favor of Indonesian. The reason for this is its complexity and the difficulty of learning it. Balinese is used in everyday language, but most education, national media, governance, administration, and other forms of communication are conducted in Indonesian.
Balinese is one of 779 dialects used in Indonesia. Each island has its own language. In addition to these, there are Papuan languages spoken in many parts of the country.
It is when you are confronted with a foreign language that you realize that you are in another country! In Bali, the change of scenery is total. The population, the culture, the customs, the scenery, the language… everything is different. It takes a few hours to get used to it, but very quickly, you get used to it.
You will see, you may even get a taste for it! If you meet Balinese people, you can ask them to teach you some words in their language, like hello, thank you, goodbye… They will be delighted and will share their culture and language with pleasure. A beautiful moment of complicity in anticipation!
