Selamat pagi

It's really disgraceful that, after so many visits to this beautiful island, we still don't have a handle on the language. Oh, a few phrases here and there, but pre-kindergarten at best. By language, I mean Bahasa Indonesia, the official language that unites this diverse Republic. The Balinese language, Basa Bali is based on an ancient Indian language with an altogether different script. No way in the world will we ever master that. To hear Balinese people speak, their tongues seem to curl as rapidly and as dexterously as the script itself.

We have read in a local publication that teaching Basa Bali in schools will cease next month. What can I say? Everyone here is fluent in both languages as well as the languages of tourism*. It will now be up to the family group to keep their language alive**.

So on Monday we start an intensive four week course in Bahasa Indonesia. The Cinta Bahasa Language School is just a few doors away and for two hours a day, for five days a week, for four weeks, plus homework, we will be immersed. Previous half-hearted attempts have failed so we hope that this longish term commitment will be more successful. I have terrible trouble remembering Indonesian vocabulary - words seem to fall into a brain-hole the size of the gaps in the Ubud pavements. So we'll see.

Basa Bali

*Including a growing presence of tourists requiring Russian. It's not uncommon to see menus in Russian these days.
**A related story about dying languages: when were in the west of Ireland earlier in the year we heard Irish spoken extensively. Again, fluency in both English and the native tongue. However at one stage we asked for directions from an affable looking chap, and as clear as you like replied that he didn't (might as well have said won't) speak English. A powerful political statement. Let's hope the Balinese won't have to fight for their mother tongue.