Breakdown of Saya ikut kursus bahasa Indonesia tingkat menengah.
Questions & Answers about Saya ikut kursus bahasa Indonesia tingkat menengah.
Ikut literally means to join / to take part in / to attend.
In this sentence, Saya ikut kursus... is best translated as I’m taking / attending a course....
- ikut emphasizes joining/participating in an event or activity.
- belajar means to study/learn in general (not specifically “take a course”).
- Saya belajar bahasa Indonesia. = I study / am learning Indonesian.
- ambil (to take) can be used in some contexts, but for courses, ikut or mengikuti is more natural:
- Saya mengikuti kursus bahasa Indonesia. (more formal than ikut)
So ikut is the most natural everyday way to say you attend a course or class.
Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense. Saya ikut kursus... can mean:
- I take an Indonesian course. (habitual / general fact)
- I am taking an Indonesian course (now).
- I will take an Indonesian course. (future, depending on context)
The exact time is understood from context or from extra time words:
- Sekarang saya ikut kursus... = I am currently taking a course.
- Besok saya akan ikut kursus... = Tomorrow I will take a course.
- Dulu saya ikut kursus... = I used to take / I took a course (in the past).
The base verb ikut itself is tenseless.
Yes, you can say Saya mengikuti kursus bahasa Indonesia tingkat menengah.
Difference:
- ikut
- Short, common in everyday speech.
- Can be slightly more informal or neutral.
- mengikuti
- More formal / complete form.
- Often used in writing, official contexts, or more formal speech.
Meaning-wise, in this sentence they are basically the same: I take / I attend an intermediate Indonesian course.
The order follows a common Indonesian pattern: core noun → modifiers after it.
Breakdown:
- kursus = course (core noun)
- bahasa Indonesia = Indonesian language (what the course is about)
- tingkat menengah = intermediate level (type/level of the course)
So it’s:
- kursus (course)
→ of bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian language)
→ at tingkat menengah (intermediate level)
In English we put a lot of modifiers before the noun; Indonesian normally puts them after the noun.
Kursus bahasa Indonesia tingkat menengah is the most natural and common order.
Kursus tingkat menengah bahasa Indonesia is not wrong, but it sounds less natural and can feel slightly heavier or more formal, and might suggest more strongly “a course at the intermediate level, and that course is in Indonesian.”
In practice:
- kursus bahasa Indonesia tingkat menengah
= an intermediate Indonesian course (default phrasing) - kursus tingkat menengah bahasa Indonesia
= a course at intermediate level, namely in Indonesian (still understandable but less typical)
For learners, it’s safest to stick with the original order.
Yes, bahasa is necessary here.
- Indonesia by itself is the country.
- bahasa Indonesia is the Indonesian language.
So:
- Saya ikut kursus Indonesia.
Sounds like “I attend a course Indonesia” (strange / wrong). - Saya ikut kursus bahasa Indonesia.
= I take an Indonesian language course. (correct)
In writing, you will often see Bahasa Indonesia with capitals, especially as a subject name, although style guides differ. As a learner, use bahasa Indonesia to mean Indonesian (language).
You normally don’t need a separate word for a/an in Indonesian.
- Saya ikut kursus bahasa Indonesia tingkat menengah.
= I’m taking an intermediate Indonesian course.
You would only add something like sebuah, satu, etc. for emphasis or when you really need to stress the number:
- Saya ikut satu kursus bahasa Indonesia saja.
= I only take one Indonesian course. - Saya akan membuka sebuah kursus bahasa Indonesia.
(I’m going to open/start a course…) – here sebuah highlights “one (course)”.
In normal statements like yours, just kursus is natural.
Yes, you can, depending on context.
Indonesian often drops the subject pronoun when it’s clear from context who is being talked about.
- In a conversation where it’s already clear you are talking about yourself, you could say:
- Ikut kursus bahasa Indonesia tingkat menengah.
= (I) take an intermediate Indonesian course.
- Ikut kursus bahasa Indonesia tingkat menengah.
But:
- In isolation (e.g., first sentence of a text, or answering a form), Saya ikut... is clearer.
- In writing or more formal speech, including Saya is safer and more explicit.
These are related but not the same:
- kursus
A course or private/extra class, often outside regular school/university:- kursus bahasa, kursus komputer, kursus musik.
- kelas
- Can mean classroom, class session, or class group (Class 3A).
- Saya masuk kelas jam 9. = I go to class at 9.
- pelajaran
Means lesson / subject / the act of learning:- pelajaran matematika = math lesson / math subject.
- kuliah
Specifically university lecture/course:- Saya ikut kuliah ekonomi. = I attend an economics lecture/course.
Your sentence uses kursus because it’s about taking a course, often understood as a specific, organized language course (not just regular school subject).
You can say Saya belajar di kursus bahasa Indonesia tingkat menengah, but it slightly changes the structure:
- Saya ikut kursus...
= I take/attend a course... - Saya belajar di kursus...
= I study in/at a course...
Both are grammatical, but:
- The most natural way to say “I (am) taking an intermediate Indonesian course” is Saya ikut kursus...
- You do not normally say Saya ikut di kursus... — adding di after ikut is usually unnecessary and sounds odd here.
So, ikut kursus (without di) is the standard collocation.