No. Not the way English speaker spell an I. Definitely not. It is not the correct way to pronounce vowel I in Indonesian.
Both are very different.
For example, let’s the simple word in English, an “I”. How do you spell this single vowel word? Yes. It is. You can hear the sound coming out from your mouth as “ay”.
It is like there is an “y” sound sliding out when the vowel spelled.
Please check again the below words
- Anti
- Ice
- Mine
This is not the sound when an Indonesian’s I is pronounced.
How to pronounce vowel I In Indonesian?
So, how?
Actually not all I’s sound in English is different from the same vowel in Indonesian. Quite many words will provide similar sound.
Please take a look at below words
- Sensitive
- Active
- Practice
- Tin
This is so close.
Also, you can hear the same sound when you spell below words
- See
- Bee
- Keen
- Sea
- Teen
All of those words can represent the sound of Indonesian’s “I”.
Easy, right? I believe it is easy.
So, why don’t we start the practice to pronounce vowel I in Indonesian. I prepared 10 words as usual. The first is the words that use only vowel I but the other 5 are a combination with other two vowel “A” and “U”. As usual I also embedded an audio file (small size one that you need not to worry it will slow down your mobile phones).
You can read articles how to spell or pronounce Indonesian vowel “A” and “U” in below links
Shall we start the practice? Here is the words
The first
| WORDS | SYLLABLES | MEANING |
|---|---|---|
| INI | I-NI | THIS |
| KINI | KI-NI | NOWADAYS |
| MINI | MI-NI | MINI;SMALL SIZE |
| BIBI | BI-BI | AN AUNT |
| BIJI | BI-JI | SEED |
Check if the pronunciation of yours are close to mine in below audio
The second (Combination with A or U)
| WORDS | SYLLABLES | MEANING |
|---|---|---|
| BISA | BI-SA | CAN, POISON |
| BISU | BI-SU | MUTE |
| KITA | KI-TA | US/OURS |
| IBU | I-BU | A MOTHER |
| CARI | CA-RI | FIND |
This is the audio for your checking.
I hope my voice is enjoyable (LOL), I meant clear enough for you. I hope so.
Please keep on practice guys and gals. I do hope that someday, you will come to Indonesian and we can chat in Indonesian, not in English. Step by step but I am sure it can be done.
See you in next vowel ..:D!