If you're an Indonesian speaker learning English, you're in an interesting position. You've actually got a lot going for you — shared Latin alphabet, many English cognates, and a grammar system that's familiar in some ways (no grammatical gender, relatively simple word order). But there are certain English features that consistently trip up Indonesian learners, and most textbooks don't address them specifically.

After working with hundreds of Indonesian English learners over the past four years — from university students in Yogyakarta to marketing professionals in Jakarta to expats in Singapore — we've identified the top 10 recurring mistakes. For each one, we'll explain why it happens, show you the difference between the incorrect and correct form, and give you a simple practice exercise you can do right now.

If you're learning both languages (English and Indonesian at the same time, maybe following our best Indonesian apps guide or our language exchange recommendations), you know the frustration of false friends and grammatical interference. This guide is your cheat sheet for the English side of that equation.

Why Indonesian Speakers Struggle with English

Before we dive into the mistakes, let's understand why these errors happen. Language transfer theory tells us that when you learn a second language, the habits and patterns of your first language (L1) interfere with and shape how you learn the new one (L2). Sometimes this is a positive transfer (Indonesian and English both use Subject-Verb-Object word order, for example), but more often it's negative — you carry habits from L1 into L2 where they don't work.

Here's how Indonesian features affect English learning:

Every mistake on this list traces back to one of these language transfer issues. Now let's fix them.

Top 10 Common English Mistakes from Indonesian Speakers (and Fixes)

1. Articles: Forgetting "a/an/the" or Using the Wrong One

This is the #1 mistake by a mile. Indonesian has zero articles, so your brain simply doesn't generate them automatically. You know they exist from textbooks, but remembering to insert the right one in the right place requires conscious effort.

How to fix it: Do an "article check" after every sentence you write. Ask: "Do I need a/an/the here?" If the noun is singular and countable, yes. If there are no articles (like Indonesian), you're missing one. It takes conscious effort at first, but becomes automatic over time.

Practice now: Take the following sentences and add the correct article. Answers below.

1. I met ___ nice girl at ___ coffee shop yesterday.
2. ___ Jakarta is capital of Indonesia.
3. He wants to be ___ engineer.

(Answers: 1. a, a | 2. [no article!], the | 3. an — wait! Look at the sound: "engineer" starts with a vowel sound /e/, so "an")

2. Verb Tense Conjugation — Especially Third-Person Singular "-s"

In Indonesian, "go" is always "pergi" — "I go," "she goes," "they went" all use the same verb. In English, verbs change depending on tense and subject. The most forgotten change is the third-person singular "-s" (he/she/it + present simple).

How to fix it: Create a mental checklist. Every time you write a present simple verb, ask: "Is the subject he, she, or it?" If yes, add "-s" (or "-es" for verbs ending in s/x/ch/sh — goes, watches, fixes).

Practice now: Write these verbs in third-person singular present simple: (1) teach, (2) do, (3) carry, (4) have. (Answers: teaches, does, carries, has — "have" becomes "has," the only irregular one)

3. Tense Errors: Mixing Past Simple and Present Perfect

This is a tough one. Indonesian has no tense system — it uses time words (sudah = already, akan = will) but never changes the verb. English has 12 tenses, and knowing which one to use is a major challenge. The most common confusion is between Past Simple (did something at a specific past time) and Present Perfect (did something at an unspecified time in the past, or has a result in the present).

How to fix it: If you can say when something happened, use Past Simple (yesterday, last week, in 2020, when I was a child). If you can't say when it happened (or it doesn't matter), use Present Perfect (ever, never, already, yet, just, recently). Make flashcards for the irregular past participles — there are about 40 common ones (go-gone, eat-eaten, do-done, see-seen, write-written).

4. Prepositions (in / on / at)

Indonesian uses "di" for both "in" and "on," and English prepositional rules seem completely arbitrary. You're not imagining this — English prepositions are genuinely one of the most difficult parts of the language to master, even for advanced learners.

How to fix it: Learn prepositions in patterns, not rules. Make a cheat sheet for the ones you use most often: [IN] cities/countries, months, years, enclosed spaces | [ON] days, dates, surfaces | [AT] times, addresses. Add 5 new collocations (preposition + noun) per week to your flashcards: "in the morning," "on the weekend," "at home," "for example," "interested in."

5. Plural and Singular Nouns

In Indonesian, you make nouns plural by doubling them: buku-buku (books). But you can also just leave them singular if the context makes it obvious. English always marks countable nouns as plural when referring to more than one — there are no exceptions.

How to fix it: Every time you write a number (many, few, some, two, five), automatically check: does the noun need an "-s"? If the number is more than one, yes. Mass nouns (water, rice, information) are never plural — you can't have "informations" or "rices."

6. Passive Voice Structure

Indonesian passive voice is fairly straightforward (kata kerja + di- prefix). English passive voice requires the correct form of "to be" plus the past participle. Indonesian learners very often skip the "to be" verb entirely.

7. Pronunciation: The "R" Sound

Indonesian has a flap R sound (similar to a soft "d" or "tt" in American English "butter"). English has two very different R sounds — the American "retroflex" R (the hard one you make by curling your tongue back) and the British "tap" R. Indonesian speakers typically substitute their Indonesian flap R for English R, which makes it difficult for native speakers to understand words like "red," "river," and "restaurant."

How to fix it: Here's a trick from speech therapists: hold a pencil horizontally in front of your teeth. Now try to say "red" — the pencil forces your tongue back, producing the English R sound. Practice the pairs: red vs. led, rice vs. lice, berry vs. belly. Shadow a native English speaker saying these words on YouTube — mimic every movement of their mouth.

8. Pronunciation: The "TH" Sound (θ and ð)

Indonesian has no "th" sound at all. Indonesian speakers almost always replace it with "t" or "d": "tink" instead of "think," "dis" instead of "this," "den" instead of "then."

How to fix it: The "th" sound is made by placing the tip of your tongue between your upper and lower teeth and blowing air out (for the voiceless θ sound in "think, thin, three") or vibrating your vocal cords while doing the same (for the voiced ð sound in "this, that, then"). Practice with these minimal pairs: think vs. tink, thin vs. tin, this vs. dis, then vs. den.

9. Pronunciation: The "V" Sound

Indonesian "v" is actually pronounced more like "f" (the same sound as English "f"). So Indonesian speakers often say "fery" instead of "very," or "fanilla" instead of "vanilla."

How to fix it: For "v," your top teeth touch your bottom lip and you vibrate your vocal cords (voice it). For "f," it's the same position but no vibration. Practice: put your fingers on your throat — when you say "v," your throat vibrates; when you say "f," it doesn't.

10. False Friends (Aktual ≠ Actually!)

False friends are words that look similar in two languages but mean completely different things. Indonesian and English have quite a few dangerous ones, thanks to their shared Latin roots and centuries of language contact. Here are the most problematic ones for Indonesian speakers:

How to fix it: Make a false friends list in your notebook. Every time you discover one, write down both meanings with example sentences. Add 1–2 new false friends to your flashcards each week. This is something even advanced learners trip up on — stay vigilant!

Practice Exercises: Self-Correction Routine

Now that you know the top 10 mistakes, let's turn that knowledge into habit. Here's a 5-minute daily routine to build self-correction skills:

  1. 5 minutes: Write 5–8 sentences about your day or a topic you're interested in. Don't worry about being perfect — just write.
  2. 2 minutes: Go through your sentences with a highlighter and mark every article (a/an/the), every present simple verb, every preposition, and every plural noun.
  3. 2 minutes: Check each highlighted item against the rules above. Did you use the right article? Did you add "-s" to third-person singular verbs? Did you use the right preposition?
  4. 1 minute: If you found a mistake, write the correct sentence below the incorrect one. Say both out loud.

That's it. Ten minutes total. Do this every day and you'll see your accuracy improve dramatically within 2–3 weeks. For bonus points, find a language exchange partner (see our free exchange platforms) to correct your written sentences 2–3 times per week. Native speakers notice patterns we don't.

The Bigger Picture: Embrace Your Interference

One last thing. We've spent this whole article talking about mistakes, but here's a mindset shift we want to leave you with: your Indonesian background isn't a liability for English — it's a superpower.

You have access to a massive amount of English vocabulary (cognates like "informasi," "komputer," "universitas" give you a 3,000+ word head start). You're learning two languages simultaneously, which builds brain plasticity and deep metalinguistic awareness (you start noticing how languages work, not just what they say). And if you've already tackled Indonesian (which, as we explain in Article 12, is genuinely one of the easiest languages for English speakers), you've proven you can learn foreign languages — you just need to apply those same habits in the other direction.

Embrace the mistakes. They're data points. Every one of the errors on this list is a specific, fixable gap in your knowledge — not a sign that you're bad at languages. Use this guide as your reference. Keep a false friends notebook. Do the 10-minute daily routine. Practice speaking with native partners. And watch how fast you progress.

Good luck — semoga berhasil!