Nee's Language Blog

Search This Blog

Posts

Find a teacher

Colonial Legacy and Language Priority

Posted by Teddy Nee on August 01, 2026

Get link
Facebook
X
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps

Afrikaans language: A Dutch offspring in Africa

Posted by Teddy Nee on May 25, 2025

africa colonization europe introduction netherlands south africa

Get link
Facebook
X
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps

Videos

Contact Form

Name

Email *

Message *

Teddy Nee

Visit profile

Languages

English
Bahasa Indonesia
ملايو
中文
Español
Esperanto
Português
Français
Italiano
Kreyòl Ayisyen
Tok Pisin
Basa Jawa

Translate

iRent 24 Hour Car Rental

Referral Code ir2915716

Labels

abjad
abugida
academia
accent
activity
advantage
affiliate
africa
african
afrikaans

albanian
alien
alphabet
america
american sign language
amis
ancient
antique
arab
arabic
aramaic
artificial
arts
asia
asian
audio
austronesian
auxiliary
balinese
baltic
bangladesh
batak
batan
batanes
baybayin
belize
bilingual
book
brahmi
british
brunei
bulgarian
burmese
cambodia
canada
canadian
cantonese
catalan
Cecilia Chen
central asia
certificate
challenge
chavacano
children
chile
china
chinese
civilization
class
colonization
communication
community
computer
conference
congress
conlang
constructed
conversation
creole
culture
cursive
czech
danish
deaf
development
discussion
disparity
duolingo
dutch
east asia
education
elefen
embassy
empire
employment
english
esperanto
ethnic
etymology
europe
european
event
evolution
exam
exchange
experience
family
fantasy
fast
fiction
filipino
finnish
foreign
foreigners
french
friendship
fujianese
galician
gathering
german
germanic
gesture
gilbertese
global
globalization
glossika
government
grammar
greek
guest post
haiti
haitian creole
hakka
hebrew
heritage
hindi
history
hobby
hokkien
hungarian
icon
identity
ielts
immigration
india
indian
indonesia
indonesian
international
internet
interslavic
interview
introduction
invention
irish
israel
italian
italki
japanese
javanese
jawi
jennai
jewish
job
kazakh
kiribatese
klingon
knowledge
korean
kriol
kyrgyz
language
latin
latvian
law
learning
lfn
linguist
linguistics
listen
listening
lithuanian
local
lontara
macau
malay
malayalam
malaysia
mandarin
market
marshallese
medan
medical
meetup
melanesia
memorization
mentality
method
methodology
middle east
mind
mindset
minority
mirandese
misconception
money
mongolian
montenegrin
motivation
multilingual
multilingualism
myanmar
nauruan
nepali
netherlands
news
nigeria
north sumatera
norwegian
official
online
oppression
outerspace
overseas
pacific
palauan
pangcah
party
penang
persian
personality
perspective
philippines
phrase
phrasebook
pictures
pingtung
poland
polish
politician
politics
polyglot
polynesia
portuguese
poverty
power
presentation
professional
pronunciation
quechua
read
reading
reason
refugees
religion
research
resources
review
reward
rohingya
romance
romanian
russian
salary
samoan
sanskrit
school
sentence
serbian
service
sichuanese
sign
sign language
silk road
singapore
sinhala
sitelen emoji
slang
slavic
social media
society
solomon islands
song
south africa
south america
south asia
south east asia
southeast
southeast asia
southern china
spanish
speak
speaking
speech
startup
statistics
story
study
style
sumatera
sundanese
swahili
swazi
sweden
swedish
swiss
switzerland
system
tagalog
taipei
taiwan
taiwanese
tamil
taoyuan
teacher
teaching
technique
technology
text
thai
thailand
theory
tibetan
toefl
tok pisin
toki pona
tool
touch
tourism
translated
translated arabic
translated burmese
translated czech
translated dutch
translated finnish
translated german
translated italian
translated japanese
translated kazakh
translated korean
translated latvian
translated lithuanian
translated mongolian
translated nepali
translated persian
translated polish
translated portuguese
translated romanian
translated russian
translated sinhala
translated spanish
translated swedish
translated tagalog
translated tamil
translated thai
translated turkish
translation
translator
travel
turkic
turkish
turkmen
tuvalu
tuvaluan
ukrainian
universal
urdu
video
vietnam
vietnamese
virtual
visual
Viva
vocabulary
welsh
western
westernization
whitewash
word
world
writing
zulu

Show more Show less

Subscribe to our mailing list

Online courses

Read my books

Achievements

Since March 24th, 2013

Donation

Learn Chinese Mandarin with Cecilia Chen

Shop

NLB merchandise
by Nee's Store

Friends

Cesco Reale

-
GMAT Coach

-

Medan Hokkien

Medan Hokkien is a vibrant and distinct dialect of the Hokkien language, primarily spoken by the Chinese Indonesian community in Medan, the capital city of North Sumatra, Indonesia. This dialect is a testament to the region's rich cultural tapestry, reflecting a history of migration, trade, and cultural exchange. History Medan Hokkien's roots can be traced back to the Hokkien-speaking areas of Southern Fujian province in China, particularly the Zhangzhou region. The dialect evolved significantly, especially during the 18th and 19th centuries when trade between the eastern coasts of Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula flourished. The influx of Chinese laborers, mainly from Penang, brought the Hokkien dialect, which mingled with the local languages and customs, giving rise to the unique variant we know today as Medan Hokkien. Medan Hokkien is a means of communication and a carrier of cultural identity for the Chinese Indonesian community. It encapsulates the history of migration, the...

Esperanto: Saluton!

I had heard and read about Esperanto before, but did not pay much attention to it until today, when I watched several videos about Esperanto. You may question what kind or which country's language Esperanto is. How important is this language for the society? How did everything begin? How many Esperanto speakers there are in this world? Can Esperanto be one of the major languages in the global business market like Chinese and English?

6 Local Writing Systems in Indonesia

Indonesia is a vast country in Southeast Asia that anyone can recognize easily on the map because it borders the sea, thus its country border is also the sea border. Hundreds of ethnic groups and languages exist in Indonesia. Despite having numerous writing systems, the government recognizes the Latin alphabet as the official writing system, which was introduced during the colonization by the Europeans.

Indonesian language from Medan city

Medan has a unique language that can be confusing for foreigners. It's neither pure Batak nor pure Malay, but rather a blend of various cultures, making it even more distinctive. To help you better understand and avoid awkwardness when interacting with Medan residents, here's a list of Indonesian words from the city. From transportation terms to iconic phrases, they'll instantly make you feel like a local. Transportation & Places Becak Hantu = Motorized rickshaw that goes very fast Galon = Gas Station Kede Aceh = Grocery shop (usually owned by Acehnese people) Kede Sampah = Small shop selling vegetables and kitchen necessities Kereta = Motorbike Monja/Monza = Place selling imported used clothes (origin of the word: Monginsidi Plaza) Pajak = Market (place for buying and selling vegetables, meat, or basic necessities) Pasar = Paved highway Pinggir! = Said to the public transport driver when a passenger wants to get off Simpang = Crossroads or three-way intersections Temba...

A unique group of Chinese Indonesian: Why are they still able to converse fluently in Hokkien after most areas have been "Indonesianized"?

Before visiting Medan, Indonesia, like many non-Indonesians who have never visited Medan, I thought that the local Chinese were highly Indonesianized, just like other parts of Indonesia such as Jakarta, Surabaya and Bandung. Therefore, when I visited Medan for the first time in 2009, I was deeply surprised by the fact that most of the local Chinese, including children, speak fluent Hokkien, as Hokkien is also my father's native dialect.

Nauruan Language

The Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a two-day event promoting the Asia-Pacific culture in the capital city of Taiwan, Taipei City, on September 28-29th. The participants come from the Solomon Islands, the Philippines, the Marshall Islands, Vietnam, Tuvalu, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, New Zealand, Palau, Nauru, Malaysia, Kiribati, Japan, Indonesia, India, Fiji, and Brunei. Apart from performing dances from each country, the participants also displayed a wide variety of handicrafts and artworks as well as authentic cuisine at each country's booth.

Fast way to learn Tamil alphabet

I have wanted to learn Tamil for a long time, but lack of motivation hindered my progress. I struggled to decide whether to learn the alphabet first or go straight to the conversation using romanization. I felt demotivated whenever I looked at the alphabet chart. The Tamil alphabet has 13 vowels and 18 consonants, and many combinations of these vowels and consonants. I thought to myself how am I going to remember all of this?

I speak 4 languages in Penang Malaysia and I shall learn 1 more language

I spoke 4 languages: Hokkien, Indonesian, English, and Mandarin on my recent trip to Penang. There was no communication barrier since the Penangnites are mostly multilingual too, at least, they know a bit of each language. They are also familiar with the Indonesian language because of the many tourists from Indonesia, either for tourism or medical checkups. I had learnt Tamil before but it was not enough for me to have a conversation yet. I will learn Tamil more seriously from now on, so I can use it on my next trip to Penang.

5 Famous Polyglots and Their Learning Techniques

You may have watched videos of people speaking in multiple languages. Some of them even call themselves hyperpolyglots. Whether they really can speak fluently or not, we don't know unless we test them. However, here I shall present 5 renowned polyglots that have been on the news, in the community worldwide and have proved their exceptional linguistic capabilities.

Medan Chinese: The most controversial community in Indonesia

The author was born in Binjai on August 22, 1959, but grew up in Medan. His youth was spent as a journalist at Analisa Daily for 11 years. During his career as a journalist, he won various writing competitions both at the North Sumatra and national levels. After from Analisa Daily , he worked as an entrepreneur and had time to lead the Medan Bisnis Daily and the Global Daily.

Posts

Find a teacher

Random posts

Videos

Contact Form