VOWELS

a is always pronounced like the English /a/ in ‘bar’; ‘far’; ‘car’. examples:  saya (I), kita (we), mereka (they)

i  is always pronounced like the English /ee/ in ‘see’; ‘meet’. examples: ini (this), kini (now), mini (mini)

u is always pronounced like the English /oo/ in ‘booth’; ‘hook’. examples: buku (book), pintu (door)

There are two ways of pronouncing the letter /e/ :

A weak one like the English /e/ in ‘payment’; ‘her.  examples: mentah (raw), pening (dizzy), emas (gold)

the other one is pronounced like the English /e/ in ‘pen’; ‘bet’ examples: merah(red), enak(delicious)

o is like the English /o/ in ‘mold’; ‘cold’ examples: toko(store), rokok (cigarette), obat (medicine)

CONSONANTS

c is pronounced like the English /ch/ in ‘cheer’ examples: cemas (worry), cerdas (smart) 

g is pronounced like the English /g/ in ‘golden’; ‘gulf’ examples: guru (teacher), gagal (fail)

j is pronounced like the English /j/ in ‘Jill’; ‘Jake’ examples: jelek (ugly), jawab (answer)

r is the rolled or trilled /r/ like the Italian or Spanish in ‘signora’; ‘senorita’ examples: ramah (polite), raih (reach), kabar (news)

h in initial position is pronounced clearly. In daily conversation is optionally audible like the English /h/ in hurricane examples: hutan (forest), hantu (ghost) 

h in medial position flanked by the same vowels is pronounced clearly examples: paham (understand), mahal (expensive) 

‘H’ in final position must be pronounced clearly otherwise the meaning changes. examples: marah (angry), pindah (move)

ng is pronounced like the English /ng/ in ‘bring’; ‘thing’ examples:. kuping (ear), terbang (fly)

ng +g is pronounced like the English /ng/ in ‘tango’; ‘finger’ examples:.bangga (proud), tunggu (wait)

ny is pronounced like the English ‘ny’ in ‘canyon’ examples:.banyak (many), penyakit (disease)

sy is pronounced like the English ‘sh’ in ‘show’; ‘sheperd’ examples:. syukur (grateful),

kh is pronounced like the Scottish ‘ch’ in ‘loch’. The words are mostly of Arabic origin examples: akhirat (afterlife), akhir (end), khusus (special)