In Reply to: Oh, and there are 3 levels of Basa Bali posted by Charliebalibear on Sunday, 17. June 2012 at 12:45 Bali Time:
I once spoke to a Raja in Bali who told me that it would take me five years to learn to speak Bahasa Bali and only one year to speak Bahasa Indonesia.
On another occasion, I was talking to a Balinese journalist. He told me that if he was speaking to a stranger who was Balinese, he would have to ask four questions in Bahasa Indonesia before he could speak to them in Balinese, viz:
Q1. What is your name?
Q2. What area of Bali are you from?
Q3. What is your Father's name?
Q4. What is your Uncle's name?
These questions would establish the caste of the person and what regional dialect of Bahasa Bali was appropriate.