Here are some effective mnemonic (memory) techniques to help you remember vocabulary. They take some work, but you'll be rewarded with a fast-growing vocabulary.
Further down are some even easier words - 
Word association.
Any kind of word association can help you in the early stages of remembering a word. The most effective associations are ones that are vivid, emotional, funny and/or shocking. 
"Note: this section is under construction, and formatting decisions haven't been finalised. Feel free to add your suggestions. If you don't understand the table formatting, just try your best; otherwise, add your suggestion below the table."
Sometimes there is no exact association that comes to mind. If you're keen to use the technique, you might find an association that's rather distant or twisted, but close enough to help:
Similar words to English.
"Note: This section needs to be arranged in sections - perhaps topics and word types will be more useful than "Words spelt the same as English" and "Nearly the same." It is suggested, however, that "Less common words" be kept separate, as an advanced vocabulary list."
Words spelt the same as English.
Remember, just because it's spelt the same, doesn't mean it's pronounced in exactly the same way. Indonesians pronounce things far more phonetically (pronouncing each letter in the standard way with few exceptions). If you use English pronunciation, people may or may not understand you, so it's far better to follow the rules of Indonesian pronunciation, according to how the word is spelt. 
Note also that although the words may look like English, they still follow Indonesian rules of word order (blue radio = "radio biru") and construction (to carry on a dialogue = "berdialog"). 
Modern technology.
There are several abbreviations which are not pronounced in standard Indonesian form, but rather mimic English pronunciation: 
Music.
Note, major musical terms in English, such as jazz and rock, are widely recognized.
Uncertain.
These words need to be confirmed before being added above - are these words commonly used in Indonesian?
Scientific & academic terms.
Note, major scientific & academic terms are often very similar to English, including fields of study such as biology, geology. planet names (apart from bumi = earth). Remember that the pronunciation follows Indonesian rules - don't relax and think you know the word, and read the word as if it were English! 
Less common words (advanced vocab).
Many technical and philosophical words are also the same, or are formed in predictable ways. E.g. -ization becomes "-isasi", so globalization becomes "globalisasi".
Guide to guessing.
Try in your usual pronunciation of the English word, with an Indonesian accent as best you can, and see if it's recognized (then take note how //they// pronounce it). If that doesn't work, try pronouncing the word if read with Indonesian pronunciation rules. 
Why do so many words sound the same?
"Just for your interest:"
You may be wondering why many words sound similar in Indonesian and English. Most or all of these words have come to Indonesian as loan-words from other languages, especially European languages, and most especially Dutch. (See Loan words in Indonesian on Wikipedia) Realising the connection might sometimes makes it easier to remember the words. 
Words that appear to have similar origins (lacking confirmation - please supply references if possible)
For example:
Portuguese: tenda
Sanskrit and Hindi: Sanskrit is an Indo-European language and shares a common origin with Latin and most other European languages. There is an additional influence from Hindi on English due to the British colonization of India. E.g. The English word pundit derives from the Hindi word for a priest (and Sanskrit before that) and probably has a common origin with "pendeta". "(reference needed)"
Menteri (government minister) derives from Sanskrit, and the Malay word menteri is in turn the origin of the English word "Mandarin" (official) 
Words derived from Indonesian or Malay:

Enseignement de l'indonésien/Chansons pour enfants

Les Chansons pour enfants sont un bon moyen d'apprendre les bases de la langue. 
Topi saya bundar.
Another popular childrens' song sung to the same tune as "Burung Kakatua", often as a second verse.
"Saya" = Je/moi, topi = chapeau, donc "Topi saya" = mon chapeau. 
Lihat juga (Voir aussi).
Une page sur les chansons pour enfant sur Wikilivre en indonésien
Liste des chansons pour enfants en indonésien sur Wikipedia en indonésien

Enseignement de l'indonésien/Exceptions aux règles de prononciation

Examples.
Three ways to pronounce "e":
Two ways to pronounce "o":
Catatan "(Note)".
The Indonesian language lacks the letters "q", "v", "x", and "z". These letters were incorporated to accomodate foreign words. Even "f" is due to the influence of the Arabic alphabet.
A pair of the same vowel in succession are pronounced differently than just prolonging the vowel sound; rather, there is a slight pause between the vowels. For example: The word , which means "sorry", is pronounced as "ma" (slight pause) "af".
There are four compound consonants (diphtongs): "ng", "ny", "kh", and "sy". Although they do not constitute new letters, they are pronounced differently:
As is the case with the standalone letters, only "ng" and "ny" are native to Indonesian. Both "kh" and "sy" only appear in words with Arabic origin.
Examples.
 (= River) → "Soft ng"
 (= Proud) → "Hard ng", note the "ngg"
 (= A lot)
 (= End)
 (= The Creator/God, mainly used in poems)
Go to Exercise: Indonesian Rhymes
Tahu & tahu.
Tahu meaning "know": the h is silent, and the word is pronounced to rhyme with "bau" (smell) (i.e. similarly to the English word Tao (Chinese philosophy).)
Tahu meaning "tofu" is pronounced "tah-who"
You can practice saying "Saya tidak tahu. Saya bukan tahu." The pronunciation should be different in the two cases.
Final "ai".
In everyday Indonesian, the "ai" at the end of a root word is pronounced as e or ek (the k being a glottal stop, not an aspirated k). In informal writing (e.g. email) Indonesians sometimes spell this way as well, e.g. "capek" instead of "capai".
Teacher's notes.
It is advisable to distribute this material through other lessons, rather than learning all these exceptions at once.

Enseignement de l'indonésien/Leçons/Introduction

= Halo! - Introduction à l'indonésien =
Enseignement de l'indonésien/Leçons/Niveau Un

If you haven't done so already, spend a few minutes to first read the course's introductory lessons. Once that's done, you're ready to begin your very first traditional Indonesian lesson! After you have completed this level, you can move on to the next level. Finally, go to the lessons planning page if you would like to help improve this course.
= Ayo! - Basic Indonesian =

Enseignement de l'indonésien/À propos
Downloadable and Print Versions.
If a lesson, grammar page, appendix, ot text has been added or the name of an existing page has been changed, please update the print version.
History.
Roby Joehanes initiated this wikibook in 2003. However, unhappy with the collaboration in Wikibook, he resigned in late 2003. This wikibook is then developed by 
Authors.
The Indonesian textbook was started by 
Edit: If you look at Robby Jo's profile, it states that he has given up contributing to WikiBooks Indonesia. Although he will be sorely missed [from this place], his presence is much needed. Either we petition for him to come back, or we continue this great Wiki from where he left off ~Cheetincheetah
Other Contributors:

Enseignement de l'indonésien/Leçons/Planning