Welcome~
At last, today, I’m going to post about how to introduce yourself in Bahasa Indonesia.
Mind you, I don’t know how introduction is presented in formal Bahasa Indonesia textbook. The one(s) I’m posting today leans more towards what I know and have done myself, especially during my school years.
A lot of new words are going to appear, so prepare your notebook!
First, when greeting others, you can say halo, which means ‘hello’. You can also use different greetings according to the time of the day, like in the case of good morning/afternoon/evening. We can say selamat pagi (like ‘good morning’, used from dawn till 10 AM), selamat siang (like ‘good day’, used from after 10 AM to before 4 PM), selamat sore (like ‘good afternoon’, used after 4 PM to 6 PM), and selamat malam (like ‘good evening’, used after 6 PM till dawn the next day).
Notice that I used ‘like’ when translating the greeting. That’s because the time classification, as you can see, is not the same as in English. We sometimes also simply say pagi! or siang! when greeting someone else, especially when we are close or have to appear close to the other party.
Next, to introduce your name, you can say: Nama saya … (‘My name is …’) or just Saya … (‘I am …’). In a less formal setting, such as when you are told to get to know one another in a small group with no teacher or senior figure, you can exchange those two into Namaku … or Aku …. In an even more informal setting, you can just offer your name and a handshake if you’re in a one-on-one setting or simply a nod if you’re in a group.
For example, say your full name is Michael Wibisono and your nickname is Mikey. In a formal setting, you’d say Nama saya Michael Wibisono, biasa dipanggil Mikey. In a less formal setting, you can say Aku Michael Wibisono, panggil aja Mikey. In an even more informal setting, you can simply say Mikey while giving a handshake or a nod to those in the group.
Biasa dipanggil translates as ‘usually called’, and panggil aja is a casual way of saying ‘just call me’. The formal word for aja is actually saja, though some of us do have a habit of cutting off letter in some words to appear closer and friendlier.
Alright, next step: personal details.
To convey your age, you can say Saya berusia … tahun (‘I am … years old’). To be less formal, you can say Umurku … tahun (‘My age is … years old’) or Aku … tahun (‘I am … years old’). Usia and umur both mean ‘age’.
To convey birth date and place, you can say Saya lahir pada tanggal … di … (‘I was born on … at …’). To be less formal, you can say Aku lahir tanggal … di …, and both have the same translation in English. The first blank is filled with the date, while the second blank is filled with the place, either city or country if you’re a foreigner. As for how to say the date, you can check my next post. If you want to say the year of your birth only, and not your entire birth date, simple exchange tanggal (date) with tahun (year). It is also okay to reverse the order, so you say the place before the date. It’ll become Saya lahir di … pada tanggal ….
To convey where you live, you can say Saya tinggal di … (‘I live at …’). To be less formal, you can say Rumahku di … (‘My house is at …’). You can follow both format with simply your country or city, or even your address. If you say Saya/Aku tinggal bersama …, it means ‘I live with …’, and is followed by family members you live with at that house. If you live alone there, I don’t recommend commenting about it.
To express your profession, you can say Saya seorang … (‘I am a …’) or just Aku … (‘I am …’), followed by your profession. If you’re a high school student, you can say Saya seorang siswa SMA. If you’re a university student, you can say Saya seorang mahasiswa. If you’re an office worker, you can say Saya seorang pekerja kantoran. If you’re a teacher, you can say Saya seorang guru.
Both of those expressions can be followed with the place of your employment, simply by adding di after your profession. If you introduce yourself as part of your company, you can use dari instead of di. For example: Saya seorang dokter dari Rumah Sakit A (‘I am a doctor from A hospital’) or Aku pelajar dari SMA B (‘I am a student from B High School’).
Alright, I think that’s enough for personal details.
Lastly, to close your introduction, you can say nothing, but you can also say Senang bertemu dengan Anda (‘Delighted to meet you’).
When parting from those older or in higher position then you, I think it is politer to wait for the other party to excuse you. When parting with friends or those you are close with, the formal term is Selamat tinggal (‘Goodbye’) or Sampai jumpa (‘See you later’). However, when parting with friends, it is friendlier to say Dadah! or Dah! (‘Bye!’). Nowadays, a lot of people also use other languages to convey this, most frequently the English term ‘Bye-bye’. By the way, I think the word Dadah came into this usage because it also means the position when you’re waving your hand when seeing someone off. It might also come from the last syllable of sudah, which means ‘done’.
If the other party is going somewhere else after parting with you, you can also say Hati-hati di jalan (‘Be careful on the road’). You can also end a conversation with a gratitude by saying Terima kasih or Makasih (‘Thank you’ or ‘Thanks’). The formal reply to Terima kasih is Sama-sama or Terima kasih kembali (‘You’re welcome’).
Alright, I think we’ve covered the important parts necessary when introducing yourself in Bahasa Indonesia. Just remember to be polite when talking to someone older or in a higher position, but try to be casual and not too formal with those close to you. I myself have been told that my way of speaking and writing towards friends is quite stiff, as if I try to put a distance between us (…not exactly wrong, though (◔‿◔)).
Anyway, that’s all for today’s post. Keep on practicing!
Semangat~
Trivia:
To say ‘Good night’ before going to bed, you can say Selamat tidur.
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