Learn how to greet someone properly in Indonesian as well as show you how to address someone from Indonesia properly, whether by caste name, birth name, or birth-order name
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Gina: Hi everyone, Gina here, and welcome to IndonesianPod101.com. This is Basic Bootcamp, Lesson 1 - Self Introductions - Basic Greetings in Indonesian. This is the first lesson of a five-part series that will help you ease your way into Indonesian. |
| Fira: Halo! Nama Saya Fira. Hello, I’m Fira! That’s right, we’ll go over all the basics to help you to understand Indonesian. |
| Gina: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to introduce yourself in Indonesian. |
| Fira: In the dialogue, Edi and Tuti are going to introduce themselves. Since they are not friends, they will be using formal Indonesian. |
| Gina: Ok, let’s listen to the conversation. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Gina: So, what should we know when we meet Indonesian people? |
| Fira: There are a few other things to point out. Firstly, your handshake should not be firm – rather, it should be something the Indonesians call "halus," or "refined." |
| Gina: Right. It seems the more refined the handshake, the better. Simply hold the person’s hand briefly and lightly. |
| Fira: Secondly, if you’re a man being introduced to a Muslim woman - remember that Muslims make up about ninety percent of the population - wait for her to put her hand out before you shake hands. |
| Fira: Otherwise, bow your head slightly and acknowledge her. There’s also another point I’d like to make about handshakes. |
| Gina: Oh - is it about never using the left hand? |
| Fira: Ah, yes. Indonesia is a strictly right-handed country, so never offer your left hand to do anything important, like receiving items – and handshakes! |
| Gina: That’s right. You’ll also notice that many people put their hands on their heart after shaking hands – as a custom, they are bringing the pleasure of meeting you to their hearts. Isn’t that rather heartwarming? |
| Fira: I think so! |
| Gina: Okay, let’s move onto the vocab. |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Gina: Let’s take a look at the usage of the words and phrases from in this lesson. The first word is "hello". Well, many people nowadays have borrowed the English words "hello" and "hi" to say hello, but these aren’t really appropriate. And anyway, there’s an Indonesian way of saying "hello." It is… |
| Fira: "Apa kabar." (slowly) "A-pa ka-bar." |
| Gina: Literally, this means, "What’s the news?" but this is the standard way of saying "hello" in Indonesian – anytime, anywhere. Next, we have the expression for "my name." And we say it like this... |
| Fira: "Nama saya" (slowly) "Nama saya" |
| Gina: It literally means ‘My name..’ |
| Fira: After that, you can put your name at the end. Very simple, right? |
| Gina: Yes, indeed. And finally, we have the expression, "It’s nice to meet you," which is… |
| Fira: "Senang bertemu dengan anda." Let’s break this down. Senang means ‘happy or pleased’ and bertemu means ‘to meet’. Together, Senang bertemu means ‘happy to meet.’ Next, ‘dengan’ means ‘with’ and ‘anda’ means ‘you’. So ‘dengan anda’ means ‘with you. All together, Senang bertemu dengan anda means |
| Gina: “It’s nice to meet you”. What’s next, Fira? |
| Fira: Kenalan" comes from the verb "kenal," which means "to become acquainted with someone." So, "kenalan" means "the making of an acquaintance.” |
| Fira: Okay, now let’s move on to the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Gina: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to introduce yourself in Indonesian. |
| Fira: Firstly, let’s introduce your name. "Nama saya Fira." "My name’s Fira." |
| Gina: Notice that there is nothing equivalent to the English verb "to be" here. Don’t worry about that right now, though. We’ll deal with it in our next lesson. Now this is how you would introduce yourself in Indonesian. |
| Fira: And also note that it’s usually your given name. And in some cases in Indonesia, that might be a person’s only name. |
| Gina: In many places, for example, the island of Java, many families do not have the concept of a "family name" or "surname." |
| Fira: That’s right. It’s true that many people there have two or three names, but none of them are family names. And if you go to some of the smaller towns and villages, you’ll find that many people only have one name. |
| Gina: And in Bali, the situation is slightly different again. Most Balinese names are composed of the caste title, the birth order name, and then the given name. Many people from the higher castes like to be called by their caste title, while others prefer to be called by their birth order name. |
| Fira: And there are only a handful of these. |
| Gina: Also, it’s considered very rude for a stranger to call a Balinese person by his or her real given name. In general, many Indonesians use nicknames with family, friends, and strangers. |
| Fira: Well, since this is our very first lesson, why don’t I give you a practice conversation now? |
| Gina: That’s a great idea. Let’s try these expressions out. |
| Fira: "Apa kabar. Nama saya Fira." |
| Gina: This is "Hello. My name’s Fira." |
| Fira: If your name is “David”, you can say "Apa kabar. Nama saya... [David]", so it becomes... |
| Gina: "Hello. My name’s…[David]" |
| Fira: Then you can say, "Senang bertemu dengan anda." which means... |
| Gina: "Nice to meet you." |
| Fira: "Senang bertemu dengan anda." Well listeners, how was it? I hope it wasn’t too scary! |
| Gina: I think it was a piece of cake! Anyway, remember you can always check the lesson notes to reinforce what you’ve learned in this lesson. |
Outro |
| Gina: Okay, that’s it for this lesson. Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next time. |
| Fira: Sampai ketemu lagi. |
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