The column “Mari Berbahasa Indonesia” or “Let’s Speak Bahasa Indonesia” aims to introduce some Indonesian vocabulary and guides you to use them in a conversation.
Today’s topic is Perkenalan or in English “Acquaintanceship”. The segment of Mari Berbahasa Indonesia has been made possible through cooperation between The Indonesian Embassy in Canberra and Indomedia. The materials presented here are from RRI World service Voice of Indonesia, and Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa (Language Development and Cultivation Agency), Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan (The Ministry of Education and Culture, The Republic of Indonesia).
Our first topic is Perkenalan (Acquaintanceship).
The conversation is between Tony and Sinta.
Tony: Selamat pagi (Good morning)
Sinta: Selamat pagi (Good morning)
Tony: Kenalkan, saya Tony (Let me introduce myself, I am Tony)
Sinta: Saya Sinta. Nama saya Sinta Wulandari (I am Sinta. Nama saya Sinta Wulandari)
Tony: Nama saya Tony Budiman (My name is Tony Budiman)
Sinta: Senang berkenalan dengan Anda (Nice to meet you)
After practicing with simple conversation above, let’s change the word pagi as follows:
Selamat siang (Good afternoon)
Selamat sore (Good afternoon)
Selamat malam (Good evening)
Selamat datang (Welcome)
Selamat datang di Yogya (Welcome to Yogya)
Selamat jalan (Goodbye)
Selamat jalan ke Denpasar (Goodbye to Denpasar)
When you are acquainted, you can say “Kenalkan, saya …” or “I introduce myself first”, Tony said in the conversation. After introducing himself, Tony can say “Senang bertemu dengan Anda (Nice to meet you)”. However, in Indonesia not many people are familiar to use it. After getting acquainted, the conversation is usually continued by asking about condition, where they work or study, and others. Do not forget that Indonesian people like to smile when they speak to friends. Sampai jumpa (see you). [IM]
oleh: Ghofar Ismail
