How to Introduce Yourself In Bahasa Indonesia

Halo semuanya, apa kabar? This time, we're gonna learn how to introduce ourselves in Bahasa Indonesia. We will also watch clips from Indonesian movies where there are scenes about introducing ourselves in real life that actually happens.

If you have any questions regarding the Indonesian language, you can ask me directly. You can see how to do that on my About Me page. 

If you are a beginner in the Indonesian language, you can learn step by step with My Lesson Here.

So, let's jump right in.

Introducing Yourself In Bahasa Indonesia

If you want to introduce yourself to Bahasa Indonesia, we can use this format.

1) Perkenalkan, nama saya (your name).

If I translate this into English, it would be.

1) Let me introduce myself, my name is (your name.)

You then fill in the blank with your name. For example, my name is Iman, then I would say.

1) Perkenalkan, nama saya Iman.

Next, you can say where you came from. In Indonesia, it would be,

2) Saya berasal dari (name of your country).

If I translate this into English, it would be.

2) I come from (name of your country).

For example, I come from Amerika. So, I would say.

2) Saya berasal dari Amerika.

Next, if you want to say what your job is, you can say this.

3) Saya bekerja sebagai seorang (your profession).

For example, I'm a teacher, and then I'm going to say this.

3) Saya bekerja sebagai seorang guru.

[Teacher] in Bahasa Indonesia is [guru]. Next, you can say why you are in Indonesia. For example, you are in Indonesia on vacation, then you can say this.

4) Saya berada di Indonesia dalam rangka liburan.

If I translate this into English, itu would be.

4) I'm here in Indonesia on a vacation.

And next, you can say.

5) Senang berkenalan dengan Anda.

If I translate this into English, it would be.

5) Nice to meet you.

So, if I summarize all of that, it will become this format.

(1) Perkenalkan, nama saya Iman. 

(2) Saya berasal dari Amerika. 

(3) Saya bekerja sebagai seorang guru. 

(4) Saya berada di Indonesia dalam rangka liburan. 

(5) Senang berkenalan dengan Anda.

This is very formal. Now, I'm going to teach you how to make this more casual. Let's look at number 1.

(1) Perkenalkan, nama saya Iman.

Perkenalkan is very formal. If you want to change it into informal, you can say.

(1) Kenalin, nama saya Iman.

And then for the next, we can omit [berasal], so it will become

(2) Saya dari Amerika.

Next, you can change itu into.

(3) Pekerjaan saya guru.

Next, you can omit [berada], so it will become

(4) Saya di Indonesia dalam rangka liburan.

Next, you can change Anda into kamu. So, it will be.

(5) Senang berkenalan dengan kamu.

Or you can use this sentence,

(5) Salam kenal ya.

So, if I summarize this, it would be.

(1) Kenalin, nama saya Iman. 

(2) Saya dari Amerika. 

(3) Pekerjaan saya guru. 

(4) Saya di Indonesia dalam rangka liburan. 

(5) Senang berkenalan dengan kamu. / Salam kenal ya.

Now, let's watch in movies how the introduction actually happening in real life in Indonesia.

Introducing Oneself Scenes In Movies

Let's watch the first movie clip.

In here, Alan lives with his friend, Prima, in a rented room, we call it kosan in Indonesia. Kosan is a place where you can rent a room for one month. Usually, in one big house, there are many rooms in there that are being rented.

They live in a different room in that house but still in the same big house. Alan introduces his new friend, Bambang, to his friend in that kosan. The conversation in that scene with English translation is as follows.

Alan: Makanya! Pikiran kau jangan isi perut sama mie rebus aja. Kau kenalkanlah dulu ini. Ini kawan baruku. Kau kenalkan dia. (That’s why! You can’t just think about your stomach and instant noodles only. Meet my new friend. This is my new friend. Why don’t you introduce yourself?) 

Prima: Kenalin, gue Prima. (Let me introduce myself, I’m Prima.)

Bambang: Saya Bambang. Bambang Soedarmo. (I’m Bambang. Bambang Soedarmo.) 

Prima: Hachim! Oh, Bambang. Jadi, loe mau ngekos di sini, Bang? (Oh, Bambang. So, do you want to rent a room here, Bang?) 

Bambang: Iya, mas. (Yes, I do.)

As you can see in the scene when he wanted to introduce himself, he starts by saying.

Kenalin.

This word is essential when you want to introduce yourself to other people.

Next, let's watch the next movie clip, still from the same movie, Mimpi Metropolitan.

The conversation in that scene with English translation is as follows.

Bambang: Oh iya mas, nama sampeyan siapa mas? (By the way, what’s your name?) 

Alan: Ah.. Kau perkenalkanlah. Namaku Alan. (Ah.. Let me introduce myself. My name is Alan.) 

Bambang: Nama saya Bambang. Bambang Soedarmo. Lelaki baik, bijaksana dan ramah. (My name is Bambang. Bambang Soedarmo. A good, wise and nice guy.) 

Alan: Bah, siapa pula yang minta nama lengkap kau! Aah! (Bah, who asked for your full name? Aah!) 

Bambang: Kan biar jelas, mas. (So it would be clear.)

Sampeyan is from the Javanese language. There are about 700 indigenous languages in Indonesia, so the Javanese language is one of them. Sampeyan means you.

Next, let's watch another clip, but still from the same movie.

The conversation with English translation is as follows.

Alan: Eh.. kak, kak Melanie, kak! Alamak, aduh.. aduh.. oh! (Melanie! Oh.. it hurts!) 

Bambang: Oh, maas maaf. (I’m so sorry.) 

Alan: Kau ini bagaimana sih, ah? (Hey, what's wrong with you, man?) 

Melanie: Hai, Lan. (Hi, Lan.) 

Alan: Hai, kak. Alamak, kak Melanie! Udah cantik, udah rapih! Pasti mau berangkat kerja ya, kak? (Hi, Mel. You’re so pretty and well prepared. I bet you’re now are going to work, aren’t you?) 

Melanie: Iyalah. (Sure thing.) 

Alan: Ah, ini.. (Oh, this person..) 

Bambang: Saya Bambang. Bambang Soedarmo. Lelaki baik, ramah, bijaksana. (I’m Bambang. Bambang Soedarmo. A good, nice and wise guy.) 

Melanie: Melanie. (Melanie.) 

Bambang: Mba Melanie, kerja di Hits TV, ya? (Are you working at Hits TV?) 

Melanie: Kok loe tahu? (How do you know?) 

Bambang: Baca. (I read from your shirt.) 

Melanie: Baru di Jakarta? (Are you new in Jakarta?) 

Bambang: Baru, mba. Tapi mau ngekos sama mas Alan. (Yes, I’m new here. I want to rent a room at Alan’s place.) 

Melanie: Semoga betah ya. (I hope you will like this place.) 

Bambang: Pasti mba! Ini aja udah mulai betah. (Sure thing! I’m just started to begin liking this place.) 

Alan: Alamak, eh, kau betahnya nanti aja. Kalau udah di kamar kos. Jangan di sini! (Oh my! Not here! You need to start to like this place not now! When you have come to my place.) 

As you can see, Bambang says "mba" when he calls Melanie. I have made an article explaining mba meaning in Bahasa Indonesia, you can read in this article, Mba Meaning In Bahasa Indonesia.

And when Alan called Melanie, he used the word "kak." I have an article explaining kakak meaning in Bahasa Indonesia, you can read in this article, Kakak Meaning In Bahasa Indonesia.

At first, when Melanie recognized that Alan is with a new person that she is not yet known, her eyes rolled to Alan, asking who he was. And then Alan wanted to introduce his new friend, but suddenly, Bambang introduced himself to Melanie.

I think that's all for now on how to introduce yourself in Bahasa Indonesia. I hope you can understand my explanation. If you have any questions, just write them down in the comment section, and I'll talk to you soon. Bye now.