VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Voice of Indonesia presents Let’s Speak Indonesian, a program that introduces the Indonesian vocabulary and guides you to speak in the language. “Mari Berbahasa Indonesia” or “Let’s Speak Indonesian” is a joint initiative of Voice of Indonesia and the Language Development Agency of the Indonesian Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology. Today’s topic is about Buying Medicine at the Pharmacy.

We are going to present you a conversation entitled Siapa Nama Anda? (2x) which means What is Your Name? This conversation happens between Dev Singh, a tourist from India and a pharmacy clerk. The clerk asks Dev’s name, then Dev tells her his name.

Pre-recorded:

After reading to the conversation, now I am going to introduce some vocabulary and expressions related to the topic of the day. I’m going to say each word two times and you can repeat after me.

In the conversation, you hear the question Siapa nama Anda? (2x) which means What is your name? In the question, there is a question word siapa (2x) which means who, but in this context means what.  If you want to ask someone’s name, you can use the word siapa (2x), which means who (in this context means what), followed by the word nama, which means name, and the pronoun or salutation. For example, Bapak (2x) which means Sir.

Besides in the beginning of the question, the word siapa (2x), which means who (in this context means what), can also be placed in the end. Let’s read to the other examples of asking someone’s name.

Siapa (2x) which means Who (in this context means what)

Nama Anda siapa? (2x) which means What is your name?

Nama dia siapa? (2x) which means What is his name?

The surname of Indonesian people is not always family name. For example, Iyus Yusuf. Yusuf is not certainly a family name.

That was “Let’s Speak Indonesian” for today. Hopefully, this edition can be useful for those of you who want to know more about Indonesian language.