VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Voice Of Indonesia in Jakarta presents Let’s Speak Bahasa Indonesia, a lesson in Bahasa  Indonesia or the Indonesian language on the radio, which introduces   some  Indonesian vocabulary and  guides  you to use them in a conversation. The segment of Let's Speak Bahasa Indonesia is a cooperation of Voice Of Indonesia, with the Language Development and Cultivation Agency, the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture.  Today’s topic is Selamat Ulang Tahun or in English, Happy Birthday. 

Next is a conversation about Selamat Ulang Tahun or in English Happy Birthday. Tony is celebrating his birthday at Joko’s house. Dina, Joko and Endah give something special and wish him ‘Happy Birthday’.

After the conversation, now I’ll introduce some vocabularies and idioms related to the topic today. I’ll say each word slowly, and twice and you can follow after me.

In the dialogue, Dinda wishes Tony a happy birthday by saying Selamat Ulang Tahun in English ‘Happy Birthday’.  If you want to wish a happy birthday to someone, you can say Selamat Ulang Tahun or Selamat Hari Lahir. But the expression, Selamat Hari Lahir is rarely used. If you want to wish someone a happy birthday with people who are 28 years, you can say Selamat ulang tahun yang kedua puluh delapan in English  ‘happy 28th birthday’.

In the Indonesian language, cardinal numbers are like satu

(one), dua (two), tiga (three) and etc. While ordinal numbers are like

- kesatu (pertama)     in English  first

- kedua                                            second

- ketiga                                            third

So, the Indonesian ordinal number is added with prefix  ke-

Please pay attention to some examples to the use of the two kinds of number in the next conversation.