VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Voice of Indonesia presents “Let’s Speak Bahasa Indonesia,” a lesson in the Indonesian language on the radio, introducing some Indonesian vocabulary and tips on how to use it in a conversation. This segment is a joint initiative of Voice of Indonesia and the Language Development and Cultivation Agency at the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture. Today’s topic is  ‘Please Have Breakfast, first’  or  Silakan sarapan terlebih dahulu.

Next is a conversation about ‘Please Have Breakfast, first’ or  Silakan sarapan terlebih dahulu. Tony and Joko’s family are travelling to Parangtritis Beach.

Joko           : Ternyata, berselancar itu susah sekali. Saya menyerah

Tony          : Ayolah coba lagi.                                        

Joko           : Tidak. Cukup. Saya cape dan lapar. Ayo, kita makan dengan  

           Dinda dan Endah.                              

Tony          : Kalau begitu kamu duluan saja. Saya masih ingin berselancar.  

                    Nanti saya menyusul ke sana.

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

- Ternyata berselancar itu susah sekali.         (It turns out that  

                                                                 surfing is very difficult.)     

- Saya menyerah.                                     (I give up.)                                  

- Saya cape dan lapar.                            (I am tired and hungry.)                 

- Ayo, kita makan!                                     (Let us eat!)         

- Kalau begitu kamu duluan saja.                     (So, you may go first.)                 

- Saya masih ingin berselancar.             (I still want to surf.)                       

- Nanti saya menyusul ke sana.             (I’ll go there later.)                          

 In the dialogue, Tony said Kalau begitu kamu duluan saja which means ‘so, please go ahead’. In the Indonesian conversation, the expression ‘kamu duluan saja’ has various meanings, it depends on the context of sentences. Tony’s expression is politely refused with Joko’s invitation because he still wants to surf.  

Now let’s follow other examples : 

Joko : Ayo, kita makan dengan Dinda dan Endah (let’s eat with Dinda and Endah.)

Tony : Kalau begitu kamu duluan saja. Saya masih ingin berselancar (You may go first. I still want to surf.)

Endah        : Ayo, kita pulang! Ini sudah malam (Let’s go home, it is late.)

Tony          : Kamu duluan saja, ya. Aku mau minum kopi dulu (You may go home first. I still want to drink coffee.) 

In another context, the expression is used to invite someone to do something first after him/her. 

For example: 

Kamu duluan saja berangkat ke Jakarta supaya bisa bertemu keluarga (You just go to Jakarta first to meet your  family.)  

But in a formal conversation in Indonesian language, the expression ‘kamu duluan saja’ must be avoided or  cannot be used. You can change with expressions : 

-Bapak bisa berangkat terlebih dahulu. Saya akan menyusul  (You could leaving first, Sir. I will follow then.) 

-Silakan, Ibu sarapan terlebih dahulu (Please have breakfast first, mom!)