Make your visit to Jogja more special by learning a few words and phrases for your trip. As you know, when we travel to a foreign country, many local people in that country would really appreciate our efforts to speak their language even though ours probably ain’t perfect. The same thing applied here.

Jogja has Javanese language. I have written about it a bit in my other post. This time we focus on Indonesian language, the official language of Indonesia. Indonesia has thousands of islands and more than 700 local languages. The Indonesian language or bahasa Indonesia is one of the things that unite us. So, this time I will share seven Indonesian words and phrases for you to practice in Jogja. These words and phrases can be used as well in any other part of Indonesia. With no hesitation, let me share you down below the useful words and phrases:

1.  Selamat Pagi/Siang/Sore/Malam

One easy way to interact with local people is by greeting them.  Saying selamat pagi (good morning), selamat siang (good afternoon), selamat sore (good evening), and selamat malam (good night) are some ways the local people do to greet others. You can practice this to the local people nearby and make sure you also put a genuine smile on your face while doing so.

2. Terima Kasih

Politeness matters in Jogja. Javanese people like to emphasize the importance of politeness to their kids. This is considered as one of many significant attitudes people here need to have. Saying thank you is one of the ways to be polite and to appreciate people. If you’d like to thank local people for their help or efforts, you can say terima kasih or matur nuwun.

3. Maaf

Sometimes it takes courage to apologize. If you make a mistake and you’d like to apologize to the local people, apart from saying “sorry” you can always say “maaf”. To make it even more polite, you can say “Saya minta maaf” which means “I am sorry/I apologize” in English. “Saya mohon maaf” can be used too but this one is more formal.

4. Tidak

“Tidak” is a word to show refusal. This means “no”. If people on the street offer you items to buy and you want to refuse it, you can say “tidak”. If you want to refuse in a more polite way, you can add the word “terima kasih” as in “tidak, terima kasih”. 

5. Iya/Ya

When there’s a no, there’s a yes as well. If you’d like to show agreement in bahasa Indonesia, you can say “ya” or “iya” which means “yes”. 

6. Saya Tidak Tahu

If you have no clue or don’t know about something, you can always say “Saya tidak tahu” which means “I don’t know”. 

7. Saya Mau Minta Tolong

There will be a time you probably will need some help. If you want to ask for help, you can say “Saya mau minta tolong” which means “I’d like to ask for a favor”.

I hope the above words and phrases will be useful for you. Which one of those seven that steal your attention first? Do you have any experience in using the Indonesian language while you are staying in Jogja? 

Terima kasih for reading. Feel free to leave a comment below or share your experience in practicing Indonesian language.