8 Proper Way How to Greet in Bali – Polite Phrases

The end of the year is the good time to take a leave from the job and take the leisure time for holiday. For some modern people, holiday is no longer a refreshment, but it is a need. Recently, the people prefer to go the natural tourism instead of the mall or city life. One thing that you might choose is Bali.

When you choose Bali as your Destination, you should consider many things before setting your holiday. Besides considering your living cost, transportation, luggage, you should not forget one thing: the language of the local place you want to visit. Learning the culture and local language of your destination will be useful for you. That is why we want to give you 8 how to greet in Bali.

1. Say your greeting in Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian language)

As you know, Bali is a small island in Indonesia. While you could not master the local language in Bali, at least you are able to say some basic greetings in Bahasa Indonesia. It is okay to say “Helo” or “Hi” to greet some people. However, there are some common expressions in Bahasa Indonesia.

• “Selamat pagi” is how you say “good morning” in Bahasa Indonesia.
• “Apa kabar?” is asking “How are you?”
• “Selamat siang” is how you say “Good afternoon”.
• “Selamat sore” is how you say “Good evening”
• “Selamat malam” is how to say “Good night”

For the pronunciation in Bahasa Indonesia, you could learn it from some online dictionary. That is why is quite important for you to bring the dictionary between your daily language and Bahasa Indonesia.

See also: Christmas Traditions in Bali

2. Saying “Omsuastiastu”

“Om suastiastu” is the way to say “hello” in Balinese. This is a kind of Balinese pidgin. When you want to say “Omsuastiastu”, just pronounce it by what it is written.  So, you don’t need to learn Balinese alphabet or script. People in Bali will tell you How to be Safe in Bali if you greet them with manner.

• Pronounce om suastiastu as it spelled by pressing your palm finger in front of the chest.
• Om suastiastu means “may you give a peace and greetings from God”
• The people will answer the same with “om suastiastu”

3. Greet people cheerfully and don’t forget to smile

Once you want to greet the people, make sure to produce a cheerful voice. They will consider you as the friendly people. Balinese will be reluctant if you speak ignorantly. Here are some tips how to build greet gesture. If you can get closer with Balinese people, maybe you will get information about Famous Local Foods in Bali

• When you introduce yourself, greet them cheerfully. Don’t forget to do a handshake.
• Welcome their greeting with a good response.
• Don’t act indifferently

4. Introducing your self

Balinese people also have their Social Etiquette in Bali. Introducing your self could be something important while you greet people. You could say “wastan tiang…” followed by your name. “Wastan tiang” means my name is..”. Then, you could ask their name by saying “sira pesengen ragane’. Before doing it, consider these following points:

• When introducing yourself, make sure to greet them first.
• It would be better to do a handshake while introducing yourself.
• Spell your name as clear as possible.

5. Expressing gratitude in Balinese

Expressing gratitude means saying thank you in Balinese. When you just get a help, buying something, or accepting something, it is important to say thank you. Here are to the ways to say thank you in Bali:

• You could say “terima kasih” when you want to use a polite expressions in Bahasa Indonesia.
• While you want to say in Balinese, you could say “matur suksma’ which means thanks a lot.

See also: Monkey Dance in Bali

6. Closing a conversation Politely

After finishing the greeting, you could say good bye to close your conversation before you go. While in English you say “Bye” in informal language, you could say “Dah” in the slang of Bahasa Indonesia.  Maybe you can apply this point after seeing Cultural Activities in Bali . Moreover, in Bali you could say these following expressions:

• “Titiang lungsur mapamit dumun,” means “Well, I have to go now”.
• “Pamit Dumun”, means “I’ll go first”.
• “Ngiring”, means “I’m taking a leave now.”
• The formal expression in Bali is “Kalihin malu.”

7. Saying permission

While you need something, it would be better for you to say some permission expression.This etiquette really important to do especially when you visit Spiritual Places in Bali like Hindu Temple at Bali, as well as Buddhist Temple in Bali Indonesia. In Balinese as Bahasa Indonesia, they would normally some expressions below:

• “Permisi,” means saying “Excuse me,”
• “Maaf, mau numpang Tanya.” For asking some directions.

8. Expressing Apology

While there is the person asks you something in Balinese or Bahasa Indonesia, and you couldn’t understand what they are speaking, you could say sorry in those some expressions:

• Say that you couldn’t speak in Bahasa Indonesia as well Balinese.
• Saying “Maaf, saya tidak bias Bahasa Indonesia/Bahasa Bali” (Sorry, I could not understand Bahasa Indonesia/Balinese) to them.
• Using the gesture as the sign you couldn’t understand their language if they probably couldn’t speak English.
• Stay friendly.

The greeting  expression is important to learn before you decide to go to your destination. Since it is requirement to learn a culture, it would be better for you to learn some basic expressions to greet the local people of the place you would like to visit. All in all, the expression of greeting is also the main preparation before you take a flight to your dream destination. To see information about Bali, you should visit.