Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Kadang-kadang saya menceritakan mimpi saya kepada teman dekat untuk mendapat saran. - Sometimes I tell my dreams to a close friend to get advice.

kadang-kadang: slightly more complete/neutral; common in both spoken and written Indonesian.
kadang: a bit shorter and more informal, very common in speech.

Both are correct here:

Kadang-kadang saya menceritakan …
Kadang saya menceritakan …

They both express a repeated but not regular habit.

Does kadang-kadang have to go at the beginning of the sentence, or can it move?

You can move it. All of these are grammatical:

Kadang-kadang saya menceritakan mimpi saya kepada teman dekat untuk mendapat saran.
Saya kadang-kadang menceritakan mimpi saya kepada teman dekat untuk mendapat saran.

Both are natural. Putting kadang-kadang at the beginning slightly emphasizes the idea of “sometimes”.

This one is possible but sounds less natural:

Saya menceritakan mimpi saya kepada teman dekat kadang-kadang untuk mendapat saran.

Indonesian usually puts frequency adverbs before the verb or at the very start of the clause.

Why is it menceritakan and not just cerita or bercerita?

The root is cerita (story; to tell (informally)).

cerita (noun / casual verb):
- Noun: cerita lucu = a funny story
- Very informal verb: Saya cerita ke dia = I tell him/her (casual)
bercerita (intransitive verb): “to tell stories / to tell (about something)”
- Saya bercerita tentang mimpi saya. = I tell (a story) about my dream.
menceritakan (transitive verb with -kan): “to tell/relate something (as an object)”
- Saya menceritakan mimpi saya kepada teman dekat.
  Here mimpi saya is the direct object of menceritakan.

In your sentence, menceritakan is used because you are explicitly telling your dream (object) to someone. It feels a bit more complete / slightly more formal than just cerita.

Could I say menceritakan tentang mimpi saya instead of menceritakan mimpi saya?

You will hear and see both, but in careful grammar:

menceritakan mimpi saya is preferred.
The verb menceritakan already contains the idea of “to tell about”, so adding tentang (“about”) is often seen as redundant.

However, in real-life Indonesian, many people say:

menceritakan tentang mimpi saya

It’s widely used and understood, but if you want cleaner, textbook-style Indonesian, drop tentang after menceritakan.

Why is saya repeated in saya menceritakan mimpi saya? Could I drop one of them?

Here, saya appears twice with different roles:

saya (subject) = I
mimpi saya (possessive) = my dream

You cannot drop the subject saya, but you can change how you show possession:

Kadang-kadang saya menceritakan mimpi saya …
Kadang-kadang saya menceritakan mimpi-ku … (mimpiku: more informal, written as one word)
Kadang-kadang saya menceritakan mimpi kepada teman dekat … (meaning “a dream,” not clearly “my dream”)

Using mimpi saya is clear and neutral, and repeating saya like this is completely normal in Indonesian.

Is mimpi here singular (“dream”) or plural (“dreams”)? How do I say “dreams” in Indonesian?

By itself, mimpi can mean “dream” or “dreams” depending on context. Indonesian usually does not mark plural with an ending.

To make it explicitly plural, you can say:

mimpi-mimpi saya = my dreams
banyak mimpi = many dreams
beberapa mimpi = several dreams

So your sentence could also be:

Kadang-kadang saya menceritakan mimpi-mimpi saya kepada teman dekat untuk mendapat saran.

What is the function of kepada here? How is it different from ke or sama?

In this sentence:

kepada teman dekat = to (my) close friend

Kepada is used mainly:

with people or living beings
with verbs of giving / saying / telling, like memberi, mengirim, berkata, menceritakan, menjelaskan.

Rough differences:

kepada – more formal / standard, especially in writing:
- menceritakan sesuatu kepada seseorang – tell something to someone
ke – basic “to / towards (a place)”, but used with people in informal speech:
- cerita ke teman (informal)
sama – very colloquial, used in casual conversation:
- cerita sama teman = tell (it) to a friend (casual)

So in a neutral written sentence, kepada teman dekat is the best choice.

What does teman dekat literally mean, and how is it different from sahabat?

Teman dekat is:

teman = friend
dekat = near / close

So teman dekat literally means “close friend.”

Sahabat also means a very close friend, often with a sense of strong trust and long-term closeness. Rough nuance:

teman dekat – close friend (fairly neutral, everyday term).
sahabat – close companion / best friend, often sounds stronger or deeper.

In your sentence, you could say:

… kepada teman dekat … (close friend)
… kepada sahabat saya … (my close/best friend)

Both are possible; teman dekat sounds very natural and slightly less intense than sahabat.

Why is it untuk mendapat saran and not something like agar or supaya?

Here you have:

untuk
- verb = in order to / for the purpose of
untuk mendapat saran = in order to get advice

Common patterns:

untuk
- verb (infinitive-like):
  - untuk belajar – to study
  - untuk mendapat saran – to get advice
agar / supaya
- clause (subject + verb):
  - agar saya mendapat saran
  - supaya saya mendapat saran

So:

untuk mendapat saran = “in order to get advice” (non-finite, like English “to get”)
agar/supaya saya mendapat saran = “so that I get advice”

Your sentence uses the more compact untuk + verb pattern.

What’s the difference between mendapat saran and mendapatkan saran?

Both are grammatically correct and very often interchangeable:

mendapat saran
mendapatkan saran

Nuance (quite subtle):

mendapat – slightly shorter, a bit more neutral / common in writing.
mendapatkan – sometimes feels a bit more active or process-like, as if you “manage to obtain” something.

In your sentence, both work:

… untuk mendapat saran.
… untuk mendapatkan saran.

Most learners can treat them as synonyms in everyday use.

What does saran mean exactly? How is it different from nasihat?

Both relate to “advice,” but there is a nuance:

saran – suggestion / recommendation
- Often sounds neutral, not very moral or heavy.
- Saya minta saran. = I ask for suggestions/advice.
nasihat (often spelled nasihat in standard Indonesian) – advice, often with a more moral or serious tone.
- orang tua memberi nasihat = parents give advice (often moral guidance).

In your sentence, saran is perfect because you are asking a close friend for opinions or suggestions, not necessarily for moral guidance.

What tense is this sentence? Is menceritakan present, past, or future?

Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense. The verb menceritakan itself is tenseless.

The time or aspect is understood from context and time words like:

kadang-kadang – sometimes (frequency)
kemarin – yesterday
besok – tomorrow

Your sentence describes a general habit:

Kadang-kadang saya menceritakan mimpi saya …
= “I sometimes tell my dream(s) …” (habitual present)
It could also describe past habits if the context makes that clear. There is no separate verb form for past or future.

How would this sentence look in more casual spoken Indonesian?

A common informal version could be:

Kadang-kadang aku cerita mimpi ke teman dekat buat minta saran.

Changes:

saya → aku (more informal, with friends).
menceritakan → cerita (use the root as a verb in casual speech).
kepada → ke (more colloquial).
untuk → buat (informal “for / to”).
mendapat saran → minta saran (“ask for advice,” more natural in casual speech).

An even more colloquial Jakarta-style version might be:

Kadang-kadang gue cerita mimpi ke temen deket buat minta saran.

But your original sentence is good standard Indonesian.