Yes, you're right about 我的名字叫 being more formal/polite, because it's more complete. It's actually equally good to introduce yourself saying 我叫 Meir or 我的名字叫 Meir. I'd say they're interchangeable. You can ask what the other person's name is by saying 你 叫 什麼名字？or 你 叫 什麼？ However, the latter will sound rude if it's not said in a rather upbeat tone and is almost always said after introducing yourself first. You can make it more polite by adding a 呢 (ne) to the end and it becomes 你 叫 什麼名字 呢？or 你 叫 什麼 呢？ (Please use 吗 for a Y/N question and 呢 for a Wh- question.) But the latter will still sound a bit rude. As for the "and" between two clauses, please don't translate it. The English word "and" doesn't work the same in Mandarin. The word "and" is translated into 和 almost only when it's a juxtaposition of two nouns. For example, 我(wo3)喜欢(xi3 huan1)电影(dian4 ying3) 和(he2) 运动(yun4 don4) = I like movies and sports. (With a juxtaposition of two adjectives/adverbs, it's another story. We use 又(yo4) in the "又 adjective/adverb 又 adjective/adverb" structure. Therefore, "I'm tall and handsome" will be "我 又高(gao1; tall) 又帥(shuai4; handsome)".) As Cherry said, 我是美国人的 is the literal translation of "I'm American". Much as it's correct, it's not very natural. When talking about nationalities, English speakers tend to use an adjective (I'm American/Canadian/Indian/Australian...), but Mandarin speakers will almost always use a noun, in the pattern of "country + person/people (人; ren2)". We say 我是美国人/加拿大人/印度人/澳洲人; literally, I'm an American/Canadian/Indian/Australian person. I think it's okay to translate "I'm from the United States" into 我是美国人, despite the fact that it's not the literal meaning, which is "我是美国來的", which in Mandarin is very colloquial. In my opinion, to introduce your name and nationality, the formal/polite version is "我的名字叫 Meir。我是美国人。" To go colloquial, say "我叫 Meir。我是美国來的。"

Yes, I think “我叫Meir ”and "我的名字叫Meir" are both OK for introducing yourself just as antman said. But I think when you introducing your nationality, " 我是美国人" will be better. Although " 我是从美国来的“ is a direct translation from "I am from the United States" and grammatically correct, whereas I think it's a little bit odd saying like that. "我来自美国”will be better than that. In summary, I think " 我是美国人“ and "我来自美国” are good. By the way, Meir. I quite appreciate the efforts you devote into language learning. I notice that the questions you asked are so detailed which proves that you are such a careful guy in learning. I think you are in the right direction. I should learn from you. Learning language is a process of accumulation. It doesn't work by just grasping the grammar rules and vocabulary. Because language is not science, not every grammar rule can work anywhere and anytime. Use habit should be more referenced by. So I think you did a great job in this, and wish you more success in learning language.

I am Meir, I am American. 我叫 Meir。我是美国人;。 I am Meir, I came from America. 我叫 Meir。我從美国來的 Note: I notice that most answers are correct but were voted to be wrong. So far, only antman from Taiwan is the readers' favor. Have you make your vote yet?

hi Meir, actually, " 我 的 名字 叫 Meir " is literally translated as " my name is called Meir " which equals "my name is Meir" in right english. " 叫 " means 'to be called'. If your reply goes with " 我叫 Meir" - 'I am called Meir', it's okay for a casual talk. You can also simply reply: " 我是 Meir." - ' I am Meir.' In most cases, if you are intoducing yourself before people, "我叫" is commonly used. "和 我 是 美国人" - "and I am American". This is correct. @ Cherry: about "你叫什么名字吗?". Isn't it redundant by adding the question particle ‘吗' at the end of the sentence, as the the question ‘什么' (what) already exists? (just for learning purposes only). :)

To Wozitoya, A thumb-down doesn't necessarily mean that you're wrong. You'll probably get a thumb-down when some aspect(s) of your contents is/are not liked by the thumb giver for a personal or unknown reason and he or she may be none the wiser. As far as this question goes, I'm just the lucky one here. There are also times when I get thumb-downs even though I try hard to be polite, informative, and correct as possible when answering. I know it's such a bummer to get thumb-downs, especially when you've put in a lot of time and thoughts. But I guess we can only do our best and leave the rest to fate before italki comes up with a better rating system.