Learning Bahasa Melayu.
“Dear Mitchell Tendai Kangausaru, with regards to your recent Course Selection for Bahasa Melayu, your request has been submitted to your department for approval.”
I am not going to sugarcoat this. “It’s going to be difficult. It’s going to be intellectually tiring. Is it really worth it? I don’t know any word in Bahasa Melayu and I have been here for a year. Are we seriously doing this Mitchell? You won’t even be able to pronounce properly, you will never get it all right.” These were words I fed myself for weeks before my classes commenced.
Day 1: “Good Afternoon. I am Dr. Neo Swee Leng . Welcome to the Bahasa Melayu class,” she said with an overwhelming smile. “I understand it is not easy learning a new language, but I will try by all means to make it comprehensible for you,” At that moment I slowly took back my words.
Bahasa Melayu is Malaysia’s national language. A greater population of Malaysians speak and understand Bahasa Melayu. And being an International student, it comes with a couple of benefits. Yes, I had survived a year in Malaysia without learning Bahasa Melayu but I also felt like an outcast some of the time. The locals always seem friendlier when you communicate with a few words from their own language.
My previous language learning experiences were not very pleasant. After every class I would definitely feel intellectually drained and could not recall any of the new vocabulary. But this one time everything worked out differently. Dr. Neo conducted games which demolished all the boredom and increased retention in our class. Vocabulary words were integrated in all the activities we did – which had an added advantage at our end to memorise a ton of new vocabulary words. We had a couple of in-class competitions and rewards which motivated everyone to take part in the games.
I never imagined myself having a strong urge to win candy, in what may have seemed as kid’s games. But here I am today grateful for each moment spent in my Bahasa Melayu class.
As much as Dr. Neo made everything comprehensible, it was my job to retain all that she had taught. The only way to make this possible was by immersing myself as much as possible into Bahasa Melayu; surrounding myself with local friends with whom I did language exchanges and spoke Bahasa Melayu. I also practised Bahasa Melayu with my International friends. The best way to learn, is from your mistakes. I made a couple of mistakes, but they all enhanced my pronunciation and hearing skills.
Here’s a compilation of basic greetings in Bahasa Melayu:
Selamat Pagi- Good Morning
Selamat Tengahari- Good Afternoon
Selamat Petang- Good Evening
Selamat Malam- Good Night
Selamat Datang- Welcome
Apa Khabar? – How Are You?
Khabar Baik- I am Fine
Terima Kasih- Thank You
Sama-sama- You are welcome
Selamat Tinggal- Good Bye
Jumpa Lagi- See You Again
These are some basic words that you can use on a daily basis when you are in Malaysia.
“Language is the road map of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are going.” – Rita Mae Brown