My first week of learning Malay with my language partner, Melissa, was exciting and provided a smooth transition into the lessons. Melissa got me a language-learning book that is directed towards Malaysian children. While it is rudimentary, so, too, is my Malay level. One thing I immediately learned that I am in no way constrained to the topics or vocabulary of the book alone and can take my linguistic curiosities in any direction I want; it is simply there as a guide.
I spoke with Melissa about Malaysian culture and geography, and we walked through some postcards and teaching materials she had assembled after our self-introductions. We talked about distinctions (culturally and otherwise) between East Malaysia (Borneo) and West (‘peninsular’). Worth noting is that it just so happens that I am most interested in the former (having been there before) and Melissa is from there as well, meaning I can delve deeper into this less-known side of Malaysia and understand it on a more intimate level in my language-learning pursuit. We talked about the ethnic and cultural diversity of Malaysia (and I learned about how “Malay” is tied to ‘race’/ethnicity, whereas “Malaysian” transcends this and indicates nationality or citizenship). In terms of rough statistics, the country is divided into the “Bumiputera” (or ‘people of the land’) of Malays and autochthonous tribal groups comprising two-thirds of the population, ethnically Chinese comprising one-fourth, and roughly 7% from the Indian subcontinent (Tamil and Telugu predominantly). I also learned about the unique government structure of the country, which is technically a parliamentary monarchy, but also has nine sultan kings who rotate as Agong (head king) every few years. Naturally, we discussed British colonialism and the legacy of the British Empire in the country. We also touched upon the role of Islam.
Beyond this topical discussion of Malaysian culture to get me up to speed with the country, we also began discussing Bahasa Melayu (Malay language) and what topics I would like to learn. I reiterated the need for consistency and to build a strong foundation, but were also settled upon catering lessons week-by-week and focusing on East-West Malaysia distinctions, its relationships with its neighbors, etc. I learned basic pronouns and sentence structures (i.e. very basic self introductions in name and age). In addition, I recited some basic counting in Malay that I had been studying and we discussed the nature of numbers in the language, which is surprisingly similar to Mandarin (e.g. “54” is said like “five-ten-four”). Throughout each of these topics, I focused on pronunciation and stressed this the most.
The strategies used (textbook, videos, flashcards, and catered conversations) were overall effective for this stage in the game. I am already starting to see how languages can interfere with one another: learning a new way to pronounce numbers was more difficult than anticipated, since I was thinking and occasionally speaking in Mandarin instinctively. Avoiding this naturally comes with practice, so I will continue to take the time everyday to go over the number system out loud and stress pronunciation and accuracy. It is important that I am not unrealistic in setting up my strategies or making them too rigid, but this was overall a good first week of exposure and learning.
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