So far in my study of Bahasa Melayu, I have noticed many of the same linguistic structures as English, particularly with regard to syntax. While Malay is romanized and for the most part lacks special characters, accent marks, etc., phonologically speaking the pronunciation of certain consonants and vowels can vary (e.g. ‘c’ is pronounced ‘ʧ’ like the ‘ch’ in “church”). This has not been too difficult of a transition for me as a language learner, however I am still getting accustomed to the sound and rhythm of the language, as well as the two nasal sounds (‘ɲ’, written ‘ng’, and ‘ŋ’, written ‘ny’) that are less common in English and harder for me to pronounce correctly at this point in time. This is a table on the Malay alphabet:
As I have mentioned in previous posts, I greatly value strong and accurate pronunciation from an early stage so I do not have to relearn it later or risk not being understood because of this rocky foundation. As such, I have yet to delve too deeply into semantics or pragmatics in Malay.
In terms of combining different, interdisciplinary perspectives in this process of language learning, I have become interested in possibly incorporating basic poetry in my learning plan. I liked the idea from class of learning the cadence of a language through this means, and culturally speaking it can be a fascinating gateway into fostering deeper understandings of another culture. In addition, I would like to incorporate music as a way of increasing my listening skills and, again, finding a different approach to penetrate Malaysian culture. All this being said, I do not necessarily plan to prioritize one approach over another, given I am still formulating my plan and seeing what works best for me overall. In the end, I am positive that being cognizant of the existing methodologies from these disciplines and structures of language writ large will help me be more efficient and successful in my language learning endeavors.
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