Hello again, friends! It’s been a year, almost!
Well, let me know what you’d like to learn- it could be something specific, or it could be thematic, like my entry below. Just leave a comment.
As a rule, I won’t be touching on any offensive stuff here cos 1. I don’t want to be held responsible if you get beaten up, and 2. Rude words aren’t that difficult to learn, and 3. My repertoire is… I don’t have a repertoire.
Yes, we know you can get by without having to say a word- just point at the dishes you want. But what if you want to clarify what meat is in that rendang? Or if you want to let the auntie (and everyone else in queue) know that you’re on Atkins and want less rice?
Maybe you’re trying to impress the makcik with your bahasa melayu skillllllz so she’ll give you more food (tsk ah some people).
rice- nasi
chicken- ayam
fish- ikan
beef- lembu
mutton- kambing
vegetables- sayur
more please, auntie- banyak sikit, cik
just a little bit- sikit saja
They might ask you “nak kuah tak?” do you want gravy? And you say
want- nak
don’t want- tak nak
how much?- berapa?
Let me know if anyone got more food this way! (Or did you have to say makcik lawa lah hari ni, which I do not recommend unless you are cheeky and don’t mind being showered in assam fish gravy.)
Nama saya Harlie.
My name is Harlie.
Saya seorang guru sekolah.
I am a teacher.
pelajar
student
eksekutif pemasaran
marketing executive
Saya seorang pelajar di Universiti SIM.
I am a student at SIM University.
Jangan ponteng sekolah!
Don’t skip school!
one- satu
two- dua
three- tiga
four- empat
five- lima
six- enam
seven- tujuh
eight- lapan
nine- sembilan
ten- sepuluh
eleven- sebelas
twelve- dua belas
thirteen- tiga belas
twenty- dua puluh
thirty- tiga puluh
eighty- lapan puluh
one hundred- seratus
two hundred- dua ratus
four hundred- empat ratus
one thousand- seribu
six thousand- enam ribu
sixty thousand- enam puluh ribu
one million- sejuta
three million- tiga juta
By now you may have noticed that the prefix ‘se-’ stands for one, like a/an in English.
seribu- a thousand
sejuta- a million
seorang- one person
But this doesn’t mean that all Malay words starting with ‘se-’ denotes one of something! Examples-
sekolah- school
sebab- reason, cause, because
seksa- (no, not what you think!) to torture
Sorry if I’m overwhelming you with too much :p I still can’t decide what to teach in our little sekolah, sebab I’m not sure which words and phrases you’ll find most useful in daily conversations!
Maybe we’ll learn sentence structure OR how to introduce ourselves next.
While I make up my mind, I’ll have to seksa you with my indecision! And while we’re at it, it’s pronounced sayk-sah, not sex-ah!
First lesson! Friends I need your input- which word should I italicize; the English word, or the Malay word?
Days of the Week-
Monday- Isnin
Tuesday- Selasa (ser-la-sa, not say-la-sa)
Wednesday- Rabu
Thursday- Khamis
Friday- Jumaat (ju-ma-at, not jumat)
Saturday- Sabtu
Sunday- Ahad
Today, tomorrow, yesterday-
today- hari ini or hari ni or niari (BP- Bahasa Pasar- Market Malay)
tomorrow- esok (ay-sok) or besok (bay-sok)
yesterday- semalam
Usage-
Hari ini hari Rabu.
Today is Wednesday.
Esok hari jadi YJ.
Tomorrow is YJ’s birthday.
Dia akan menyambut hari jadinya yang ke dua puluh tiga!
He will be celebrating his twenty-third birthday!
(Dua puluh tiga is 23… Don’t worry our next lesson will be on numbers!)
Yes he will! Selamat hari jadi, YJ! 
Note: Sometimes people say ‘Selamat Ulang Tahun’ or ‘Selamat Hari Lahir’ and it all means the same thing… they are all birthday wishes.
Hi guys, since you’re all so enthusiastic about learning Bahasa Melayu, I’ve created this site so our daily lessons don’t get lost or deleted from your SMS inbox!
I’ll try to update thrice a week, and maybe we could have guest posts by our Cikgu friends from NIE.
Also, I don’t claim to know everything, so if you spot a mistake, do let me know so 1) I can correct it and 2) we can all learn from it.
