No comments about Pocket Malay Dictionary: Malay-English English-Malay (Periplus Pocket Dictionaries).

No comments about The Indonesian Language: Its History and Role in Modern Society.

2 comments about Malay for Everyone: Mastering Malay Through English (Pelanduk Pocket).

1. I spent 6 months in South East Asia and was determined to master the Malay Language. As you may know both the Malays and the Indonesians speak a very similar language known as Bahasa.

   If you want to learn the Malay 'Bahasa Malaysia' then this book is perfect. It takes you through a number of lessons and by the end you really have a good grasp on this simple language. By taking the courses again and again and thus repeating the book you can develop a stronger handle on Bahasa and you are then ready to start practising!

   Bahasa Malayu (Malay) is very useful when in SE Asia in Malaysia and Singapore. Some Indonesians will be able to understand but you may need to adjust some words and pronounciations - similar to two people one from the UK and the other from the US with a strong American accent.

   Good Luck.




2. This book is one of the best available in a concise format for English speakers to learn Malay, the language spoken in Malaysia and Indonesia (with some minor variation). I lived in Malaysia almost four years and formally studied Indonesian at the university level for over three years on a language fellowship. With that background, I can say that this is the most useful single text I have seen. The organization is very clear and logical, explanations are sharp and crisp, there are plenty of succinct examples, the exercises are practical and accessible, and the vocabulary covered is excellent for everyday life. The organization also allows you to pick and choose what you want to concentrate on, i.e. to devise your own organization to some extent.

No comments about A Baba Malay Dictionary: The First Comprehensive Compendium of Straits Chinese Terms and Expressions.

No comments about Collins Easy Learning Malay Dictionary.

3 comments about Colloquial Malay: The Complete Course for Beginners (Colloquial Series (Book Only)).

1. This book and the 2 cassettes with it provide a good, solid beginner's course for native English speakers to learn Bahasa Malaysia. It is set up in a textbook-like way, and the cassettes are somewhat like a language lab, in the sense that they re-inforce the written work; the cassettes are not meant to teach on their own. I would reccomend this course for someone who is willing to sit down with a notebook and do some written exercises every day. If, on the other hand, the goal is to learn by listening and repeating (in the car, for instance) try "Survival Malay"; less comprehensive, but teaches chunks of useful language in the "listen and repeat twice" format.



2. The exercises expect the student to know grammar and vocabulary that hasn't yet been covered, which makes it frustrating and unnecessarily difficult. Sometimes a word is given in the chapter vocab notes, and then a different word (synonym) is used in the exercises. That should have been fixed by a proof-reader prior to publication. The authors have tried hard - successfully so - to make the exercises interesting, relevant and modern but a beginner who has no experience of learning a foreign language will struggle with this book.
   
   I only bought the book, not the companion CDs/cassettes.



3. Considering that the Malay language is one of the simplest language in the world for English speakers, you would expect this method to be close to perfect. It is far from it. There are a number of mistakes. Some new words are not explained. Some exercises are simply impossible given the vocabulary of the preceeding lessons. It looks like it has been made of bits and pieces put together but not necessarily connecting with each other. That being said, it will still achieve its goal of teaching you a fairly decent level of Malay quickly.

1 comments about Teach Yourself Malay Complete Course (Book + 2CD) (Teach Yourself Language Complete Courses).

1. It is hard to find a decent Malay language course, in particular with audio, so I opted for this one to be send across the Atlantic to me.
   
   The lessons are very helpful to learn everyday Malay step-by-step and to practice pronunciation. Overall this is a good language course. The reference part of the book (dictionary) on the other hand leaves out many words I feel I should know... so buying a real dictionary in addition to this course is mandatory, if you want to get the most out of it.

1 comments about Advanced 25 Language Phrasebook: German, French, Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese, Italian, Greek, Danish, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Czech, Polish, ... Chinese, Indonesian, Malay, and Thai..

1. Just bought this for my kindle. Looks like a good deal, basic coverage of many languages, including some not so common, such as Czech. If you travel a lot it's pretty useful. Not typical navigation though. I had a little trouble at first because of no "Table of Contents". Just go to the beginning, where it lists the different languages and then click the menu button to access these options.

1 comments about Everyday Malay: Phrase Book and Dictionary.

1. I am a person that traditionally really dislikes phrasebooks, but this book is an excellent example of how a phrasebook should be written. Most phrasebooks just recite words or sentences, and the learner has no idea what each part of the sentence means. While a typical phrasebook may teach someone how to recite something verbatim, the learner will have no idea how the language works grammatically and thus cannot communicate effectively. This book is excellent because it provides a very good grammatical foundation for the phrases. It also has helpful, but not too complex, explanations for the phrases in the book. Moreover, there is a small English-Malay/Malay-English dictionary in the back.
   
   Unfortunately, I was not in Malaysia long, and since I was only in KL, getting by in English was not too difficult. However, I found this book while I was there and tried to get as much out of it as I could in a couple days. I recommend buying this and studying it for a month or so before going to Malaysia. That way, you'll get the most you can out of it. Give it a shot.

5 comments about Malay: Lonely Planet Phrasebook.

1. This book is extremely useful especially if you are outside the main cities such as Malacca or Kuala Lumpur. Malay people are very self effacing and your use of the phrases in this book will really open doors. Also, the social interaction hints to proper behavior are very good and useful too.



2. I'm from Penang and I got this book for my American husband for our second trip back to Malaysia. The first thing that made me suspicious of its credibility was the cover photo. What is described as the "durian at the market" looks much more like a pile of nangka (jackfruit). Content-wise, I found some odd phrases in the book. "Plain water" is translated as "air putih" instead of "air kosong", "corner" becomes "pojok", which I have never heard of. "Sudut" would have made more sense to me. "Punggung" translates into "back" (anatomically), which I believe is correct in Indonesian, but would have made many Malaysians I know snicker at the reference to one's rear end. Perhaps these words are more common in parts of Malaysia I am not familiar with such as the east coast or Sabah & Sarawak. If this is the case, it would have been nice to have more than one translation for a word, although probably not practical for a quick reference guide.

   In any case, Malaysians are easily impressed with foreigners who speak Malay, so while I may find fault with it, there is much in this little book which visitors would find useful. I particularly like the little tips on Malaysian culture, grammar and food. For those who plan to stay awhile, try the book-and-tapes combo of Survival Malay, and for cultural insight, Heidi Munan's Culture Shock! is a delight even for homesick Malaysians.




3. I got this phrasebook as a gift. I was skeptical at first because of its child-like appearance, but once I started looking through it I found it to be amazing. No other Malay book has the detail that this one does. With short paragraphs at the beginnings of each section, it ensures the best understanding of the culture. The authors are very knowledgeable and knows their Malay. I would recommend this reference book to anyone who is even considering a trip to Malaysia or is interested in the culture.



4. This little guide gives you the basics of words and phrases - but I dont think it would give you the ability to hold more than a very simple "Where is ..." , "Hello, my name is ... " sort of conversation with anyone.
   
   My partner grew up in Malaysia and she has spotted a few errors in the meanings given to some words - but overall its pretty accurate in the translation. One thing I did like was the Malay/English and English/Malay dictionary that is included. It is pretty comprehensive for basic words and you can sort of get by in translating simple sentences both ways. More useful for written material than for speech I find - but with a bit of thought you can use it to work out the general meaning of things eg a newspaper story, etc.
   
   I do think though that if anyone buys this book and feels that it will help them converse, they will be disappointed. I think its a useful starting point but to develop converational skills you really need to be talking with a Malay-speaking person.



5. I was quite happy with the second edition when it came out in 2002, so I suppose I shouldn't complain too much. Still, when many other LP phrasebooks (such as Thai and Indonesian) were updated I was somewhat disappointed when I found that the third edition had not been. It remains a workable phrasebook for short-term visitors and anyone interested in Bahasa Melayu, with both local spellings and easy-to-understand pronunciation guides.