Thinking about learning Malay?
I worked so hard when I moved to Malaysia to speak Malay. I would learn a whole sentence and it would take forever. Then I would say the sentence to people and they would be confused and not sure about what I said and I would get embarrassed. My best moment was when I announced, “Saya mahu percutian enam bulan dua kali setahun” which translates as “I want a six month holiday, twice a year!”This week, Jom Belajar caught up with Vincent Cee, ISKL’s MS/HS music teacher about his experiences learning this wonderful language…
I felt like giving up so many times, but I finally had some magical moments where I decided I would just keep trying. Learning Malay in Covid MCO times has been tough, but I want to keep going. I think with all learning, it is consistently difficult. But I have also found that with learning, there is always a great support group if one is willing to persevere.
Most people seem to want to enhance learners around them and this is a great human quality that should inspire all of us.
The benefits of learning Malay are priceless. It is a beautiful language and I am curious to see if I can eventually read and write poetry, and make funny jokes. I’m thankful for how supportive everybody has been to teach me a word or two a day and for how people are willing to listen to my strange accent.
