Speaking...

Something interesting about Malay that I've noticed alot recently, is how the relative lack of specific words leads to people being much more animated in the way they express themselves. I was talking with some friends the other day about this. In Malay, you'll use the same word to mean different things in a wide variety of contexts. Keselamatan for example means safety and security. Basically, the nuanced meanings have to be conveyed by the context and tone of the conversation. In some ways, the language isn't as developed as English, here in Malaysia, because people's relatively good English means that a lot of time they'll just substitute an English word in place of a relevant Malay word. This is somewhat different in Indonesia because there, EVERYONE uses BI, though English is spoken in the city, BI is still the primarily used language, regardless of ethnicity. Therefore, they've created new words when needed, whereas, in Malay, a lot of English words are now used instead. Anyway, sometimes this lack of specificity leads to a lot more in the way of "talking with hands" as we call it at home. Yesterday I was watching an interaction between three teachers while I was at my Malay class. Had you been able to turn the sound off, it would've looked like they were using sign language to communicate. And I find that I do the same when I speak Malay (though this is more due to my ignorance than any short comings of the language... often I just don't know the word I'm looking for).

I get so sick of hearing people say, Malay is an easy language to learn. It's funny because I hear that most from people who've never tried to learn it. What's actually the most difficult for me is knowing when to simplify or complicate my speech. We all know I'm a wordy person, both in speech and in writing. In day to day Malay, if you want to really make sense, you just can't be so wordy. SO I have to think extra hard about what I want to say, and how to simplify it so it makes sense. Conversely, if I want to speak formal bahasa, then I need to complicate my speech more. It's not as simple as it looks if you ask me. That said, it IS easier than speaking Vietnamese, no contest.

All that said, I'm coming along pretty well I think. It's a funny thing about language, you often don't realize your improvement because it sort of just seeps into your head without you realizing it. I notice now that reading the newspaper is no longer a two hour long affair between me the paper and the dictionary. I'm able to glance at headlines and know what they mean without having to translate it in my head. I know 90% of the words in the article without using the dictionary. So yes, all those lessons are paying off....

But I still make some funny mistakes. Someone said the other day, "I nak berkenalan dengan u, kalau u tak keberatan." This is KL slang, in the usage of I and U instead of Saya and awak. I read this to say, I want to get to know you, if you are not fat. :-O How rude eh? I took this from keberatan of which the root word is berat, which means weight or heavy. But, what it actually translates to is, I want to get to know you, if it's not too much to ask. :-P Funny eh? Lots to learn still, lots and lots...