I saw a sign warning pedestrians to keep out and wondered what the words meant, in case I saw them again without the translation.
Problem
What do the words actually mean?
Answer
The English says
Danger keep out
The Malay says
B a h a y a jangan dekat (I had to insert spaces because the automatic spell checker prefers the more frequently used word b a h a s a which means language
The Malay language is very similar to Indonesian with a few words different, just vocabulary. The language is easy to read because it is phonetic - the letters convey the sounds. (Phone is Greek for sound.)
Google translate tells me the translation is:
B a h a y a - danger / hazard
jangan - do not
dekat - get close
I shall eventually use Duolingo, a free website, to learn the language.
Stories
Always use anything free as soon as you find it, because you don't know how long it will remain free. When ISBN numbers first came out they were free. I could have applied for ten or even 100 ISBN numbers. Now they cost of money, a lot of money if you want to keep publishing books.
Tips
I write down Malay words in the back of my diary.
I shall eventually use Duolingo, a free website, to learn the language.
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer
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