Learn a little Indonesian and Malay

Flag of Singapore, a country where you hear four languages in announcements on the MRT (train system). 

Here are a few words of Malay for today, and Indonesian is almost the same, with the occasional addition of a local word, like American English and British English. I have added in brackets my ways of remembering the word.

You hear and see the Malay language in Singapore, where I live part of the year. Malay is one of four official languages. Announcements are made in Malay, often ending with terimah kasih, meaning thank you. One day I shall record the announcements and type the English with the translations into the other three languages. Then I can effortlessly listen out for the words I know.

Here are my discoveries today of words in Malay and Indonesian. One word a day for a year would be 365 words. Let's allow for holidays and hospitals and being too busy. 300 words a year. Ten words a day is a really useful 3,000 words a year, of any language you choose. If you are a student, unemployed, or retired, with oodles of time, you could do ten languages a day for five minutes.

English - Malay / Indonesian
apple - apel
black - hitam (You might get hit on a black night. Black and hitam both contain the letter a. The letters l and t are uprights.)
eat / food - makan
have - punya (Both words contain the letter a. Y is a bit like an upside down h. Punya and possess both start with the letter p.)
I - saya (I, myself - letter Y in myself and saya.)

one - satu
two - dua (Looks like dual)
three - tiga (Both start with letter t.)
goodbye - selamat tinggal (selamat like salaam and shalom, s-l-m, meaning peace)
thank you - terimah kasih (The Malay- Indonesian sounds like terribly thankful, Madam, for the cash tip.)

Indonesian / Malay - English
apel - apple
dua - two
hitam - black
makan - eat / food
punya - have / possess

satu - one
saya - I
selamat tinggal - goodbye  termimah kasih - thank you 
tiga - three

Useful Websites For Travellers and Language Learners
LANGUAGES
Earworms 
earwormslearning.com
(This is a shortened version of Berlitz where you hear the words, provided on a disc or download, but the addition of music in the background makes it relaxing when you listen and they claim improves the speed and ease of learning). I bought the German and Spanish, then added other languages when I saw the discs available at low prices second hand on ebay. The booklet is amll and easy to carry. The print is small and hard to read in a poor light at night but much better in daylight, outdoors, such as when waiting at a bus stop.
It is written with the traveller in mind, starting with words you need on a flight.

Duolingo - my absolute favourite system. It's free.
duolingo.com

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker, teacher of English and other languages. Workshops and speeches for students and businesses. 
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