Why and where to learn Malay and Indonesian - thirteen easy words to remember

Flag of Malaysia.

Bahasa means language. Bahasa Malaysia or Bahasa Indonesia means language of the country, as opposed to the people of the country. When I went into a bookshop in Malaysia and asked for a book about 'Malaysian', the assistant queried, 'Bahasa Malaysia?'. Not only that, the dictionary cover used the phrase 'Bahasa Malaysia'.

If you are looking for a phrasebook or dictionary, it helps to be familiar with the national flags.

Flag of Indonesia

The white does not show against a white background so I have added another picture.

Why would you want to learn the language, when you are there or plan to go there? Or even if you just what to know about about it for general knowledge?

Wikipedia explains (with my additions): 
Indonesian (bahasa Indonesia, [baˈha.sa in.doˈne.sja]) is the official language of Indonesia. It is a standardised variety of Malay, a language that has been used as the lingua franca (everyday spoken language) in the multilingual Indonesian archipelago (group of islands) for centuries. Indonesia is the fourth most populous (biggest population) nation in the world. Of its large population, the majority speak Indonesian, making it one of the most widely spoken languages in the world.

Flag of Singapore

Malay is one of the four languages of Singapore, so government leaflets have English, Malay, Chinese and Tamil. The tube (underground railway) station maps are also in four languages. So are the notices on the stations. So are the recorded announcements.

Malay and Indonesian are the same languages with variations in vocabulary, like British English and American English. Near enough for you to be understood in the capital cities of either.

This week, August 2020, my family in Singapore was posted seeds from the Singapore National Parks, seeds which I requested in June. The seeds were so popular that the numbers available to be sent out had to be increased, hence the delay.
The seeds arrived with four languages and I looked at the English and the Malay translations below.

Some words were immediately obvious. Others I had to look up. Here's a handy set of translations:

English - Malay (and Indonesian)
active - aktif
and - dan
bag - beg
centimetre - sentimeter
cm - sm
food - makanan
germination - germinasi
organic - organik
plastic - plastik
plastic bag - beg plastik
therapeutic - terapeutik
three - tiga
two - dua

Malay - English
aktif - active
beg - bag
beg plastik - plastic bag
dan - and
dua - two (looks like dual or duo)
germinasi - germination
makanan -food
matahari -
organic - organik
plastik - plastic
sm - cm (centimetres)
sentimeter - centimetre
terapeutik - therapeutic
tiga - three

You can get a good overview for free from Wikipedia including word endings, common phrases, numbers.

Incidentally, the Singapore national anthem is sung in Malay. Singapore National Day is every year August 9th.

Indonesian Independence day is August 17th.
Malaysian independence day is August 31st.

Useful Websites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesian_language

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.