We are veterans of Bahasa Malaysian (BM) I classes. I have taken four and Doug has taken three. At the basic level it isn't a difficult language, but in a city where many people speak English we don't get much practice. Taxi drivers have been the most help in improving our skills. For a few weeks a neighborhood security guard practiced with us, but then he was transferred.
My first BM class was at USM in Penang in 2008. The class was for foreign students. A student from China was named "Lolita," which as I recall was a fitting name. The instructor wasn't engaged; she gave excess time for in-class writing assignments. My interest in the class decreased when a staff member told me that I was learning "kampung Malaya" (village Malay). I was surprised when the instructor told us that there was no difference between kita ("we" excluding the person addressed) and kami ("we" including the person addressed). I have since learned that many Malaysians don't know the difference.
Our next class was at the KL YMCA with Noorita. She was an exceptional teacher. She quickly engaged our class of 10 that included persons from Slovenia, India, France, Turkey, Japan, and Australia. A typical class began with Noorita asking what we had for dinner. With such a diverse class our our knowledge of food - what it was, what it was called, and where to find it - quickly grew. Technically, the next class we signed up for was BMII. Noorita was not the instructor and the "text" was incoherent. The course was a disaster Our Malaysian did not improve. In fact it got worse. No one in the class signed up for BMIII. My favorite memory was the instructor correcting the English pronunciation of a Frenchwoman in the class.
We hoped that signing up for a class at the Association of British Women in Malaysia would get us out of our rut. The classes are conducted by ALS Languages. We had a small class. The class started with two women from the UK and us. One of the women attended only half the classes, because of conflicting travel plans.
Our instructor was Hanipah, different from Noorita but equally good. Hanipah was closer to our age. She clearly explained the basic grammatical details of Bahasa. We had conversations about "life now" that middle class, middle age people everywhere have.We also learned about the Malaysian culture. For example, Malays consider one a guest for three days. After the third day you are not longer a guest and are expected to pitch in. Since I always stay with Lena for three days I guess I am a perpetual guest, i.e., very well cared for.
Now our challenge is to follow up on this BM class. We haven't looked for Intermediate classes. But with only three in our class,we assume that few people are looking for an intermediate class. In addition our travel schedule during the fall was challenging - we missed two classes while we were in India - and the coming spring will be worse. We plan to open up our Rosetta Stone Indonesia class. We now know some of the differences at the basic level. Plus we have been told that Malaysians usually understand Indonesian because they go to Indonesia films. The reverse is not true.
Bottom Line - the ALS classes are far more expensive that the Y classes, but the materials are far superior: a textbook; dictionary arranged by topics, such as, people's jobs; glossary; conversation book and CD. Noorita was great, but given our limited experience we assume that there is little variation in the skills of ALS teachers. The same was not true of the Y instructors.
My first BM class was at USM in Penang in 2008. The class was for foreign students. A student from China was named "Lolita," which as I recall was a fitting name. The instructor wasn't engaged; she gave excess time for in-class writing assignments. My interest in the class decreased when a staff member told me that I was learning "kampung Malaya" (village Malay). I was surprised when the instructor told us that there was no difference between kita ("we" excluding the person addressed) and kami ("we" including the person addressed). I have since learned that many Malaysians don't know the difference.
Our next class was at the KL YMCA with Noorita. She was an exceptional teacher. She quickly engaged our class of 10 that included persons from Slovenia, India, France, Turkey, Japan, and Australia. A typical class began with Noorita asking what we had for dinner. With such a diverse class our our knowledge of food - what it was, what it was called, and where to find it - quickly grew. Technically, the next class we signed up for was BMII. Noorita was not the instructor and the "text" was incoherent. The course was a disaster Our Malaysian did not improve. In fact it got worse. No one in the class signed up for BMIII. My favorite memory was the instructor correcting the English pronunciation of a Frenchwoman in the class.
Our instructor was Hanipah, different from Noorita but equally good. Hanipah was closer to our age. She clearly explained the basic grammatical details of Bahasa. We had conversations about "life now" that middle class, middle age people everywhere have.We also learned about the Malaysian culture. For example, Malays consider one a guest for three days. After the third day you are not longer a guest and are expected to pitch in. Since I always stay with Lena for three days I guess I am a perpetual guest, i.e., very well cared for.
Now our challenge is to follow up on this BM class. We haven't looked for Intermediate classes. But with only three in our class,we assume that few people are looking for an intermediate class. In addition our travel schedule during the fall was challenging - we missed two classes while we were in India - and the coming spring will be worse. We plan to open up our Rosetta Stone Indonesia class. We now know some of the differences at the basic level. Plus we have been told that Malaysians usually understand Indonesian because they go to Indonesia films. The reverse is not true.
Bottom Line - the ALS classes are far more expensive that the Y classes, but the materials are far superior: a textbook; dictionary arranged by topics, such as, people's jobs; glossary; conversation book and CD. Noorita was great, but given our limited experience we assume that there is little variation in the skills of ALS teachers. The same was not true of the Y instructors.
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