Language
The sole official language of Malaysia is Malay (Bahasa Malaysia). English is also taught in schools and widely spoken in the cities although in rural areas a little Malay will come in handy. There is also a colloquial form of English spoken among Malaysians in urban areas, not inappropriately known as Manglish, which takes a bit of getting used to if you intend to join in the conversation on local topics. Malaysians will almost always try to speak 'proper English' when approached by Western travelers.
The Chinese community in Malaysia speaks a wide variety of Chinese dialects including Cantonese, Mandarin, Teo-chew, Hakka, Hainanese, Foochow, Hok-chew and Hokkien. The most commonly spoken Indian language is Tamil; other include Malayalam, Punjabi and Telugu. In East Malaysia several indigenous languages are also spoken, especially Iban and Kadazan.
We recommend the following books and audio lessons for learning Malay:
Language Books
Audio Lessons
Current Weather (May 18)
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Penang Mostly Cloudy, 86° F |
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Kuala Lumpur Mostly Cloudy, 84° F |
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Malacca Mostly Cloudy, 88° F |
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Ipoh Mostly Cloudy, 90° F |
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Johor Bahru Mostly Cloudy, 88° F |
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Kota Kinabalu Mostly Cloudy, 90° F |
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Kuching Mostly Cloudy, 91° F |
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Langkawi Mostly Cloudy, 88° F |
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Kuantan Mostly Cloudy, 88° F |
| Source: Yahoo! Weather |