Bahasa Malaysia / Melayu is Malaysia's National Language as stated in its Constitution. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka is the centre which maintains the National Language. Bahasa Malaysia has the same alphabet as English with 5 vowels. They are 'a', 'e', 'i', 'o' and 'u'. The Malay language pronunciation is very easy and is one of the easiest to speak and learn.

Pronunciation

1. The sound of 'a' is like the 'a' sound in 'ai' as in Chinese sound or 'a' sound in 'ah' a sighing sound.
2. There are 2 sounds for 'e' :
   a) is like 'e' sound in 'er' as in Chinese sound or the 'a' sound in 'ago'. This is used in enam, emak, etc.
   b) is like 'e' sound in 'echo' and 'elephant'. This is used in ekor, esok, etc.
3. The sound of 'i' is like the 'e' vowel sound like 'we' or 'i' sound in 'mi' as in Chinese sound.
4. The sound of 'o' is like the 'o' sound in 'orange' or 'o' sound as in 'mo' as in Chinese sound.
5. The sound of 'u' is like the 'oo' sound in 'book' or 'u' sound in 'bu' as in Chinese sound.

Bahasa Malaysia / Melayu grammar has many similarity as English Language. Below are some similarity but there are some which are in different category. Below shows a comparison between English and Bahasa Malaysia. I studied these two languages until Form 5 only and I just managed to pass them. So, don't depend on my 'teaching' too much. Do lookup Tatabahasa Bahasa Melayu, Part's of Speech, to understand better.

Noun in Bahasa Malaysia / Melayu is 'Kata Nama Am'. For example book is 'buku' and island is 'pulau'.

Pronoun in Bahasa Malaysia / Melayu is 'Kata Nama Khas'. For example 'I' is 'Saya / Aku', 'We' is 'Kita', 'You' is 'Kamu / Awak', 'They' is 'Mereka' and 'Ms Siti' is 'Cik Siti'.

Verb in Bahasa Malaysia / Melayu is 'Kata Kerja'. For example buy is 'beli', sell is 'jual'.

Adverb in Bahasa Malaysia / Melayu is ... . Sorry, I can remember this and did not lookup on this. As this are words that describe actions, then o few examples are 'slowly' is 'perlahan-lahan' and soundly is 'nenyak'.

Adjective in Bahasa Malaysia / Melayu is Kata Sifat. A few examples are 'beautiful' is 'cantik' and 'short' is 'pendek'.

Conjuction in Bahasa Malaysia / Melayu is 'Kata Hubung'. There are many types of conjuction just like there are many types of Kata Hubung.
Examples of Co-ordinating Conjunctions (Kata Hubung Gabungan) are and is 'dan', but is 'tetapi', or is 'atau', for is 'untuk', so is '', yet is 'lagi'.
Examples of Subordinating Conjunctions (Kata Hubung Pancangan Keterangan) are after is 'selepas', although is 'sungguhpun', as is '', because is 'sebab / kerana', before is , how is , if is 'jika / jikalau', once is '', since is '', than is '', that is '', though is 'meskipun / sungguhpun', till is 'hingga', until is 'sehingga', when is '', where is '', whether is '', while is 'semasa'.
Examples of Correlative Conjunctions (Kata Hubung Berpasangan) are 'both...and' is '', 'either...or' is , 'neither...nor' is '', 'not only...but also' is '', 'so...as' is '', 'whether...or' is ''.

Preposition in Bahasa Malaysia / Melayu is 'about' is '', 'above' is 'di atas', 'across' is 'seberang', 'after' is 'selepas', 'against' is '', 'along' is 'bersama', 'among' is '', 'around' is '', 'at' is 'di', 'before' is 'sebelum', 'behind' is 'behind', 'below' is 'di bawah', 'beneath' is 'di bawah', 'beside' is 'sebelah', 'between' is 'di antara', 'beyond' is '', 'but' is 'tetapi', 'by' is 'oleh', 'despite' is '', 'down' is '', 'during' is 'semasa', 'except' is 'kecuali', 'for' is 'untuk', 'from' is 'dari / darimana', 'in' is 'dalam', 'inside' is 'di dalam', 'into' is 'ke dalam', 'like' is 'seperti', 'near' is 'dekat', 'of' is '', 'off' is '', 'on' is '', 'onto' is '', 'out' is '', 'outside' is 'di luar / keluar', 'over' is '', 'past' is '', 'since' is 'sejak', 'through' is 'melalui', 'throughout' is '', 'till' is 'hingga', 'to' is 'ke', 'toward' is 'ke arah', 'under' is 'di bawah', 'underneath' is 'di bawah', 'until' is 'sehingga', 'up' is 'naik', 'upon' is '', 'with' is 'dengan', 'within' is 'di antara', 'without' is 'tanpa'.

Interjection in Bahasa Malaysia / Melayu is 'Kata Seru'. For example, ouch, amboi, aiyo.