Choose a Malay course to follow. Review websites such as Transparent Language and My Languages to access basic courses, vocabulary and grammar information about Malay in the English language. Choose a course which suits your personal learning style, and work through the lessons in a logical order. If you prefer to learn in a more traditional manner, visit your local bookstore and purchase a book designed for English-language learners of Malay.
Master Malay pronunciation. Listen to audio tracks on the Internet if you are using an online course. If you prefer to learn from a book, choose one that comes with accompanying audio. Listen to the language as much as possible from the first day you start learning so that you gain a feel for how Malay sounds.
Learn Malay vocabulary using the English-Malay word lists in the course you are following. Dedicate a certain amount of time each day to learning new words in Malay, for example 30 minutes every morning. Begin each session by reviewing the words you learned the day before, to help reinforce them in your memory. Get a friend or family member to test you at the end of the week to see how much of the new vocab you have absorbed.
Study Malay grammar. Malay is an agglutinative language which means that new words can be formed by adding suffixes and affixes to existing word roots. This makes Malay grammar differ significantly from English. Work through the grammatical exercises in your Malay course, reading the English language explanations carefully.
Practice speaking Malay in social settings Find someone in your local area who is fluent in both Malay and English and arrange to meet up for coffee. This will give you an opportunity to practice what you have learned so far, whilst getting correction and encouragement in English. If there are no Malay speakers in your area, search for native speakers on Skype or through the forums of a language-learning website. Alternatively, if you want to concentrate on improving your written Malay, advertise for a Malay-speaking pen pal on an online message board.