For many non-native Bahasa speaker especially those who have very little experience in traveling to these regions, many will think that Bahasa Indonesia and Bahasa Malaysia sounds very similar. It is true that both languages come from similar roots, and some might say can find a mix of both languages in a certain region.
Bahasa Indonesia is the formal national language of Bahasa Indonesia, although Indonesia has more than 500 traditional languages they only have one national language and that is Indonesian.
Bahasa Malaysia or in formal terms Bahasa Melayu is the national language of Malaysia and have deep roots in Malay culture located in the Melayu peninsula. Some people question which is easier to learn, and which is harder to learn.
So, For a non-native Bahasa speaker, which one is easier to learn: Bahasa Indonesia or Bahasa Malaysia?
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- Is Bahasa Malaysia is the same as Bahasa Indonesia?
- What are the differences between Bahasa Indonesia and Bahasa Melayu
- Similarities between Malay language and Indonesian language
What you need to know between the Malaysian language and Indonesian language
First of all, there are some things you need to know before learning about Malay or Indonesian language. Both languages have similar roots, that is why you might find the same vocabulary in two of this language.
However, not every vocabulary means the same in both of the languages. For example Percuma in Indonesian means useless while in Malaysian means free, so same vocabulary but different meaning.
Although very similar, there are quite differences in both Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia. Other than different vocabulary and the meaning, there are also many different suffixes such as the usage of –Lah in Malaysia after verb or noun to express clarification and exclamation and the usage of dong in Indonesia for a similar purpose like –Lah.
There are also different spellings that differentiate between these two languages.
So, which one is easier? Bahasa Indonesia or Malaysia?
For a non-native Bahasa speaker, which one is easier to learn: Bahasa Indonesia or Bahasa Malaysia? The difficulty levels of Bahasa Indonesia and Bahasa Malaysia is actually pretty similar.
They have a similar vocabulary, word structure, suffixes and there are still many similarities. If you speak in Malay language people in Indonesia will recognize it directly as it is somehow quite similar. This also happens vice versa if you are using Indonesian in Malaysia.
Although both of them is similar there are certain differences and difficulties that separate between Malaysian and Indonesian. Bahasa Malaysia influenced heavily by Tamil, Chinese and especially English as there are many Malaysian words rooted in English words.
Indonesian actually have pretty diverse vocabulary as there are many vocabularies Indonesian derived from many languages such as Dutch, English, Sanskrit, Arabic, and many more. If you are a native English speaker it might happen to you that Malaysian is easier to learn, but Indonesian can also be very easy if you happen to know the right trick.
So, did we answer your question? That’s it to conclude our article on For a non-native Bahasa speaker, which one is easier to learn: Bahasa Indonesia or Bahasa Malaysia?