Speaking and Listening Resources For Self Instruction

Speaking and Listening Resources

These are some resources for those looking to help their listening and speaking skills. While these are a meager handful of suggestions, sources like Youtube have a mountain of available resources that can help the average learner! Four of the sources listed are the actual online resources I’ve discovered while the final point is more of a suggestion list!

• Aries Music Kids Channel. Youtube, 16 March 2015, https://www.youtube.com/c/AriesMusicKidsChannel/featured.
  For those just starting out or still developing vocabulary, these songs are wonderful for language acquisition. Easy enough to sing along with them and yet still challenging offering new vocabulary with lyrics- do not be turned off by them being children’s songs. These songs are amazingly clear and not garbled or written with slang so they are extremely beneficial early on and also a good cultural experience!
• Easy language Exchange. 2016, https://www.easylanguageexchange.com/.
  This website is only one of many language exchange websites that exist but I like this one for its simple setup and available partners in Bahasa Melayu (which is not always available elsewhere). This one does not have a built-in means of calling language partners or video chat like some other ones do, but it can open the door and allow you to at least get connected with someone wanting to speak and with the abundance of social media, finding a means to talk to one another shouldn’t be a problem.
• Malay Phrasebook. Nemo, 2019, http://nemolanguageapps.com/phrasebooks/malay.
  This is basically like an audio dictionary featuring common phrases and words. It has a pretty good list and really would be beneficial for beginners just trying to practice getting confident at saying Bahasa Melayu words aloud.
• Movie Malay Audio. Apiz Anime Malay, https://apizanimemalay.blogspot.com/.
  This is a website that entirely translates popular cartoon movies and TV shows into Bahasa Melayu. They have a decent selection at the moment with a lot of Disney and anime options but having a knowledge of the dialogue beforehand can make these resources really effective and fun for a watching experience.
• Youtube Music Artists
  This is kind of a catchall resource just compiling some suggestions for possible music lovers out there. There is an overabundance of Bahasa Melayu music, sometimes mixed with English, but oftentimes just on its own. If you like more upbeat pop music, I would suggest “Impikan”  by DOLLA, or “Zoom-Zoom” and “Pematah Hati” by Nabila Razali, “Nakal, Nakal, Nakal,” by Ayda Jebat, and “Teman” by Iman Troye. For more dramatic sad romantic songs, “Semua Sudah” by Elizabeth Tan, “Perasaanku” by Fieya Julia, “Jampi” by Hael Husaini and “Bahagia” by Eza Emond and most of Malaysian music. For more upbeat cute songs,  “Miliki Hatiku” also by Eza Emond (adorable little guitar piece) and “Polaroid” by Sakura Band. Rock music, most stuff from Ara Johari like “Bunga” and “Paku” and Bunkface’s “Dunia” and their other songs. For more lullaby and background music “Terukir di Bintang” by Yuna and anything by Zee Avi. Warning with Zee Avi though, her Malay songs are often in the dialect that she grew up in and she tends to blend English and Bahasa Melayu, so that could be confusing those that are very basic beginners in songs like “Siboh Kitak Nangis“, “Nightlight Melody” and “Kantoi“. Finally, for a more traditional sound, Siti Nurhaliza has an album and a cool mix of traditional and modern sounds in “Bunga” by Intan Payung feat. Noraniza Idris. There are also plenty of worship songs including The Blessing in Bahasa Melayu.
  Happy listening!