Learning Melayu in KL

hi Dodopug,

There are many language centres in KL. As I know the language house in PJ.
Apart from Bahasa Malaysia (Malay) they also offer other languages such as English, Mandarin, German, French, Japanese, Korean and Arabic.
You may contact them directly.

The Language House
P-01-001, Podium, PJ CentreSTAGE
No. 1, Jalan 13/1, Seksyen 13, 46100 Petaling Jaya
Selangor, Malaysia
Tel :  603-7932 1655
Website: http://www.languagehouse.edu.my

Another option that's part time, but cheaper is the YMCA in Bricksfield.

http://www.ymcakl.com/page/204/Language-Courses/

Has anyone taken the YMCA course? Do you come out of there speaking and writing somewhat well?

I haven't talked to anyone that has, actually someone in my area (Setapak, not a popular area for expats, at least western expats - I can go months without seeing someone from a western country) is starting a class.

But my guess is that his target group are Arabs (quite a few in this area as of late) that have recently moved to Malaysia. I'm told the instructor is Arab and I'm very hesitant to take the course since I suspect that he'll end up using Arabic as the primary teaching language. I know that there won't be anyone from an English speaking country in the class since I've not seen anyone in the area since I moved here almost two years ago.

The YMCA is always the recommended choice but I never heard of anyone taking the course and that goes for other expat forums too. So i came to think of YMCA as a ghost.

Id love to hear just one reference---"yes i took the course and after nine weeks I could actually construct complete sentences. I wasnt proficient, still bumping around very much but the progress was high."

All these years I only heard about ONE expat learning BM, it was an Indian who came to KL to be a nurse and within three months she was as fluent as a local. Her fellow nurses taught her on the fly at work.

I'll will probably sign up for the class in January, assuming that I actually retire then. I don't have time to be honest right now. Of course this retirement thing has to be worked out, I'm getting some pressure to stay.

Im embarrassed to say im here so long and still dont speak.  There would have been greater urgency if fewer spoke english, i suppose. But i'd still like to learn, it makes for better local relations.

Were you not sure you wanted to retire here? Did you have a plan for retirement? Whats the pressure about?

Oh I will retire here, it's more about matter of when. I was thinking of the end of the year, but the university is wanting to to renew.