Teach Yourself Malay Complete Course (Book + 2CD) (TY: Complete Courses) [Paperback]

Christopher Byrnes (Author), Tam Lye Suan (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0071468471 | ISBN-13: 978-0071468473 | Publication Date: May 24, 2006 | Edition: 1

Learn a language from the comfort of your own home

Teach Yourself continues its mission of bringing all languages to all people by introducing Teach Yourself Malay Complete Course to its line. Whether you’re a traveler, student, or businessperson, you’ll find it easy to pick up this language spoken by more than 10 million Malaysians and can use this program on its own or as a complement to classroom work. Includes:

• Extensive exercises so readers can review what they have learned
• An overview of the culture surrounding the language, giving travelers and students an understanding of how it is used in context
• Expertise from authors with strong scholarship in each language

In addition, Teach Yourself Malay Complete Course is available as an audio package with two CDs. These CDs feature native speakers in conversation as well as interactive exercises for the learner to use as reinforcement.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Christopher Byrnes

is a languages scholar who has taught all over the world

Tam Lye Suan

is a Straits-born Malay speaker with over twenty years' writing, editing and translating experience

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (May 24, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071468471
• ISBN-13: 978-0071468473
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,814,630 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Concise Malay for Beginners, June 20, 2007

By 

Petra Hildebrandt (Hamburg) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Teach Yourself Malay Complete Course (Book + 2CD) (TY: Complete Courses) (Paperback)

It is hard to find a decent Malay language course, in particular with audio, so I opted for this one to be send across the Atlantic to me.

The lessons are very helpful to learn everyday Malay step-by-step and to practice pronunciation. Overall this is a good language course. The reference part of the book (dictionary) on the other hand leaves out many words I feel I should know... so buying a real dictionary in addition to this course is mandatory, if you want to get the most out of it.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Many mistakes, August 18, 2008

By 

A reader who likes good writing (Columbia MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Teach Yourself Malay Complete Course (Book + 2CD) (TY: Complete Courses) (Paperback)

It is helpful to have a proper textbook of sorts and the cd is ok but there are so many errors in this book it can be really frustrating. The examples often use vocabulary the book has not yet covered. The exercise dialogues on the CD do not always match the book. Even if they are the same as the listening transcripts in the book, the questions are wrong or use different vocabulary in the main text (an example: In a mock job interview the book gives the vocabulary for speaking "unclearly" and "with a heavy accent" but the dialogue itself uses the terms "smoothly" and "softly" and the former is not even in the glossary at the end of the book.)

In one exercise you are supposed to identify the family the speakers are talking about from several pictures but the pictures are wrong (ie a son and daughter instead of two daughters.)The authors frequently ask questions in the exercises about characters who have not yet been mentioned in the book (in a dialogue between Zamaini, Baharom and Davies they ask if "Wong" is married.) I am only in Unit 5 and I have already found errors in English (ie saying "noun" instead of "verb") and possibly in Malay (as in a dialogue which says all the brothers and sisters work already but then says that the youngest brother is 4 years old!!)

Moreover the language in this book seems overly formal, mostly business related and somewhat outdated. (I would assume it is no longer necessary to ask a potential secretary if she knows how to do email, nor is it necessary for most of us to know how to ask that). Teach Yourself Malay does not get to numbers until unit 5 and consistently uses the most formal language rather than what you are likely to hear people say. Thomas Oey's Everyday Malay seems much more accessible and useful although it does not have a CD. There is also a free online web course that covers the very basics with audio clips if you google "Bahasa Malay Course"

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars you may need a malay speaker to guide you along, January 6, 2009

By 

bonsaijen (CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Teach Yourself Malay Complete Course (Book Only) (TY: Complete Courses) (Paperback)

The book is not bad at all. However, its too formal. You may need a malay speaker to guide you along with pronunciatian and sentence formation. I speak the language and bought this for my hubby. He finds it difficult to remember, perhaps just the way the book is set up.