City in Peninsular Malaysia to immerse in Malay language?

Question

I like to self-study the local language in the places I travel to. I don't do courses or attend classes.

I just arrived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It's a very multicultural city and though most signs are in Malay most of the spoken language I hear around me is English, Chinese, or one or another Indian language.

Other than going to Indonesia where a different variety of essentially the same language is much more universal, which city here in Malaysia would be the "most Malay" linguistically?

I'm aware that across Malaysia there are a good few other languages and dialects related to Standard Malay to various degrees, and I expect there will be lots of ethnic Chinese and Indian Malaysians everywhere, but I wonder if somewhere else (Johor Bahru? Penang?) might be more immersive if I want to hear and practice Malay with the most people every day in shops and restaurants, etc?

(I'm focusing on cities just because I find them easier to "live in" for longer periods than smaller towns or villages. I'm focussing on the peninsula because I intend to travel overland from here.)

Answer 1

LOL! If you want immersion in Chinese culture then Johor Bahru and Penang are very good choices. You named the 2 most Chinese town of Malaysia.

Go to the east coast instead. To Kota Bahru then slowly travel south. Unfortunately, I think it is the rainy season now.

You can also stay in KL but move to Kampung Bahru (not far from the Petronas tower). Other "mostly Malay" location include Kampung Datuk Keramat, Segambut, Kampung Sungai Pencala, Gombak and Selayang (thank you @sabre23t)

You can also find small Malay villages near big Chinese cities. For example, when I am in Penang, I like to stay in Teluk Bahang, 1 hour away from Georgetown.

Answer 2

I visited Malaysia again for six months last year and three months this year and this time finally managed to get my Malay to an adequate tourist level.

Perhaps surprisingly, I immersed the best in Johor Bahru! When researching accommodation options there just after the country reopened after the pandemic, I liked the look of a guesthouse called "Memory Guesthouse".

It turns out that this guesthouse is located about a half-hour walk from the city centre of JB in a suburb named "Kampung Mahmoddiah" which is majority Malay. The guesthouse is run by Chinese locals but there are no Chinese shops or restaurants nearby and only a couple of Indian ones. Everybody is very friendly and love it when you try to use Malay.

This time I also travelled the east coast from Sungai Rengit in the south to Pengkalan Kubor on the Thai border. I also got to use my Malay here of course and there were more people who didn't speak English, but the people were not quite as friendly as in Kampung Mahmoddia.

Answer 3

It's not easy. English is very pervasive. As a general rule older Malaysians (of all races) are less likely to speak English than younger. I also find rural Malaysians are more likely to speak Malay - but that changes with every passing year. There probably isn't a single city center I would choose. City folk are pretty fluent at English.

Most Malaysian's will default to speaking English with a non-native Malay speaker. Even Indonesians will often use English as a common language with Malay.

It's really not about the city, its about finding people who are willing to consistently speak Malay with you. If I absolutely must pick a city, I would pick anything that has easy access to kampung (rural) areas - perhaps ipoh or georgetown. But more important than the city is finding a group of people who will participate in your language quest (like a restaurant owner who you can have a yarn with each day).

There are Malay cultural "camps" where you pay and are immersed in the language and culture for a few weeks. But to be honest, everyone I know who learnt the language later in life did so with paid daily lessons - there just isn't really a critical mass of Malay-only speakers to engage in Malaysia. As the above commenter stated, some areas where there is heavy malay-only language exposure, may not be friendly (or sometimes - but rarely - not safe).