The Languages spoken in Malaysia

Bahasa Malaysia is the national language of the country and basically an Austronesian language. Malay is an official language of Brunei, Singapore and Malaysia. It is spoken by several individuals of other racial groups who live in southern Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, central eastern Sumatra, Singapore, Riau Islands and other parts of the Philippines and coast of Borneo.

The official language of Malaysia is relatively similar to Indonesia. In East Timor,and Indonesia, the language is officially referred to as Bahasa Indonesia which factually interpret as "Indonesian language", instead of Bahasa Melayu. In Indonesia, the language is also identified Bahasa Persatuan/Pemersatu as the unifying language and Bahasa Kebangsaan as the national language. At this point, in Malaysia the language is officially recognized as Bahasa Malaysia while Bahasa Melayu is the language known in Brunei and southern Thailand and Singapore. Generally, Bahasa Malaysia belongs to Pacific Ocean and Southeast Asia. On the contrary, Malay language essentially belongs from Malayo-Polynesian. This language is to be used by both national and state governments. Malay Language is closely connected with Acehnese, Gilbertese, Hawaiian, Javanese, Nauruan, Tahitian, Tongan, Chamorro and Palau (Belau), and among others. Though, these languages are not totally the same, yet there are numerous similarities.

English language is also widely spoken. It is mandatory for Malaysians to learn English and Bahasa Melayu at school. Indians and Chinese study Tamil and Mandarin at school respectively. Other language practiced by Malays include slang words which spoken in the urban areas, created by novelties of standard Malay words or built-in from other languages and not recognizable to the older generation.