Stories, audio, and videos can all help you learn Malay when you can follow what they mean. That is the idea behind comprehensible input: learning from Malay you can mostly understand. Malay made for learners is hard to find. A learner on r/bahasamelayu wrote that there are barely any good Malay podcasts for learners and no comprehensible input made for beginners. Malaysians there also say the Malay they speak every day is quite different from the standard Malay in books and the news.
These apps and sites give you Malay at your level, or help you follow the Malay you pick yourself. For courses, speaking practice, and tutors, see our Malay app comparison.
Custom Lessons Made for You
Bubblegum
Learn Malay with a path made just for you. Start with your level, what you like, and why you want to learn. Your path grows as you learn, with new lessons that fit you. Bubblegum also has news and stories, so you can read and listen to a mix of Malay about music, food, family, or daily life.
Poppy, your AI tutor, writes each lesson for you. If a word or a sentence is hard to follow, just ask her to explain it.
The trade-off is that Bubblegum can't help with Malay you found yourself. For a cartoon, a video, or an article you already picked, the tools in Read and Watch Malay You Choose are the better fit.
- Read and listen to lessons, news, and stories about things you like.
- New lessons fit your level, interests, and goals.
- Regenerative Review™ brings saved words back in new lessons, so you review them by reading instead of using flashcards.
- Ask Poppy about a sentence while you read.
- Lesson audio uses AI voices, not recordings of Malay speakers.
- You cannot bring in your own books, articles, or videos.
- A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so you can ask Poppy for a free one, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn.
- Regenerative Review™
Mobile
Read Free Picture Books
Let's Read
Let's Read is a free library of children's books from The Asia Foundation. Its Malay shelf is small, with about 20 books, many of them first written in Indonesia and Cambodia. Short picture books are an easy first step, because the pictures help you follow the story.
- Free picture books in Bahasa Malaysia.
- Each book shows its reading level and the ages it suits.
- Tap to switch a book between Malay and English.
- Download books to read offline.
MobileWeb
Listen to the News in Malay
SBS Audio
SBS Bahasa Melayu shares news and stories in Malay, from world news to Malaysian food and restaurants in Australia. It suits learners who know the basics and want short episodes of real Malay.
- News and community stories in Malay from SBS, Australia's public broadcaster.
- Episodes are short, often about 10 minutes long.
- Listen free in the SBS Audio app, on the web, or as a podcast.
MobileWeb
Read and Watch Malay You Choose
These tools help you learn from videos, articles, and shows you pick yourself. They suit learners who already know what they want to read or watch.
Language Reactor
Language Reactor shows Malay subtitles beside a translation while you watch. Malay cartoons on YouTube, such as Upin & Ipin, come with automatic Malay captions, and a learner on r/bahasamelayu suggests watching them with a subtitle tool like this one. It is free to install, with paid extras.
- See Malay subtitles beside a translation on YouTube and Netflix.
- Look up words in a pop-up dictionary.
- Pause and replay one line when it goes too fast.
Browser extension
LingQ
LingQ lets you read and listen to Malay you bring in, next to a small library of its own. It highlights the words you have not met yet and the ones you are still learning.
- Bring in YouTube videos, articles, and books of your own.
- See which words you know and which are new.
- Read and listen at the same time, with audio that matches the text.
- Flashcards
MobileWeb
Readlang
Readlang helps you read Malay on the web, such as the free books and news below. Tap a word or short phrase to see what it means, then review it later.
- Tap a word or short phrase in Malay text on the web to see what it means.
- Hear Malay words read aloud.
- Review the words you saved with flashcards.
- Flashcards
WebBrowser extension
Free Videos, Books, News, and Radio
Once you know the basics, Ajar explains science and general knowledge in Malay on YouTube, and a learner on r/bahasamelayu says its host speaks clearly and not too fast. On I Learn Malay, Zarina from Malaysia teaches the everyday spoken Malay people use, in short videos for beginners. Learners also suggest P. Ramlee's classic films, which they say you can find on YouTube, some with English subtitles. One learner warns that their Malay is a little old-fashioned.
For reading, StoryWeaver has 50 free Malay storybooks sorted into four levels. For news, BERNAMA, Malaysia's national news agency, and Berita Harian publish in Malay. One learner on r/bahasamelayu ranks TV news, such as Astro Awani, as the hardest step, after cartoons.
RTM, Malaysia's public broadcaster, streams its TV channels and radio stations in the free RTMKlik app. A learner on r/bahasamelayu suggests Malay radio for casual speech, because the DJs talk the way people do.
Learn Malay in Your Language
These counts cover menu-language choices, including script variants. Other apps’ counts and full lists come from their iPhone listings, except Language Reactor (Chrome Web Store) and Readlang (its help forum). Word meanings, lesson explanations, and other platforms may differ.
| App | Supported Display Languages | Full List |
|---|---|---|
| Bubblegum | 74 | Full list
|
| Let's Read | 1 | Full list |
| SBS Audio | 1 | Full list |
| Language Reactor | 27 | Full list |
| LingQ | 17 | Full list |
| Readlang | 1 | Full list |
Other Apps We Looked At (5)
- Tina AmirA YouTube channel of older Malay lessons that learners on r/bahasamelayu still recommend, with dialogues in both formal and everyday Malay.
- Bloom LibraryFree picture books, including about 20 in Malay, some of them beside languages from Sabah such as Lotud.
- DualfablesClassic fables such as Tortoise and Hare in Malay beside English, with audio and words you can tap for a meaning. It is new and growing.
- TontonMalay dramas, films, and live TV from TV3, free to stream, with more in a paid plan.
- Astro AWANIA Malay news channel with live TV and short news summaries in its app.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much of it should I understand?
Aim for Malay where you know almost every word. Hu and Nation found that readers follow a story well when they know about 98% of its words, which is about one new word in fifty. If you stop at almost every line, try something easier.
What can I watch in Malay as a beginner?
Learners on r/bahasamelayu suggest Malaysian cartoons more than anything else. Upin & Ipin uses simple, everyday Malay, and its makers, Les' Copaque, post new episodes free on YouTube. One learner says the older seasons use more of the casual Malay people speak. Learners also suggest Ejen Ali and BoBoiBoy, and shows on Netflix with Malay subtitles or Malay dubs.
Can I learn from Indonesian videos and books?
Yes, once you know the basics. Indonesian and Malay are two standard forms of the same language, and their speakers can mostly understand each other. Some everyday words differ, though: an office is pejabat in Malay and kantor in Indonesian.
Is Bubblegum free?
Yes. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn. It holds lessons that other learners asked Poppy for. A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so you can ask Poppy for a free one, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons.
Sources
- r/bahasamelayu: Why does the Malay language learning community lack a lot of resources and support?
- r/bahasamelayu: Why are standard Malay and colloquial Malay so different?
- Hu and Nation (2000), Unknown vocabulary density and reading comprehension
- r/bahasamelayu: learning spoken/informal malay? (Upin & Ipin with a subtitle tool, older seasons, radio DJs)
- SBS Bahasa Melayu on Apple Podcasts
- r/bahasamelayu: What Malaysian YouTube channels would you recommend to get used to Malay?
- StoryWeaver: Malay stories
- r/bahasamelayu: I want to improve my Malay. Any tips on how? (cartoons, then ML Studio, then Astro Awani)
- RTMKlik: current iPhone listing
- r/bahasamelayu: Best sources for learning Malay? (Upin & Ipin, Ejen Ali, BoBoiBoy)
- r/bahasamelayu: Improving my Bahasa (P. Ramlee films on YouTube; Malay subtitles and dubs on Netflix)
- r/bahasamelayu: How to learn Malay fast (P. Ramlee films with English subtitles on YouTube)
- Les' Copaque Production, makers of Upin & Ipin, on YouTube
- Wikipedia: Comparison of Indonesian and Standard Malay
- Bubblegum
- Let's Read
- SBS Audio
- Language Reactor
- LingQ
- Readlang
Checked on October 8, 2026 against each app's own pages.
