Malay, or Bahasa Melayu, is the national language of Malaysia and Singapore and the official language of Brunei. Only a handful of big apps teach it, and fewer still give you things to read and listen to once you know the basics.
Here are the apps and services that teach Malay, grouped by what they help you do. You can start with one and add another when you need it.
Custom Lessons Made for You
Bubblegum
For serious learners, Bubblegum is the best app to learn Malay. You learn from Malay you can mostly understand, which is called comprehensible input.
Bubblegum builds Malay lessons around your own life. Tell Poppy, your AI tutor, what you want to learn. She writes lessons for your level and helps you understand the words and grammar. You can read and listen, and ask her about anything that is unclear. News and stories give you more Malay to read about music, food, family, and other things you care about.
The trade-off is that Bubblegum is not a person to talk with. For audio lessons with recorded speakers, uTalk and LingoDeer are the better fit. For a set course, try Ling or Mango, and for conversation, try the tutors in Learn With People.
- Lessons fit your level, interests, and goals.
- Read and listen to news and stories in Malay about things you care about.
- Ask Poppy about a sentence while you read.
- Regenerative Review™ brings saved words back in new lessons, so you review them by reading instead of using flashcards.
- Clear, expressive AI voices read every lesson aloud, with a different voice for each speaker.
- You cannot import your own books or articles.
- A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so your first one is free, 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
Follow a Malay Course
If you want someone to choose what comes next, start here. These apps give you an ordered path through Malay words and sentences.
Ling
Ling teaches Malay in short lessons that move from beginner to advanced levels. It suits learners who like to practice through games.
- More than 200 lessons in 50 units.
- Mini-games, speaking practice, and dialogs where you pick the best reply.
- Flashcards
Mobile
LingoDeer
LingoDeer teaches Malay step by step, with lessons that move from beginner to intermediate levels. You can download the whole course in the mobile app for offline study.
- Grammar explained step by step, from A1 to B1.
- Every word and sentence is voiced by native speakers.
MobileWeb
Mango Languages
Mango Languages teaches Malay through everyday conversations. Check your local library first, since many libraries include Mango.
- Real conversations, with the culture behind the words.
- Many public libraries give free access with a library card.
- Flashcards
MobileWeb
Build Vocabulary
Memrise
Memrise offers Malay vocabulary practice through community word lists on its website and mobile app. You can look for a topic that fits your goal or collect your own words. This differs from the older Community Courses website.
- Choose Malay word lists made by other learners.
- Make a list of your own words to practice.
MobileWeb
uTalk
uTalk helps you learn words through games and audio. Its topics include greetings and travel, and you can download lessons to use offline.
- More than 2,500 everyday words and phrases in more than 60 topics.
- Audio from local speakers, not computer voices.
MobileWeb
Learn With People
Choose a tutor if you want teaching and correction.
italki
italki lists Malay tutors you can book for one-on-one lessons. Read tutor profiles and book a trial lesson to find a teacher who fits your goals.
- Choose a Malay tutor and book lessons around your schedule.
- Tutors teach beginner to advanced levels, with lessons on conversation, grammar, or pronunciation.
MobileWeb
Preply
Preply lists Malay tutors, and it has a page for tutors who teach Malay to English speakers. Every lesson is live and one-on-one.
- Compare Malay tutors by profile and reviews.
- Narrow the list by level, such as intermediate or advanced.
MobileWeb
Read, Listen, and Look Up Malay
Few apps give you Malay to read and listen to beyond lessons. Bubblegum's news and stories are one way. Berita Harian publishes news in Malay, and RTM is Malaysia's public broadcaster. Astro Awani is a Malay news channel with a news site. The PRPM site from Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, Malaysia's language and literary agency, lets you search the Kamus Dewan dictionary, other Malay and English dictionaries, proverbs, and a Malay thesaurus in one place. For a short course with a teacher's guidance, Universiti Malaya's Department of Malaysian Languages and Applied Linguistics offers two online courses, Introduction to the Malay Language and Grammatical Rules in Malay.
For more Malay you can read, watch, and listen to at your level, see our Malay comprehensible input comparison.
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. Lesson explanations and other platforms may differ.
| App | Supported Display Languages | Full List |
|---|---|---|
| Bubblegum | 74 | Full list
|
| Ling | 67 | Full list |
| LingoDeer | 15 | Full list |
| Mango Languages | 2 | Full list |
| uTalk | 1 | Full list |
| italki | 19 | Full list |
| Preply | 19 | Full list |
| Memrise | 22 | Full list |
Other Apps We Looked At (9)
- LingQHas a Malay library with courses such as a 26-part story called Who Is She?, and lets you import your own content, such as YouTube videos and ebooks.
- ReadlangSupports Malay, including its Explain feature, which helps you understand words you find while reading.
- TalkpalAn AI tutor app with a Malay page, where you chat by writing or speaking and get feedback on your pronunciation.
- HelloTalkA language exchange app with many Malaysian members who can help you practice Malay in chat and voice rooms.
- TandemA language exchange app that lists Malay among its languages and has members in Malaysian cities such as Kuala Lumpur and Kuching.
- Bahasa AIAn app for Bahasa Melayu as spoken in Malaysia, covering pronunciation, vocabulary, and sentence structure. It is new and growing.
- MemolayA flashcard app made for Malay vocabulary, with review plans based on how well you know each word. It is new and growing.
- Malay by NemoEssential Malay words and phrases with native speaker audio, plus a Speech Studio where you record yourself and hear your voice next to the teacher's.
- Learn Malay (Beginners)A beginner app from BNR Languages that teaches the alphabet and vocabulary, with native audio recordings.
Common Questions
Which Malay app should a beginner choose?
If you are serious about learning Malay, start with Bubblegum. Poppy writes lessons at your level about things you like. Or start with Ling or LingoDeer if you want a course, or Mango if your library offers it. Malay uses the Latin alphabet, called Rumi, so you do not need to learn a new script first. A form of the Arabic alphabet called Jawi also exists, but the Latin alphabet is the standard. Indonesian is a standard form of Malay, and speakers of the two can mostly understand each other, so Indonesian material can help once you know the basics.
Can I learn Malay for free?
Yes. Many libraries give free access to Mango, and its Malay course has 3 units, 15 chapters, and 89 lessons. Bubblegum's lesson library is free to read too.
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 your first one is free, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons.
Sources
- Federal Constitution of Malaysia, Article 152 (WIPO Lex)
- Constitution of Brunei Darussalam (2006), Article 82
- Constitution of the Republic of Singapore, Article 153A
- Wikipedia: Malay language
- Britannica: Malay language
- Wikipedia: Comparison of Indonesian and Standard Malay
- Mango Languages: Learn Malay
- Mango Languages for libraries
- Memrise: Community Courses moved to a separate website
- Memrise: Malay community word lists in the current app
- Memrise: community word lists restored to current website and apps
- Bubblegum
- Ling
- LingoDeer
- uTalk
- italki
- Preply
Checked on October 10, 2026 against each app's own pages.
