Hi everyone!
It's me Zarina, your friend from Malaysia. Apa khabar?
The second most important phrase after greetings IMO is saying thank you. What do you think? I think it is agreed worldwide that saying thank you when you feel grateful will have a significant impact in your interpersonal relationship.
If you are in Malaysia, you will probably receive a surprise remark or even a smile from the local people in Malaysia when you try to pronounce this greeting in your possible best effort.
In Malay, Thank you is Terima Kasih.
Te-ri-ma
Ka-sih
There are two words in this phrase where 'Terima' is actually a verb which means 'to receive' in English and 'Kasih' is a noun which means 'love' or 'affection'.
In other words, Terima Kasih can simply mean 'Receive my love/affection'.
How warm can one phrase means right?
Irregardless of how thick or how heavy your accent is, you should try to use this greeting - Terima Kasih. Even if you forget your greetings, when you wish Terima Kasih earnestly, it will be a worthwhile effort.
Who knows your luck, you could probably receive a few discount here and there when buying your souvenirs in Malaysia or even be given extra 'kuih' (cookies) from the stall where you buy them.
Let's practice saying Terima Kasih a few times, shall we?
I will say it first and then it's your turn during a few silent seconds, ok?
Let’s start.
Terima Kasih
Terima Kasih
Terima Kasih
Terima Kasih
Terima Kasih
Variations of saying Thank You in Malay Language.
As a reminder, the lessons that I prepare in this blog is for speaking colloquially to the natives. Hence, I will prepare some other phrases of saying thank you in our culture.
1) Terima kasih banyak
2) Terima kasih sangat-sangat
3) Terima kasih tak terhingga
4) Terima kasih ye
5) Terima kasih lah
6) Thank you aahh..
7) Thank you thank you
And the list goes on….
The first three, means Thank You Very Much. But the second and the third is like Million, gazillion thanks.
While the first is when you feel the need to emphasize your thanking the other person, the rest is when you feel so indebted and you think that it is impossible for you to repay their deeds.
The fourth and firth are suffixed and normally used when you are very familiar with that person. You will understand all these much easier with conversation examples .
The sixth is English words but suffixed and normally used by Malaysian Chinese or in fact those who are used to this greeting.
The last one is English but said in repetition.
What differentiate them from only Terima Kasih?
Terima Kasih is the general thank as per the norm but Terima kasih banyak or Terima kasih sangat-sangat or Terima kasih tak terhingga is like the higher level of Terima Kasih. Got it? :)
We don’t really have different words used for older people or respected people like in Korean Language. However, you can be more polite by using the first three variations of Terima Kasih.
Depending on your intonation, it could be a mocking statement as well. So, please be careful and mean it when you use them.
How to pronounce ‘banyak’ and ‘sangat’?
Generally, it is pretty hard to pronounce the ‘ny’ and ‘ng’ part in both words. However, it is not impossible.
Banyak is similar to ‘ny’ in Kenya.
Sangat is similar to ‘ng’ in Hanger
The easiest way is to get someone native to the language to assist you. If you are interested, you may contact me on Preply for an hour lesson to practise speaking Malay and to improve your pronunciation.
Well, today's lesson ends here.
I hope that this lesson helps.
Sampai jumpa lagi! (Till we meet again)