Spend your first week learning the Romanized Malay alphabet. Focus on consonants that differ from English, such as 'c' (pronounced like the 'ch' in "chat") and 'g' (always hard, like "goat"). Step 2: Build a Foundation of "Survival Phrases"

: While the physical book is for purchase, the Teach Yourself Library offers free accompanying audio and digital resources to help with pronunciation and listening skills.

These are public domain, high-quality "textbooks" available as PDFs.

Without a teacher, you must hold yourself accountable to a schedule. Maximizing Your Digital Study Sessions