No: Duolingo has no Malay course, from English or any other language. How far its Indonesian course gets you, where to learn Malay, and your first words.
Author: QlangoPublished: 4 min read
No, Duolingo doesn't have Malay. There is no Malay course on Duolingo for English speakers, and none from any other language either: we read Duolingo's full course catalogue on 11 November 2026, and Malay isn't in it.
A disclosure: we make Qlango, a language app that teaches Malay, so we have an interest here. The Duolingo fact above is plain fact, and you can check it yourself on Duolingo's course list.
Yes, and it's close: Duolingo teaches Indonesian to English speakers. Malay and Indonesian are two standard forms of one language. The grammar is almost identical, and Malaysians and Indonesians understand each other well, especially in formal speech.
Where they part is everyday vocabulary, some spellings and loanwords. Indonesian took many words from Dutch, such as kantor, "office", from kantoor, while Malay borrowed more from English: polis, bas, teksi. So Duolingo's Indonesian course gives you the grammar and much of the vocabulary, but in Kuala Lumpur you'd sound Indonesian, and a few words would mean something else. Babbel and Busuu don't offer Malay either (checked November 2026).
Qlango teaches Malay from A1 to B2, the four CEFR levels from beginner to upper intermediate. At A1 and A2 you introduce yourself, talk about daily life in simple sentences and get through everyday exchanges. At B1 you handle most situations and talk about your experiences and plans, and at B2 you hold real conversations on familiar topics and follow the main points of articles. Lessons are in Rumi, the Latin alphabet that Malaysian schools, newspapers and signs use.
A lesson is a set of short Malay example sentences with the translation in the language you learn from, answered as flashcards, by choosing one of two answers, matching pairs, putting scrambled words in order, writing what you hear and writing the translation yourself, which is where you have to know that baca becomes membaca but tulis becomes menulis. An AI voice reads every example aloud, and you can slow it down. A finished lesson comes back after one, two, four and eight days and then once more, and examples you needed a hint for return in harder questions later.
You choose the language you learn from, so English isn't your only option.
Often the difference is small: Malay universiti and televisyen are Indonesian universitas and televisi. Watch for the words that change completely:
| English | Malay | Indonesian |
|---|---|---|
| how are you? | apa khabar? | apa kabar? |
| car | kereta | mobil |
| can, be able to | boleh | bisa |
| free of charge | percuma | gratis |
| shop | kedai | toko |
| police | polis | polisi |
| office | pejabat | kantor |
Five of those are traps. In Indonesian, kereta is a train, percuma means "pointless" and a pejabat is a government official. In Malay, bisa means venom and polisi means "policy". If Malaysia, Brunei or Singapore is your goal, learn the Malay forms. You'll still be understood in Jakarta.
| Malay | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Selamat pagi | good morning |
| Apa khabar? | how are you? |
| Terima kasih | thank you |
| Sama-sama | you're welcome |
| Berapa harga ini? | how much is this? |
| Saya tak faham | I don't understand |
| Jom makan | let's eat |
Jom is everyday Malay; an Indonesian would usually say ayo. Our full guide to learning Malay covers affixes, classifiers and a plan for your first month.
No. As of November 2026, Duolingo has no Malay course from English or from any other language. It does teach Indonesian to English speakers.
Partly, and it's a real head start: the grammar carries over almost entirely, and so do many words. But you'd learn Indonesian vocabulary and spelling, mobil for car and bisa for can, and have to swap them for kereta and boleh in Malaysia.
Begin with greetings, numbers and everyday words, then sudah, sedang and akan, the small words that do the work of tenses. After that come the affixes that build word families, such as belajar (to learn) and pelajar (student) from ajar. Our guide to learning Malay has a four-week plan.
It depends on whether you want Malay or Indonesian. If you want Malay, in a course organised by CEFR level that goes past the beginner stages, Qlango teaches it from A1 to B2. Duolingo, Babbel and Busuu don't offer Malay (checked November 2026).
Qlango is free to download on iPhone and Android, and you can start your first Malay lesson without creating an account. It also works in your browser.
We can't say. Duolingo adds and removes courses over time, so check its catalogue if you're reading this much later.
See every language Duolingo doesn't teach, or compare Qlango and Duolingo side by side. Your first Malay lesson in Qlango takes about five minutes.
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