This post has a Chinese version below. Feel free to test your Chinese by reading the Chinese version first!
When I first came to Shanghai it took me some time to adapt to the usage of Chinese here. The speaking style in Shanghai, other than being what I would call loud (and sometimes rude by my cultural standards), is just different from Malaysian Chinese, especially for some specific words:
Malaysian Chinese;China’s Chinese
1. 按钱ànqián；取钱qǔqián
• Definition: Withdrawal
• Explanation: My Chinese teacher said that this may be caused by differences between dialects.
2. 的士díshì(déshì-Malay-Chinese Pronunciation)；出租车chūzūchē
• Definition: Taxi
• Explanation: Malaysian people use a transliteration of the English word “Taxi.”
3. 巴士bāshì；公交车gōngjiāochē
• Definition: Bus
• Explanation: Malaysians use a transliteration of the English word “bus.”
4. 巴杀bāshā；菜市场cài shìchǎng
• Definition: vegetable market
• Explanation: The Malaysian Chinese word is a transliteration of the Malaysian word “Pasar.”
5. 课室kèshì；教室jiàoshì
• Definition: Classroom
• Explanation: I have no idea on this one! This may just be an inexplicable difference between Malaysian Chinese and China’s Chinese.
6. 做工zuò gōng；上班shàng bān
• Definition: Go to work
• Explanation: This is the result of differences between dialects (Cantonese, Hokkien and Hakka)
7. 放工fànggōng / 收工shōugōng；下班xià bān
• Definition: Get off work
• Explanation: Differences between dialects (Cantonese, Hokkien and Hakka)
8. 收钱shōuqián；买单mǎidān
• Definition: Pay the bill
• Explanation: Differences between dialects (Cantonese, Hokkien and Hakka)
9. 转左zhuǎnzuǒ / 转右zhuǎnyòu；拐左guǎizuǒ / 拐右guǎiyòu
• Definition: Turn left/ turn right
• Reason: Differences between dialects (Cantonese, Hokkien and Hakka)
There are still many more words that Malaysian Chinese People speak differently from the way China’s people speak them. Most of these differences are influenced by dialects or transliteration from English or Malay. Since most Malaysian Chinese People speak Chinese at home and because our school teachers seldom correct our “mistakes” (I guess they didn’t realize the mistakes they made themselves too. Haha.), these kinds of “mistakes” gradually formed into so called “Malaysian Chinese.”
Myself, I change my speaking style to proper Chinese when I am in formal situations, but when I am speaking with my Malaysian friends and family I use “Malaysian Chinese,” since it makes us feel warm and familiar when talking to each other.
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Study this post’s Chinese vocabulary in Skritter (add to your queue):
按钱 – ànqián – Withdraw money (Malay-Chinese usage)
取钱 – qǔqián – Get money from the bank; Withdraw money
的士 – díshì(déshì-Malay-Chinese Pronunciation) – Taxi; Cab
出租车- chūzūchē – Taxi; Cab
巴士- bāshì – Bus
公交车 – gōngjiāochē – Bus
巴杀- bāshā – Food market (Malay-Chinese usage)
菜市场 – cài shìchǎng – Food market
课室 – kèshì – Classroom (Malay-Chinese usage)
教室 – jiàoshì – Classroom
做工- zuò gōng – Do manual work; work with one’s hand; workmanship
上班 – shàng bān – Go to work; Be on duty
放工 –fànggōng– Get off work; Finish work (Malay-Chinese usage)
收工 – shōugōng – Get off work; Finish work (Malay-Chinese usage)
下班 – xià bān – Get off work; Finish work
收钱 – shōuqián – To charge (a fee)
买单- mǎidān – Pay the restaurant bill
转左 – zhuǎnzuǒ – Turn left (Malay-Chinese usage)
转右 – zhuǎnyòu – Turn right (Malay-Chinese usage)
拐左 – guǎizuǒ – Turn left
拐右 – guǎiyòu– Turn right
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Chinese Version: You can study the words from this post in Skritter.
马来西亚华语 vs 中国普通话
当我初次到上海来学习的时候，我花了不少时间来适应中国的普通话。一般中国人的说话方式和马来西亚华语是有所差别的。特别是某些词汇上的运用：
马来西亚华语；中国普通话
1. 按钱 an4qian2；取钱 qu3qian2
· 含义：取钱
· 原因：我们的汉语老师认为这是因为我们受到了方言的影响。
2. 的士 de2shi4；出租车 chu1zu1che1
· 含义：出租车
· 原因：音译英语的“Taxi”，我们的马来语也是叫“Taxi”。
3. 巴士 ba1shi4；公交车 gong1jiao1che1
· 含义：公交车
· 原因：音译英语和马来语的“Bus”。
4. 巴杀 ba1sha1；菜市场 cai4shi4chang3
· 含义：菜市场
· 原因：音译马来语的“Pasar”。
5. 课室 ke4shi4；教室 jiao4shi4
· 含义：教室
· 原因：不确定。可能单纯的因为马来西亚和中国地域不同，所以表达方式不同。
6. 做工 zuo4gong1；上班 shang4ban1
· 含义：上班
· 原因：受到方言的影响（粤语，福建话和客家话）
7. 放工 fang4gong1；下班 xia4ban1
· 含义：下班
· 原因：受到方言的影响（粤语，福建话和客家话）
8. 收钱 shou1qian2；买单 mai3dan1
· 含义：买单
· 原因：受到方言的影响（粤语，福建话和客家话）
9. 转左 zhuan3zuo3/转右zhuan3you4；拐左 guai3zuo3/拐右guai3you4
· 含义：拐左/拐右
· 原因：受到方言的影响（粤语，福建和客家话）
马来西亚华语和中国普通话在词汇和语法运用方面还是有许多不一样的地方，是因为大部分的词汇都受到了方言的影响，或者是音译英语或马来语词汇的关系。因为大部分的马来西亚华人在家里都说方言的关系，学校老师又没有严格纠正我们的错误（我猜他们自己应该也没有察觉我们的错误吧。哈哈。），因此这种的错误逐渐形成了“马式华语”现象。
对我而言，在一般正式场合我会使用正统的普通话进行交谈，但是当我和我的家人还有马来西亚朋友交谈的时候，我会使用我们“马式华语”的说话方式，毕竟那是马来西亚华人说话的独特方式，会让我们听起来感觉温馨和熟悉。