Learn Hardcore Malay: Guru seni kami pandai menjadikan pelajaran yang susah kurang membosankan. - Our art teacher knows how to make difficult lessons less boring.

So you don’t need to add anything like adalah or ialah here. Those exist, but they are used in more formal and specific structures, not in this kind of everyday sentence with an adjective.

What exactly does pandai mean here, and why is it used instead of something like baik or bagus?

Pandai literally means clever, smart, or skillful, but in everyday speech it often means good at (doing something).

In this sentence:

pandai menjadikan ... ≈ is good at making ...

Compare:

Dia pandai memasak. = She is good at cooking.
Dia pandai mengajar. = He is good at teaching.

Why not baik or bagus?

baik = good (often about character, kindness, quality)
- Guru itu baik. = That teacher is kind / nice.
bagus = good / great (quality, performance)
- Pelajaran itu bagus. = That lesson is good.

But pandai + verb focuses on skill / ability in doing that action. So pandai menjadikan pelajaran ... emphasises the teacher’s skill at making lessons less boring.

What does menjadikan mean, and how is it different from membuat or just buat?

Menjadikan comes from jadi (to become) with the prefix and suffix meN- ... -kan, giving a causative meaning: to make something become X / to turn something into X.

Structure:

menjadikan + [object] + [result / state]

In the sentence:

menjadikan = makes / causes
pelajaran yang susah = the difficult lessons
kurang membosankan = less boring

So: menjadikan pelajaran yang susah kurang membosankan
= makes difficult lessons less boring.

Difference from membuat / buat:

membuat / buat = to make / to do (very general)
- Dia membuat kek. = She makes a cake.
- Dia buat kerja rumah. = He does homework.

With membuat, you usually name a thing you make, not a new state of something.

With menjadikan, you emphasise changing the state of something:

Dia menjadikan bilik itu bersih. = He makes the room clean.
Pengalaman itu menjadikannya lebih matang. = That experience made him more mature.

You could say membuat pelajaran kurang membosankan, and people would understand, but menjadikan ... kurang membosankan is more natural and precise when talking about causing a change in state.

What is the function of yang in pelajaran yang susah? Could I just say pelajaran susah?

Yang is a marker for a relative clause or descriptive phrase. Here, it links pelajaran (lessons) with the description susah (difficult):

pelajaran yang susah = lessons that are difficult

You could say:

pelajaran susah – grammatically OK in many contexts, especially in casual speech.

Nuance:

pelajaran yang susah
- Feels a bit clearer and more neutral.
- Explicitly marks susah as a description of pelajaran.
- Often preferred in slightly more careful or written Malay.
pelajaran susah
- Shorter, slightly more informal.
- Often used in speech.

In this sentence, pelajaran yang susah sounds very natural and smooth, especially in writing or more careful speech.

What’s the difference between pelajaran and words like kelas, subjek, or mata pelajaran?

All of these relate to learning, but they are used differently:

pelajaran
- Can mean lesson (the content being taught) or studies / learning in general.
- pelajaran matematik = mathematics lesson / maths learning.
- In this sentence, it refers to the lessons / learning material, not the classroom event itself.
kelas
- Means class (the session, or the group of students, or the room).
- kelas seni = art class (session) or art classroom.
- You would not usually say menjadikan kelas yang susah kurang membosankan for this meaning; the focus here is more naturally on the lessons, so pelajaran fits better.
subjek
- Means subject (school subject).
- subjek seni = art as a school subject.
mata pelajaran
- More formal way to say school subject.
- mata pelajaran seni = art as a school subject.

So pelajaran here nicely captures the idea of the learning / the lessons being made less boring.

What is the difference between kami and kita, and why is kami used in Guru seni kami?

Both kami and kita mean we / us, but they differ in who is included:

kami = we (excluding the listener)
kita = we (including the listener)

In Guru seni kami:

The speaker is talking about their own group’s art teacher.
The listener is not necessarily part of that group (not necessarily the teacher’s student).
So kami is appropriate: our (but not your) art teacher.

If the speaker and listener are both students of that teacher, and the speaker wants to include the listener, they may say:

Guru seni kita = our (yours and mine) art teacher

This inclusion/exclusion distinction is very important in Malay pronouns.

Why is the word order Guru seni kami and not something like kami guru seni?

Malay noun phrases usually follow this order:

[Head noun] + [descriptors / classifiers / possessors]

In Guru seni kami:

guru = head noun (teacher)
seni = type of teacher (art); functions like art in art teacher
kami = possessor (our)

So the structure is:

[Teacher] [art] [our] → our art teacher

You cannot say kami guru seni to mean our art teacher. That looks like:

kami (subject) + guru seni (we [are] art teachers)

To express possession, the possessor (like saya, kami, Ali) generally comes after the noun:

buku saya = my book
rumah Ali = Ali’s house
guru seni kami = our art teacher

What exactly does kurang mean in kurang membosankan? Does it mean less boring or not very boring?

Kurang literally means lacking / not enough / less. With adjectives or stative verbs, it usually means less [adjective] / not so [adjective] / somewhat less [adjective].

In kurang membosankan:

membosankan = boring (causing boredom)
kurang membosankan = less boring / not so boring / not as boring

The exact nuance depends on context:

Compared to how it could be, the lessons are less boring than expected.
It doesn’t necessarily mean they are truly interesting, just that they are not as boring as they might otherwise be.

Some alternative but similar expressions:

tidak begitu membosankan = not so boring
tidak terlalu membosankan = not too boring

What is the difference between bosan and membosankan?

They are related but used differently:

bosan
- An adjective meaning bored (a feeling).
- Often describes how a person feels.
- Saya bosan. = I am bored.
membosankan
- Formed from bosan
  - meN- ... -kan, which usually makes a causative or transitive verb/adjective.
- Means boring / that causes boredom.
- Usually describes things / situations, not the person.
- Filem itu membosankan. = That movie is boring.

In this sentence:

pelajaran ... kurang membosankan
= the lessons are less boring / not so boring (they cause less boredom).

Could susah be replaced by another word like sukar or payah? Do they mean the same thing?

Susah, sukar, and payah can all mean difficult, but there are nuances:

susah
- Very common in speech.
- Can mean difficult, but also troublesome, or even having a hard life / poor in some contexts.
- pelajaran yang susah = lessons that are difficult.
sukar
- More formal / written.
- Mainly just difficult, without the troublesome / problematic flavour.
- pelajaran yang sukar sounds more formal, like in textbooks or exams.
payah
- Can mean hard / tough; often carries a sense of effort / struggle.
- kerja yang payah = work that is hard / requires a lot of effort.

In this sentence, you could say:

pelajaran yang sukar – grammatically correct, slightly more formal tone.
pelajaran yang payah – also possible, but less common in this exact phrase.

Pelajaran yang susah is very natural and neutral in everyday language.