Learn Hardcore Malay: Saya belajar Bahasa Inggeris di rumah pada waktu malam.

In everyday conversation, many people still understand Inggeris alone to mean the language, but Bahasa Inggeris is clearer and more standard when you specifically mean the language.

Is the word order Saya belajar Bahasa Inggeris di rumah pada waktu malam fixed, or can I move parts around?

Malay word order is quite flexible as long as the meaning stays clear.

Your sentence is perfectly natural, but these are also acceptable:

Pada waktu malam, saya belajar Bahasa Inggeris di rumah.
Saya belajar Bahasa Inggeris pada waktu malam di rumah.
Di rumah, saya belajar Bahasa Inggeris pada waktu malam.

The neutral, most common order is:

Subject – Verb – Object – Place – Time
Saya (subject) belajar (verb) Bahasa Inggeris (object) di rumah (place) pada waktu malam (time)

Putting time or place at the front (e.g. Pada waktu malam, saya…) just adds emphasis to that part, similar to English: At night, I study English at home.

Do I always need to say Saya, or can I drop the subject pronoun like in some Asian languages?

You can drop Saya in many contexts, especially in casual speech, if it is clear who the subject is:

(Saya) belajar Bahasa Inggeris di rumah pada waktu malam.

Without context, though, dropping Saya can sound like an instruction or a general statement rather than a personal one. In:

A new sentence with no prior context
Formal writing
When you want to be very clear that you are the one doing the action

…it is safer and more natural to keep Saya.

How do we know if belajar here means I study (habit) or I am studying (right now)?

Malay verbs do not change form for tense. Belajar can mean:

study / am studying / studied / will study

The time is usually shown by:

Time expressions
- pada waktu malam (at night)
- semalam (yesterday)
- esok (tomorrow)
Aspect words, which you can add if needed:
- sedang → ongoing now
  - Saya sedang belajar Bahasa Inggeris. = I am studying English (right now).
- sudah / telah → already done
  - Saya sudah belajar Bahasa Inggeris. = I have already studied English.
- akan → future
  - Saya akan belajar Bahasa Inggeris. = I will study English.

In your sentence, because we have pada waktu malam, it usually means a habitual action: I study English at night.

What’s the difference between belajar and mengajar? They both look similar.

They are different:

belajar = to study / to learn (student’s action)
- Saya belajar Bahasa Inggeris. = I study/learn English.
mengajar = to teach (teacher’s action)
- Saya mengajar Bahasa Inggeris. = I teach English.

So in your sentence, belajar is correct because you are the learner.

Why do we use di before rumah but pada before waktu malam?

Malay mainly uses:

di for place (location)
- di rumah = at home
- di sekolah = at school
- di pejabat = at the office
pada for time and certain abstract things
- pada waktu malam = at night
- pada hari Isnin = on Monday
- pada pukul 8 = at 8 o’clock

So in your sentence:

di rumah → at (the place) home
pada waktu malam → at (the time) night

Using di with time (di malam, di pukul 8) is generally not standard in Malay, though you might hear it in some colloquial speech.

Do I really need to say the whole pada waktu malam? Can I just say malam?

You don’t have to use the full phrase every time. These are all possible, with slightly different flavours:

Saya belajar Bahasa Inggeris malam.
- Very common in casual speech.
- Literally “I study English night”, understood as at night.
- More relaxed and colloquial.
Saya belajar Bahasa Inggeris pada malam.
- Grammatically possible but less natural than pada waktu malam.
Saya belajar Bahasa Inggeris pada waktu malam.
- More complete and slightly more formal / careful.
- Literally “I study English at night-time.”

So:

Everyday spoken Malay: Saya belajar Bahasa Inggeris malam.
Neutral / standard (like in textbooks): Saya belajar Bahasa Inggeris pada waktu malam.

Why is Bahasa Inggeris capitalized like that? Is this the normal spelling?

In standard Malay, the name of the language is treated as a proper noun:

bahasa Inggeris
- bahasa is a common noun → often lowercase
- Inggeris is a proper noun (related to England) → capitalized

However, in practice you will often see:

Bahasa Inggeris (both words capitalized), especially:
- in school subjects (kelas Bahasa Inggeris)
- in headings, titles, or official names

Your sentence uses Bahasa Inggeris, which is common and acceptable in many real-world contexts. Just be aware that style guides might prefer bahasa Inggeris in running text.

Can I put pada waktu malam before di rumah, or does the place always come before the time?

You can switch them:

Saya belajar Bahasa Inggeris di rumah pada waktu malam. (neutral order)
Saya belajar Bahasa Inggeris pada waktu malam di rumah. (also fine)

Both are grammatically correct. Usually:

Place then time (di rumah → pada waktu malam) feels a bit more natural.
If you move one of them to the front, you emphasize it:
- Di rumah, saya belajar Bahasa Inggeris pada waktu malam.
  → Emphasis on at home
- Pada waktu malam, saya belajar Bahasa Inggeris di rumah.
  → Emphasis on at night

Is di rumah closer to “at home” or “in the house”? Does it include being outside the house but at home?

Di rumah is usually understood as “at home”, not strictly inside the building. It’s about your home location rather than physical interior vs. exterior.

If you specifically mean inside the house, you can say di dalam rumah (literally inside the house).
But in normal use, di rumah is enough and natural, just like English “at home”.

How would I say “I am studying English at home at night” to emphasize that it is happening right now?

Add sedang before belajar to mark an ongoing action:

Saya sedang belajar Bahasa Inggeris di rumah pada waktu malam.

This strongly suggests “I am (currently) studying English at home at night”—for example, describing what you are doing at this moment. Without sedang, context usually decides whether it’s a habit or a current action.