Learn Hardcore Malay: Dalam kelas perbincangan, kami berdialog dalam Bahasa Inggeris dan Melayu. - In discussion class, we have dialogues in English and Malay.

Literally “inside / within”
Often used with activities, situations, or abstract “spaces”:
- dalam kelas (in class)
- dalam mesyuarat (in a meeting)
- dalam kehidupan (in life)

di:

A general location preposition (“at / in / on”) used with a place:
- di sekolah (at school)
- di rumah (at home)
- di kelas (in the classroom – physical room)

Here, dalam kelas perbincangan talks about being in the context of a discussion class (the activity), so dalam is very natural.
You could also say di dalam kelas perbincangan, which adds a bit of emphasis on being inside that setting, but dalam alone is fine.

Why is there a comma after Dalam kelas perbincangan? Is it required?

The comma separates the introductory phrase from the main clause:

Dalam kelas perbincangan, kami berdialog...

In Malay writing:

It is common (and good style) to put a comma after a long fronted phrase.
It is not absolutely mandatory; you might see it written without a comma in informal texts:
- Dalam kelas perbincangan kami berdialog dalam Bahasa Inggeris dan Melayu.

So:

Formal / careful writing: keep the comma.
Casual writing: with or without the comma is acceptable.

What is the difference between kami and kita? Why is kami used here?

Both mean “we / us”, but:

kami = we (not including you, the listener)
kita = we (including you, the listener)

So:

A teacher talking to someone outside the class:
- Dalam kelas perbincangan, *kami berdialog...
  (We in that class do this; *you are not part of it.)
A teacher talking to the students in that class:
- Dalam kelas perbincangan, *kita berdialog...*
  (We, including you students, do this.)

In your sentence, kami suggests the speaker is describing what their group does to someone who is not in that group.

What does the prefix ber- do in berdialog?

The prefix ber- usually forms intransitive verbs (no direct object) meaning “to do/have x” or “to be in x state”.

dialog (loanword) = dialogue
ber-dialog → berdialog = to engage in dialogue / to have a dialogue

Other common examples:

jalan → berjalan (to walk)
bincang → berbincang (to discuss)
main → bermain (to play)
basikal → berbasikal (to cycle, to ride a bicycle)

So berdialog means “to have a dialogue / to carry out a dialogue”, not “to speak a dialogue to something” (no direct object).

Could I say berbincang or bercakap instead of berdialog? What’s the difference?

Yes, but the nuance changes slightly:

berdialog
- Focus on structured, two-way dialogue
- Sounds a bit more formal / academic
- Fits well with kelas perbincangan (a discussion class)
berbincang
- Means “to discuss”
- Very common, neutral, slightly less formal than berdialog
- Dalam kelas perbincangan, kami berbincang dalam Bahasa Inggeris dan Melayu.
bercakap
- Means “to talk / to speak” (very general)
- Could sound less focused on discussion and more on simply talking:
- Dalam kelas perbincangan, kami bercakap dalam Bahasa Inggeris dan Melayu.

All are grammatically correct; berdialog and berbincang best match the idea of a discussion class.

Why is dalam repeated before Bahasa Inggeris dan Melayu? Could I drop it?

Here, dalam is needed because it introduces the phrase “in English and Malay”:

kami berdialog *dalam Bahasa Inggeris dan Melayu
= we dialogue *in English and Malay

You cannot normally drop it:

✗ kami berdialog Bahasa Inggeris dan Melayu → ungrammatical
(It sounds like “we dialogue English and Malay” without in.)

However, you don’t need to repeat dalam before each language:

Correct: dalam Bahasa Inggeris dan Melayu
Also correct, a bit more explicit: dalam Bahasa Inggeris dan Bahasa Melayu

One dalam is enough to cover both languages in the list.

Why is Bahasa capitalized? Should it be bahasa Inggeris or Bahasa Inggeris?

Usage varies slightly by style, but the general rules are:

Language names are proper nouns:
- Inggeris, Melayu, Cina, Jepun, etc. → capitalized
The common noun bahasa (“language”) is usually lower-case:
- bahasa Inggeris (the English language)
- bahasa Melayu (the Malay language)

So, in many style guides:

Standard: bahasa Inggeris, bahasa Melayu
You will also often see (especially in school contexts or course names):
- Bahasa Inggeris, Bahasa Melayu (treating the whole term as the subject name)

For learning purposes:

Both bahasa Inggeris and Bahasa Inggeris are widely understood.
If you want to follow stricter linguistic style: use bahasa Inggeris, bahasa Melayu.

In kelas perbincangan, which word is the main noun, and why is the order like that?

In kelas perbincangan, the head noun is kelas (“class”).

Malay noun phrases usually follow this pattern:

Head noun + modifier
- kelas perbincangan = class (of) discussion → “discussion class”
- buku sejarah = book (of) history → “history book”
- guru matematik = teacher (of) mathematics → “math teacher”

This is the opposite of English, where the modifier often comes first:

English: discussion class
Malay: kelas perbincangan

So:

kelas = what it is
perbincangan = what type of class (discussion)

What is the word perbincangan made from, and what does the prefix per- and suffix -an do?

perbincangan comes from the root bincang (to discuss).

Pattern:

bincang (root verb) →
berbincang (verb: to discuss)
per-bincang-an → perbincangan (noun: discussion)

The per-…-an circumfix often forms abstract nouns / events / processes:

ajar → pengajaran (teaching)
bincang → perbincangan (discussion)
bina → pembinaan (construction)

So kelas perbincangan literally = class (of) discussion.

How could I change the sentence to say “In the discussion class, we only dialogue in English and Malay”?

You can add sahaja or hanya (“only”):

Most natural:
- Dalam kelas perbincangan, kami berdialog dalam Bahasa Inggeris dan Melayu sahaja.
Slight variation:
- Dalam kelas perbincangan, kami hanya berdialog dalam Bahasa Inggeris dan Melayu.

Notes:

sahaja usually comes after what it limits:
- Bahasa Inggeris dan Melayu sahaja (only in English and Malay)
hanya usually comes before the verb or phrase it limits:
- kami hanya berdialog... (we only dialogue...)