Learn Hardcore Malay: Walaupun kerja sambilan saya kadang-kadang membosankan, saya tetap bersemangat kerana saya ada cita-cita besar. - Even though my part-time job is sometimes boring, I am still enthusiastic because I have big ambitions.

Walaupun normally comes at the beginning of the clause it introduces, just like although in English.
You can swap the order of the two clauses without changing the meaning, but walaupun stays with the clause it belongs to:
- Walaupun kerja sambilan saya kadang-kadang membosankan, saya tetap bersemangat…
- Saya tetap bersemangat… walaupun kerja sambilan saya kadang-kadang membosankan.

Both are correct.

Is there any difference between walaupun, meskipun, and walau?

All three can mean although / even though, but there are some nuances:

walaupun
- Very common, neutral, used in both spoken and written Malay.
- Suitable for almost any context.
meskipun
- Slightly more formal or “bookish”.
- Often appears in writing, news, essays, speeches.
walau
- Shorter, a bit more informal, often used in speech or song lyrics.
- Frequently appears in patterns like walau begitu (even so), walau macam mana pun (no matter how).

In your sentence, you could replace walaupun with meskipun or walau without really changing the meaning:

Meskipun kerja sambilan saya kadang-kadang membosankan, saya tetap bersemangat…
Walau kerja sambilan saya kadang-kadang membosankan, saya tetap bersemangat…

Walaupun is probably the safest all-purpose choice.

Why is it kerja sambilan saya for “my part-time job” and not something like saya kerja sambilan?

Malay usually puts the possessor after the thing possessed:

kerja sambilan saya = my part-time job
(kerja sambilan = part-time job, saya = my)

So the structure is:

noun + (adjective(s)) + possessor
→ kerja (job) + sambilan (part‑time) + saya (my)

Saya kerja sambilan would instead mean I work part-time, not my part-time job:

saya = I
kerja sambilan = work part-time (verb phrase)

So:

kerja sambilan saya → noun phrase: “my part-time job”
saya kerja sambilan → clause: “I work part-time”

What is the difference between sambilan and separuh masa? Do they both mean “part-time”?

Both can be used for part-time, but there are some tendencies:

kerja sambilan
- Very common, natural in everyday speech.
- Often means a side job, casual job, or part-time job (especially student jobs, extra income).
kerja separuh masa
- Literally “half-time”.
- Sounds a bit more formal or technical; often used in official contexts, HR, contracts.

In your sentence, kerja sambilan feels more natural, especially for a student or someone with a casual side job. Kerja separuh masa wouldn’t be wrong, just a bit more formal or “bureaucratic” in flavour.

What does kadang-kadang mean, why is there a hyphen, and where does it go in the sentence?

kadang-kadang means sometimes.

About the hyphen:

Many Malay adverbs and adjectives are formed by reduplication (repeating the word), joined by a hyphen:
- kadang-kadang (sometimes) ← from kadang
- perlahan-lahan (slowly) ← from perlahan
- cepat-cepat (quickly) ← from cepat

Position:

In your sentence, it comes after the subject phrase and before the verb:
- kerja sambilan saya kadang-kadang membosankan
  = my part-time job sometimes is boring / is sometimes boring.

It can also be moved a bit:

Kadang-kadang kerja sambilan saya membosankan.
Kerja sambilan saya membosankan kadang-kadang. (less common, but possible in speech for emphasis)

The most neutral are:

Kerja sambilan saya kadang-kadang membosankan.
Kadang-kadang kerja sambilan saya membosankan.

What is the difference between bosan and membosankan?

They are related but not the same:

bosan = bored (feeling)
- Used for how a person feels.
- Example: Saya bosan. = I am bored.
membosankan = boring (causing boredom)
- Used for something that makes you bored.
- Example: Filem itu membosankan. = That movie is boring.

In your sentence:

kerja sambilan saya kadang-kadang membosankan
= my part-time job is sometimes boring (the job causes boredom)

If you said:

Saya kadang-kadang bosan dengan kerja sambilan saya.
= I am sometimes bored with my part-time job.

So a quick rule:

bosan → the feeling (I am bored)
membosankan → the thing that causes that feeling (it is boring)

What does tetap add in saya tetap bersemangat? How is it different from just saya bersemangat or saya masih bersemangat?

bersemangat = enthusiastic / motivated / spirited
tetap = still, remain, persist, not changing despite something

So:

saya bersemangat
= I am enthusiastic.
saya tetap bersemangat
= I am still / remain enthusiastic (even though there is some difficulty or reason not to be).

The contrast with the first clause is:

Walaupun kerja sambilan saya kadang-kadang membosankan, saya tetap bersemangat…
→ Even though my job is sometimes boring, I still stay enthusiastic.

Difference with masih:

masih means still in the sense of not yet stopped / continuing from before.
- Saya masih bersemangat. = I am still enthusiastic (I haven’t lost my enthusiasm yet).
tetap emphasizes firmness / not being shaken by something:
- Saya tetap bersemangat walaupun penat.
  = I remain enthusiastic even though I am tired.

Here tetap nicely matches the idea of staying motivated despite boredom.

What does kerana mean here, and how is it different from sebab?

kerana means because.

saya tetap bersemangat kerana saya ada cita-cita besar
= I am still enthusiastic because I have big ambitions.

Difference from sebab:

kerana
- Slightly more formal or neutral.
- Used in both writing and speech.
- Very common in standard Malay.
sebab
- A bit more colloquial / everyday.
- Extremely common in spoken Malay.

Most of the time, they are interchangeable in everyday sentences:

Saya tetap bersemangat kerana saya ada cita-cita besar.
Saya tetap bersemangat sebab saya ada cita-cita besar.

Both are fine. In formal writing, kerana is a safer choice.

Why is ada used in saya ada cita-cita besar? Does ada always mean “have”?

ada has two main meanings:

to have
- Saya ada cita-cita besar. = I have big ambitions.
- Dia ada kereta. = He/She has a car.
to exist / to be (there is/are)
- Ada orang di luar. = There is someone outside.
- Tak ada masalah. = There is no problem.

In saya ada cita-cita besar, it clearly means have.

You could also say:

Saya mempunyai cita-cita besar.
(more formal; mempunyai = to have/possess)

But saya ada … is very natural and common in everyday use.

Note: in negative sentences, tak ada or tidak ada can mean do not have:

Saya tak ada cita-cita besar. = I don’t have big ambitions.
Saya tak ada duit. = I don’t have money.

What exactly does cita-cita besar mean, and how is it different from just cita-cita or words like impian?

cita-cita = ambition(s), life goals, aspirations
- The word is normally written with the hyphen: cita-cita (it’s a fixed form).
- It can be singular or plural depending on context.
besar = big

So:

cita-cita besar = big ambitions / great aspirations.

Comparisons:

cita-cita
- Neutral: just “ambitions / aspirations”.
- Saya ada cita-cita. = I have ambitions.
cita-cita besar
- Adds the idea of big / grand goals.
- Saya ada cita-cita besar. = I have big ambitions.

Other similar words:

impian = dream(s), often in the sense of personal dreams or ideal wishes.
angan-angan = daydreams, fantasies (can sound less serious).

So:

cita-cita besar → serious, big-life goals.
impian besar → big dreams (also serious, but a bit more emotional/poetic).
angan-angan besar → can sound like “big fantasies”, may or may not be realistic.

Why do adjectives like sambilan and besar come after the noun in Malay? Is that always the case?

Yes, in Malay the normal word order is:

noun + adjective

Examples:

kerja sambilan = part-time job
(literally: job part-time)
cita-cita besar = big ambitions
(literally: ambitions big)

More examples:

rumah besar = big house
baju merah = red shirt
telefon baru = new phone

So in your sentence:

kerja (job) + sambilan (part-time)
cita-cita (ambitions) + besar (big)

This rule (adjective after noun) is very regular in Malay, much more consistent than in English.

The pronoun saya appears twice. Could one of them be omitted in Malay, or is it better to repeat it?

The original:

Walaupun kerja sambilan saya kadang-kadang membosankan, saya tetap bersemangat kerana saya ada cita-cita besar.

Here, the second saya (before ada) could be omitted in informal speech, because the subject is clear from the context:

… saya tetap bersemangat kerana ada cita-cita besar.

This would still be understood as I am still enthusiastic because (I) have big ambitions.

However:

Repeating saya keeps the sentence clear and is perfectly natural.
In formal writing, repeating the subject is often preferred for clarity and parallel structure.

So both are possible, but the original is a clean, standard form.

Is this sentence formal, informal, or neutral? How might it sound in more casual spoken Malay?

The given sentence is neutral to slightly formal, suitable for writing (e.g. an essay, exam answer, or blog post).

A more casual spoken version might look like:

Walaupun kerja sambilan aku kadang-kadang membosankan, aku tetap bersemangat sebab aku ada cita-cita besar.

Changes:

saya → aku (informal “I”, used with friends/peers)
kerana → sebab (more colloquial “because”)

Even more relaxed (very colloquial):

Walaupun kerja sambilan aku kadang-kadang boring, aku tetap semangat sebab aku ada cita-cita besar.

Here:

membosankan → boring (code-switching with English; very common in casual speech)
tetap bersemangat → tetap semangat / semangat je in some speech styles.

Your original version is good, natural standard Malay.