Languages of Singapore
There are many languages spoken in Singapore. The reason is that Singapore has a multi-racial society. The Singapore government recognises four official languages: English, Malay, Mandarin, and Tamil. The national language is Malay, while English is mainly used as the business and working language. The colloquial patois spoken on the streets is a creole called Singlish amongst the locals, but is also known amongst academics in linguistics as Singapore Colloquial English.
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English as working language [change]
English was introduced to Singapore by the British in 1819, when the British established a port, later a colony, on the island. English had been the administrative language of the colonial government, and when Singapore gained self-government in 1959 and independence in 1965, the local government decided to keep English as the working language. The use of English as a common language serves to bridge the gap between the diverse ethnic groups in Singapore.
Bilingualism [change]
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In schools, students are also required to take a Mother Tongue class, where they are either taught Mandarin Chinese, Malay or Tamil.
As a result, most Singaporeans have at least conversational ability and basic literacy in a minimum of two languages, while many more are conversant in three or more languages, English, their assigned Mother Tongue, and the language that is used at home.
| Language most frequently spoken at home (%) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Language | 1990 | 2000 |
| English | 18.8 | 23.0 |
| Mandarin | 23.7 | 35.0 |
| Other Chinese Languages | 39.6 | 23.8 |
| Malay | 14.3 | 14.1 |
| Tamil | 2.9 | 3.2 |
Other languages [change]
About 60% of Singapore's Indian population speaks Tamil as their native language. Other Indian languages include Malayalam and Hindi.
There are around 5,000 Peranakans living on the island, and they still use the Hokkien-influenced Malay dialect called Baba Malay.
A handful of Portuguese Eurasians still speak a Portuguese-creole known as Papia Kristang. The most fluent speakers however, come from the pre-war generation.
