# Language in Singapore



## panjabigator

Singapore is such a fascinating country, with four official languages:  Tamil, Malay, Mandarin, and English.  Are people in this country fluent in all 4 or just in their mother tongue and English?


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## Flaminius

Judging from my hardly-statistic encounter with Chinese Singaporeans, they are likely to speak at least three languages:
Native language: Fujian, Hakka or one of other Chinese varities
Starting from primary school: Modern Standard Chinese (Mandarin) and English


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## panjabigator

Reviving an old thread here indeed!

I'm curious to know if all of these languages have the same amount of prestige.  Are Malay and English the preferred language of the elite?  Is English becoming a first language there as it has quickly become for many Indians?


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## Au101

I do know that there are definately plenty of Tamil-medium resources, such as newspapers and that the Singapore Tamils are very proud of their language. I don't know how widespread or prestigious it is though, I'm afraid.


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## zappbrannigan

Actually, as a Malaysian, who shares very much the same linguistic culture with Singaporeans, I'll give your question a go: I'm actually unsure if we have Tamil and Mandarin as official languages in Malaysia, but it's definitely very widely-spoken and is the medium of communication in government-funded vernacular schools. Despite the diversity, very few people master more than two languages, and even in the latter case it is primarily their mother tongue (either Malay, Tamil or Mandarin) and English. I can't say for sure what it's like in Singapore, but I would say the case would be just about the same, as we share very similar if not the exact same cultural heritage (we only diverge politically, really).

Their national anthem is in Malay, though.


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## yuechu

I am not Singaporean, nor have I ever been there, but I can give a basic answer based on what I've seen/read/heard (from Singaporeans/Singapore TV shows):

I know for sure that English is the language of prestige (traditionally based on British English, but, like in Hong Kong, American English is having more and more influence) and that a great many Chinese Singaporeans and Chinese Malays are losing their Chinese (some only speak English and never learn Chinese). English seems to (a Singaporean can confirm this) have a lot greater role than Mandarin, since it is the lingua franca of the country and bridges the gap between the different dialects of Chinese as well (since traditionally, Hokkien, Hakka and Cantonese dominated; however, Mandarin is the language of instruction in Chinese schools now).

"Singlish" is the most common language/dialect heard (=English influenced by Chinese and to a lesser extent, Malay).

I would imagine that a good part of the Chinese Singaporean community speaks two Chinese dialects and English.


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## xavierxavier

Well, being stranded in Singapore as a foreigner gives me a take of the linguistic approach : English is the pidgin of the country - a pragmatic and somewhat neutral choice, since no major group will be forced into learning the other group's language. The  Hokkien, Hakka and Teochew is now rather marginalized in favour of standard Mandarin. Nowadays the billboards have started to be written in Tagalog as well (Phew!). The language of prestige is probably Queen's English, but very few people actually spoke them (and I do mean *very*). Singlish is the watered-down version of English commonly spoken in this island, with plenty of Hokkien/Mandarin/Malays interlaced not only in vocabulary, but grammar as well.

I.E. : 
- You want coffee? Tea also have! (Would you like some coffee? We also have some tea.)
- You can play piano or can not? Can, lah! (Can you play the piano? Of course I can.)


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