I believe that most people in Singapore know English, but it is sometimes nicer to speak with people in their mother tongue. What language (other than English) should I learn so that I can speak with most Singaporeans in their mother tongue?
asked Nov 22 at 6:56
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3If you want to get a fun reaction from locals drop a comment that the weather is "very hot-lah"– topsailCommented Nov 22 at 15:48
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13@topsail: That is not a correct use of lah. Non-Singlish speakers are under the impression that you can just add a lah to the end of every sentence or phrase, but this is false and well illustrated by your example.– user103496Commented Nov 23 at 3:58
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7@topsail No lah, cannot suka-suka add "lah" liddat, Singlish also got grammar one.– lambshaanxyCommented Nov 23 at 4:51
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5Note well that in Singapore, mother tongue officially and legally means something very different from what you may have in mind. In particular, if you're Chinese/Malay/Indian, then your mother tongue is officially Mandarin/Malay/Tamil, even if you're terrible at that language and are better at some other language. Some details here. (So if you ask a Singaporean what her mother tongue is, her answer might be based on the official definition rather than what you're thinking of.)– user103496Commented Nov 25 at 3:00
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5 Answers
The actual mother tongue of most Singaporeans is Singlish, an English-based creole with heavy Chinese and Malay influences. So if you really want to connect with locals, learning fluent Singlish is the way to go. Alas, Singlish is often stigmatized as "broken English" and the government would much prefer that Singaporeans spoke "Good English", so there are no schools that teach it and attempts by foreigners to speak it to locals may be taken as patronizing.
So as a visitor, your best bet is to speak standard English, which is understood and spoken by virtually all Singaporeans to at least some degree, with the exception of some elderly people and recent immigrants. Mandarin is the second most common language, but many Singaporeans, even those of Chinese descent, feel much less confident speaking it (or, in the case of elderly dialect speakers, don't speak it at all) and prefer English instead.
For historical reasons, Malay has a special status as the "national language", but outside the Malay community few speak it fluently.
answered Nov 22 at 10:23
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Having lived in Singapore, and being from London, the answer to this question is English.
It may seem like Mandarin is a good choice, as so many people appear to speak this as their first language, i.e. they appear to have Chinese heritage in many cases and speak somewhat like Chinese tourists in London i.e. as if English was their second language. But its an illusion. Their first, if not only, language is English, which in some cases is "Singlish", but this has varying levels of use and I can't remember actually hearing it in its strong form. You don't/can't learn Singlish to help converse, it will confuse most people if you try to do so, like trying to learn Yorkshire dialect and speaking that in Yorkshire: many won't understand and those that do will look confused.
The other options are Malay or Tamil in some cases, it will be clear. Mandarin is commonly seen on signs so other than English, bring some Mandarin and it will help read the signs etc, its very useful to know in Singapore.
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7this is literally just English with a slight accent often spoken very quickly that's not true, Singlish has unique vocabulary and grammar. Singaporeans often code switch to avoid this when talking to foreigners though. Commented Nov 23 at 19:03
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Your right, its more than just an accent its a dialect, but from what I saw it was used in this way rarely in universities or shops or about the city. Perhaps more like an occasional slang. The accent and speed of English spoken by Singaporeans was ubiquitous. I have seen a video of school children speaking Singlish and it can be difficult to understand most of what they're saying.– apgCommented Nov 24 at 14:23
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If anyone think SInglish is just a dialect please watch this short clip. youtube.com/watch?v=3EjqHxLtwSQ Commented Nov 25 at 2:43
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As an American, I wondered this same thing, and even learned some bits of Malay, Mandarin & a tiny bit of Tamil thinking these would be helpful. However, I married a Malaysian-Chinese woman a couple of decades ago who has family in Singapore (mom, brother, sister) as well as Malaysia. I quickly learned that English is the most common language (more so in Singapore, but still prevalent in Malaysia). In the past 20+ years, I've pretty much never needed much more than please & thank you in any language in SE Asia with the exception of Cambodia. The only time I use the creoles is with family. Commented Nov 28 at 20:48
About 50% of Singaporeans speak mostly English at home, so here you go. Although Singlish is the vernacular, the vast majority of Singaporeans will understand standard Singaporean (i.e. almost British) English perfectly. Singapore is de facto an Anglophone country, so don't try to be smart and just speak English.
Surprisingly, most Singaporeans, even those of Chinese descent, don't speak Mandarin perfectly, though definitely more than enough to sustain a daily conversation (though most of them would still prefer English). The elderly citizens of Chinese descent, however, mostly speak Teochow (a form of Southern Min spoken in Teochow and Swatow in Guangdong Province), and, to a lesser extent, Hokkien and Cantonese.
Moreover, even if you speak Mandarin fluently, keep in mind that the Singaporean variety of Standard Mandarin is slightly different from both the Chinese variety (Putonghua) and Taiwanese variety (Guoyu), mostly in the vocabulary (unless you learnt your Mandarin in Singapore or Malaysia, you've almost definitely learned either Putonghua or Guoyu). This can sometimes cause slight confusion or embarrassment, although it wouldn't really deter understanding.
According to the CIA World Factbook, the languages most frequently spoken at home were estimated in 2020 to be
English (official) 48.3%, Mandarin (official) 29.9%, other Chinese dialects (includes Hokkien, Cantonese, Teochew, Hakka) 8.7%, Malay (official) 9.2%, Tamil (official) 2.5%, other 1.4%
So, after English, the next most widely spoken language is Mandarin.
Source: https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/singapore/
In general, English is the most practical language to use for communication with locals in Singapore, but knowing some basic phrases in Mandarin, Malay, or Tamil can also help in more specific situations.
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2We are looking for answers which add information to the existing answers, this one does not do that.– Willeke ♦Commented Nov 23 at 19:01