Weed eater lawn mower manual Continue Part of the proculture series Singapore History Singapore Immigration Holidays Languages Multiculturalism Symbols Women's Themes Architecture Art Cinema Kitchen Festivals Hawker Center Literature Media Music National Service Politics Religion Sport Sings TV Studies Bibliography Symbols Anthem Flag Flower Symbol Oath of Allegiance Singapore Portal Warning sign in four official languages of Singapore, which is located in all massive fast transit (MRT) life stations in Singapore Culture Dance Demography Politics Religion Singapore English Sports Transport Conscription vte According to the Constitution of Singapore , singapore's national language is Malay, which plays a symbolic role because Malays are constitutionally recognized as indigenous peoples of Singapore, and it is the government's duty to protect its language and heritage. The national language should be Malay and should be in the Roman scenario [...] (Constitution of the Republic of Singapore, PART XIII) In addition, according to the constitution, the four widely used languages of Singapore are English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil, with lingua franca in English. Three languages, in addition to English, were chosen to match the main ethnic groups present in Singapore at the time: Mandarin has been granted status since the introduction of Sino-secondary schools; Malay was considered the most obvious choice for the Malay community; and Tamil for the largest Indian ethnic group in Singapore, in addition to having language with the longest history of education in Malaysia and Singapore. In 2009, more than 20 languages were identified in Singapore, reflecting the rich linguistic diversity in the city. [2] Singapore's historical roots as a trading settlement gave rise to an influx of foreign traders,[4] and their languages were slowly embedded in the modern Singapore language repertoire. In the early years of lingua franca island was a malay bazaar (Melayu Pasar), creole of Malay and Chinese, the language of trade in the Malay archipelago. [5] Although it continues to be used among many on the island, especially Singaporean Malays, Malay has now been moved in English. English became a lingua franca due to the British rule of Singapore,[4] and was made the main language for Singapore's independence. Thus, English is an environment of learning in schools and is also the primary language used in formal settings, such as in government departments and courts. As Singapore's President Halima Jacob said during his speech in 2018: Through the education system, we have adopted a common working language in English. [6] Hokkien (Min Nan) briefly emerged as a lingua franca among the Chinese,[4] but by the end of the 20th century they were obscured by Mandarin. V.O. promotes Mandarin among Singaporean Chinese people as it views the language as a bridge between Singapore's diverse non-Sarin language groups, and as a tool to create a common Chinese cultural identity. [7] China's economic growth in the 21st century also encouraged greater use of Mandarin. Other Chinese varieties such as Hokkien, Teochew, Hakka, Hainanese and Cantonese have been classified by the government as dialects, and language policy and language attitudes based on this classification and disbelief use in non-mundarian Chinese or Chinese dialects in official settings and television media have led to a decrease in the number of carriers of these varieties. [8] In particular, Singapore has its own Mandarin sect; Singaporean mandarin, itself with two varieties, is standard and colloquial or conversational. While Tamil is one of Singapore's official languages, other Indian languages are also commonly used. Almost all Singaporeans are bilingual as Singapore's bilingual language education policy advances a bilingual learning system. Learning a second language has been compulsory in primary schools since 1960 and secondary schools since 1966. [10] English is used as the primary means of learning. On top of this, most children learn one in three official languages (or, sometimes, another approved language) as a second language, according to their official registered ethnic group. From January 1, 2011, if a person has more than one ethnicity and their race is registered in a hyphenated format, the chosen race will be one that precedes the hyphenates in their registered race. [11] English as singapore's primary language Main article: Singapore English All directed signs in Singapore are written in English. Although de jure Malay is a national language, Singaporean English is considered the de facto primary language in Singapore,[12] and is officially the primary language of learning in all school subjects except for native language lessons in Singapore's education system. [13] It is also a common language of administration, and is promoted as an important language for international business. Spelling in Singapore largely follows british conventions because of the country's status as a former crown colony. [15] English is a typical lingua franca of the country, despite the fact that four languages have official status. [16] Under the British colonial government, English received prestige as a language of administration, law and business in Singapore. As public administration increased, infrastructure and commerce evolved, and access to education further tortured the spread of English among Singaporeans. When Singapore gained self-government in 1959 and independence in 1965, local government decided to keep English as the primary language to maximize economic benefits. As English grew as language for commerce, technology and science, facilitating its use in Singapore will diminish singapore's development and integration into the global economy. In addition, switching to English as a single learning environment in schools has helped replenish social distance between different groups of ethnic language speakers in the country. From the early 1960s to the late 1970s, the number of pupils registering mainly for English-secondary schools jumped from 50% to 90%[18] as more parents chose to send their children to English-secondary schools. Attendance at Mandarin, Malay and Tamil secondary schools, as a result, declined and schools began to close. Sino-secondary Nagnan University has also made the switch to English as a means of learning, despite resistance from the meeting, especially from the Chinese community. [19] Over the years, there has been a rapid increase in the use of English. [20] Singapore is currently one of asia's most learned English-speaking countries. [21] In December 2009, Education Minister Ng Yong Hen noted the growing number of Singaporeans using English as their native language. Of the children enrolled in primary school in 2009, 60% of Chinese and Indian pupils and 35% of Malay pupils spoke mostly English at home. [22] Singlish is the native language of 32% of Singaporeans, but has the highest number of speakers if the statistics will count Native English speakers as a second language. [23] Language Most Commonly Spoken at Home (%)[24] Language 1990 2000 2010 2015[25] English 18.8 23.0 32.3 36.9 Mandarin 23.7 35.0 35.6 34.9 Chinese Dials 23.81 4.3 12.2 Malay 14.3 14.1 12.2 10.7 Tamil 2.9 3.2 3.3 3.3 Other 0.9 2.3 2.0 Singlish Main article: Singlish Singlish - English Creole with its own consistent rules and backgrounds, [26] However, the use of this language is not recommended by the local government. , which stands for standard English. [27] The Media Development Office does not support Singlish's use of television and radio advertising. Despite this, Singlish is still widely spoken across the island and is seen by most Singaporeans as a trait that identifies them as uniquely Singaporean. [29] Chinese Language See also: Singaporean Mandarin, Standard Singaporean Mandarin, Singdarin, Singapore's Hokkien and Hokkien Influence on Singaporean Mandarin The Teochew Building has an outstanding association of Theochev clans in Singapore, Ngee Ann Kongsi According to the Census, Mandarin and other Varieties of Chinese are the most common languages spoken at home. They use 51% of the population. The table below shows a change in the distribution of Mandarin and other Chinese varieties, as well as English as the home languages of the resident Chinese population of Singapore in the 1990, 2000 and 2010s. the population that speaks English and Mandarin has increased, while the percentage of those who speak other Chinese varieties has collapsed and is now confined to mostly older people. More recently, English is beginning to displace Mandarin among a new generation of Singaporean Chinese because of the long-term effects of dominating the use of English in most official settings over Mandarin, the dominant use of English as a learning environment in Singapore schools, colleges and universities, and limited and lower standards of the local mother's education system for years in Singapore. The language most commonly spoken at home among china's population aged 5 and over[9][30] Home Language 1990 2000 2010 1990 (%) 2000 (%) 2010 (%) 2015 (%) Total 1,884,000 2,236,100 2,527,562,100.0 100.0 100.0 in English 363,400 in 533,900 824,616 19.3 23.9 32.6 37.4 Mandarin 566,200 1,008,500 1,206,556 30.1 45.1 47.7 46.1 Other Chinese varieties 948,100 685,800 485,765 50.3 30,7 19.2 16.1 Other 6,400 7,900 10,625 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.4 Standard Mandarin Standard Mandarin tend to speak like a lingua franca among the Chinese community in Singapore. [31] Simply known as Chinese, it is a designated native language or ethnic language of Chinese Singaporeans, at the expense of other Chinese varieties. In 1979, the government heavily promoted Mandarin through its Speak Mandarin campaign. Premier Li Kuan Yu said Mandarin was chosen to unite the Chinese community in the only language.