🇸🇬 What Language Do They Speak in Singapore?
The short answer
Singapore has four official languages: English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil. English is the working language of government and business, Malay is the ceremonial national language, and most Singaporeans are bilingual — plus there's Singlish, the beloved local English creole.
Worth knowing
- ●School is taught in English, with each student also studying their 'mother tongue' language
- ●Singlish blends English with Hokkien, Malay and Tamil — 'Can lah!' means 'sure, no problem'
- ●The national anthem is sung in Malay, whatever a Singaporean's home language
Going to Singapore? Say your first words before you land.
Yap gives you a real 30-second spoken conversation in Chinese every day — role-play the café, the taxi and the market with an AI tutor that listens and gently corrects. Four weeks of that beats any phrasebook.