Singlish

Singapore English has its origins in the schools of colonial Singapore. In the nineteenth century very few children went to school at all, and even fewer were educated in English. The people who spoke English and sent their children to English medium schools were mainly the Europeans, the Eurasians (people of mixed racial ancestry), some of the small minorities, such as the Jews, some of the Indians and Ceylonese, and also a group of Chinese people usually called the Straits Chinese, who had ancestors of long residence in the region, and who spoke a variety of Malay usually called Baba Malay which was influenced by Hokkien Chinese and by Bazaar Malay.

The fact that all these children would have known Malay probably explains why most of the loan words in Singapore Colloquial English are from Malay. The largest group of teachers was Eurasians, and there were also many teachers from Ceylon and India. European teachers were never more than a quarter of the total teaching staff in a school, and they usually taught the senior classes. These Europeans may have been from Britain but were also from the USA, Belgium and France. The children in these schools would have been exposed to many varieties of English.

Singlish or Singapore  English  is  the most commonly spoken language  in  Singapore.  Though English  is one of the  most  commonly spoken language  in the world, you may  still find it a little difficult to understand  the English  spoken  in  Singapore. The reason behind this  is  that you may  find a number of terms, words and phrases  from the  locally spoken languages.

Almost everyone in Singapore speaks more than one language, with a lot of people speaking three or four. Most children grow up bilingual from childhood and learn additional languages as they grow up. As expected the presence of other languages has prejudiced the English in Singapore. The influence is especially obvious in the kind of English that is used informally, which is popularly called Singlish. Singlish is a symbol of identity for many Singaporeans.

Singapore Languages

Singapore is one of the well known tourist destination of Southeast Asia. The country is home to a number of ethnicities.  These people have their own culture, practices and language.  hence  being a  multi-ethnical  country  Singapore has  a  number of  languages   as the  main  languages of the country.
The four official languages of Singapore are Mandarin, Malay, Tamil and English. English is the most common language used and is the language which unites the different ethnic groups. Children are taught in English at school but also learn their mother tongue to make sure they don't lose contact with their traditions.

Expatriates and foreigners may encounter language problems in the beginning of their stay in Singapore as many Singaporeans use Singlish to communicate. Singlish is a mix of English with other languages mixed into the English, sometimes phrases can end with funny terms like 'lah', 'leh', mah'. Chinese commonly use their own dialects to communicate, and sometimes, inter-dialect groups don't understand one another's language, as the language is vastly different. Except for Hokkien and Teochew, which have a closer link. The Malays use the language among their fellow races and the Indians speak Tamil. But whatever the race or religion, the country's community unite as one nation, where most religious or racial gaps are being bridged.

The  Singapore  English is  originated in the  schools  in  Singapore during  the colonial times. During the  19th century only  a few children went to the schools  and a  few among them spoke  English.  Those who went to the  schools  used  to  speak their own languages. However, every  student  had  to  know  Malaya language at that time. this  is  one of the main reasons for which most of the  loan  words  in English  in  Singapore comes from the Malaya  Language.