Some of you might ask, “how do Malaysians talk to each other?” “What language is spoken in Malaysia?”
So today, I’m going to be talking about the communication among people in Malaysia.
From the standpoint of linguistic studies, Malaysia is an intriguing nation. You might not know this but, there are now 137 languages spoken in Malaysia, with Malay serving as the official language. There are 3 common languages used by the people in Malaysia, which are: Malay, Mandarin and Tamil. The three languages are used as a result of Malaysia’s multiethnic society. Approximately 50% of the people are Malay, 24% are Chinese, and 7% are Indian. Language probably played a part in Malaysia’s accomplishment in preserving a harmonious balance between various ethnic groups, which has been praised by the UN as an example of such success.
Main Language
The national language of Malaysia is known as Malay (also known as Bahasa Malaysia). Around 20 million people in Malaysia speak the language as a whole, making up little over 62% of the population. Malay is also spoken outside of Malaysia, primarily in Indonesia, Brunei, and Singapore, among other places. As a result, there are more than 290 million speakers worldwide.
The fact that many people in Malaysia also speak one or more other indigenous or imported languages, frequently as their native tongue, does not imply that Malay is the primary language of all of those people. Malaysians speak a number of different languages in addition to Standard Malaysian. Ten different dialects of Malay exist, some of which are spoken in Malaysia. One way I could describe what ‘Dialects’ is, is that it’s quite similar like an accent; just like how the people in the United States have each their own accent coming from their own state. I could go on and own about how many different dialects Malaysians have but that would be too much and we don’t have time for that >,<
Other Languages
Now, we’re going to talk about the other languages used in Malaysia, which are : Chinese, Indian, and English. Yes, we do speak English too! Matter of fact, English is actually considered the second language in Malaysia.
Chinese
The majority of Chinese languages are spoken in Malaysia, including Mandarin, which is used to educate children in Chinese schools. Chinese people in Malaysia speak a variety of languages, including Hokkien, Hakka, Cantonese, and Teochew.
Tamil
More than 1.8 million Tamil speakers live in Malaysia, with Peninsular Malaysia housing the majority of them. Malaysians speak a variety of Tamil dialects, and the distinctions in their usage reflect both the socioeconomic situation of the country now and historical patterns of immigration. Gujarati, Hindi, Bengali, Malayalam, Punjabi, Telugu, and Urdu are some of the other Indian languages that are widely spoken in Malaysia.
English
Due to Malaysia’s past as a colonial power and the fact that English serves as a lingua franca in the contemporary business world, English is extensively used as a second language in Malaysia. Although it is not a national language of Malaysia, Sarawak regards it as one of its official languages (alongside Malay).
In terms of Malaysia’s sense of national unity, I personally find the significance of language to be very fascinating. It seems like a lot of nations may benefit from Malaysia’s experience. As a Malaysian myself, I am very proud with this achievement of my country!
I think it is very interesting how you discuss your very own Malaysian heritage and culture, as I do not know much about Malaysia. I did not know that so many different languages are spoken in Malaysia and had no idea that English was considered a prominent language. I find the main language of Malay quite interesting as I have never heard of it before. All of the different dialects make the country and you so unique. Thank you for sharing this intriguing part of your culture as I really enjoyed reading about it!
I had no idea that so many languages were spoken in Malaysia! It baffles me that so many people around the globe speak multiple languages but the majority of Americans only speak English. However, I do think that the universal language of English helps unite the various cultures in Malaysia, because I think conflict could stem from a language barrier.
Hi Bella! It’s incredible how many languages are commonly used and spoken in Malaysia! I think language and its development is so interesting, so reading about how these languages all came to Malaysia was very exciting. I find it so wonderful how these languages unite the nation, instead of splitting it as one would expect from a country with so many identities. Hearing about Malaysia from you is so interesting as always; it’s such a beautiful culture and society!
As someone who loves learning about different cultures, I found this very interesting. I am in the process of learning different languages because I aspire to travel one day. I am intermediate in Spanish, French, Italian, and Creole. I hope to learn Malay and Mandarin and especially Tamil because it just seems like a fun and unique language to learn and speak.