Chinese language in Singapore

joannah
 October 22, 2008, 04:56 AM posted in General Discussion

I will be living in Singapore for several months next year where Mandarin is one of the official languages. I was wondering how much i am likely to hear and need to speak Chinese. Would i be better brushing up on my limited knowledge of Malay? Or will i be fine with just english?

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goulnik
 October 22, 2008, 11:08 AM

I lived in Singapore for a year a long long time ago, didn't have any Chinese then, English is really the lingua franca. Don't think this has changed.

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sebire
 October 22, 2008, 03:07 PM

It's quite common to hear Mandarin spoken, but you'll have no problem with just English. I have two Singaporean cousins who refuse to speak any other language than English, so you'll be fine!