Are Malaysians trilingual?
Malaysia is a multi-ethnic country whose population is made up of three different major ethnic groups; Malay, Chinese and Indian. … It stands to reason why most non-Malays in Malaysia are by default bilingual (mother tongue + Malay), if not trilingual (mother tongue + Malay + English) even.
Why Malaysia is multilingual country?
Malaysia is a multiethnic and multilingual country where more than 80 languages from 6 language families are spoken (Asmah 2004). Among these languages, Malay is the national language and sole official language that is used in official domains. It is the language of ethnic Malays, the major ethnic group in Malaysia.
What is the historical background of Malaysian English?
Since Malaysian English originates from British English when the British Empire ruled what is now Malaysia, it shares many of the features of British English. However, it also has components of American English, Malay, Chinese, Indian languages, and other languages in its vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar.
Are most Malaysians bilingual?
In fact, Malaysia is the top third country with the highest English proficiency in Southeast Asia. … In fact, more often than not, we are bilingual (if not trilingual or quadrilingual considering many of us are also proficient in either Mandarin, Cantonese, or Tamil, too.)
Can Malaysian speak English?
Yes, Malaysians do speak English, so don’t be shy to go ahead and speak as you normally would and they will reply to you in Malaysian English. Of course, there will be some differences in the usage of words, perhaps phonetics and a little Malaysian flare will be added in.