What language is spoken in Myanmar?
This is one of the most asked questions about Myanmar. The main reason why people ask the question is because the country has around 45 million people and who use more than 100 languages.
Content:
- What is the official language of Myanmar?
- What are the other local languages of Myanmar?
- Are there foreign languages spoken in Myanmar?
Although there are over 100 spoken languages in Myanmar, the most popular one is Burmese. Burmese is spoken by more than 80 percent of the country’s population.
What is the official language of Myanmar?
Burmese is the official language of Myanmar. Most people in the country speak or understand the language.
However, there are different pronunciations that differ from one location to another.
In addition, Burmese is a mother tongue to millions of people in the country. Mon-ethnic minority group and many other ethnic groups speak Burmese in Myanmar.
More than 30 million people in Myanmar speak Burmese as their mother tongue, and around 10 million speak it as their second language.
The Burmese language is also related to Tibetan and Chinese languages. This means this is a language that is spoken in different countries and also understood by many people.
Apart from being a mother tongue in Myanmar, Burmese is also taught in many schools and institutions all over the country. If you are a foreigner, you may find the language somehow difficult because it includes the use of honorifics.
What are the other local languages of Myanmar?
There are more than 100 languages in Myanmar. However, some languages are not popular and are only spoken by some ethnic communities.
However, there are some that are popular but not as Burmese. Here are some of the popular local languages of Myanmar.
Shan
Shan is a native language in Myanmar and is spoken by the Shan people and most common in Myanmar’s Shan State and Burma’s Kachin state. More than 3 million people speak the Shan language.
Karen Languages
Karen people of Myanmar speak a group of tonal languages known as the Karen Languages. Even though the languages have been written using Burmese script, they are different. Karen languages include Pa’o, Sqaw, and Pwo.
Kachin
Another common language in Myanmar is Kachin. Even though you cannot compare it with the main language, it is a language that is spoken by more than 900,000 ethnic communities. The language is common in both rural and urban areas.
Mon
Around 750,000 people living in Myanmar speak the Mon language. The people who speak the language are known as Mon and most of them live in the Mon state.
However, not all Mon people speak Mon language. Some speak other indigenous languages of the country.
Are there foreign languages spoken in Myanmar?
Apart from the above languages, there are several languages spoken by different ethnic communities in Myanmar.
In addition, foreign languages such as English and many others are common in the country.
Apart from using the primary language, Burmese, most people learn English in schools all over the country as a secondary language.
Happily, the government of Myanmar does not impose the use of local languages. This leaves the locals to use the language of their choice.
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