Languages of Sri Lanka - Languages of Foreign Influence

Languages of Foreign Influence

English is fluently spoken by approximately 10% of the population, and widely used for official and commercial purposes. It is the native language of approximately 74,000 people, mainly in urban areas. Sri Lankan peoples of Portuguese descent, numbering approximately 3,400, speak the Sri Lankan Indo-Portuguese language. The Muslim community in Sri Lanka widely uses Arabic for religious purposes. Until recently the Arwi language, a fusion of Arabic and Tamil, was widely used by the Sri Lankan Moors.

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Famous quotes containing the words languages, foreign and/or influence:

    The trouble with foreign languages is, you have to think before your speak.
    Swedish proverb, trans. by Verne Moberg.

    For my name and memory I leave it to men’s charitable speeches, and to foreign nations, and the next ages.
    Francis Bacon (1561–1626)

    To marry a man out of pity is folly; and, if you think you are going to influence the kind of fellow who has “never had a chance, poor devil,” you are profoundly mistaken. One can only influence the strong characters in life, not the weak; and it is the height of vanity to suppose that you can make an honest man of anyone.
    Margot Asquith (1864–1945)