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Languages in Maldives

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The early people of Maldives spoke Elu, an ancient form of Singhalese, which was also spoken in its neighbor country Sri Lanka, and was strongly influenced by the region’s major languages, especially Arabic. Elu transformed many times over the years until it became Dhivehi. The earliest Dhivehi was said to be inscribed on copper plates known as Loamaafaanu with letters and vowels written separately.

As the country’s national language, Dhivehi was the medium of teaching until 1960 when English was first introduced as a medium of education out of a need to promote higher education. This need has led to the Dhivehi syllabi converted to English in all schools-primary and secondary. English is now spoken by many people in Male, the country’s capital, and not surprisingly, in many tourist resorts. Other foreign languages are also spoken in tourist resorts and these include German, French, Italian and Japanese.

The medium of instruction in the pre-school level is both Dhivehi and English, and English at the start of primary school to Grade 12 where Dhivehi is taught as a subject with limited time only. But because of lack of trained English teachers, many primary schools use Dhivehi as a teaching medium. Many schools also aim to practice the so-called “immersion education” where students are not allowed to use Dhivehi except in periods devoted to Dhivehi and Islam matters.

There are efforts in the country that tend to promote greater understanding of Dhivehi by English speakers and vice-versa. One of these efforts is the publication of an English-Dhivehi-English dictionary by the country’s culture editors and the Dhivehi Observer newspaper. This dictionary project also aims to help make the Maldivians more proficient in the spoken and written English and Dhivehi languages as a tool for success in both local and overseas employment, social relationships and day-to-day activities.