An approximated 88% of Macanese people are able to speak Cantonese. Cantonese is a Sio-Tibetan language spoken not only in Macao, but also in Hong Kong and other countries like Vietnam and Malaysia. It is the official language of Macao. The Cantonese alphabet is written in Chinese characters.
An estimated 87% of the population of Macao is able to speak Cantonese. A smaller percentage of below 1% speak Portuguese. Mandarin is another language spoken by at least 3.2% of the total population. English is also spoken by less than 1% of the total population.
“Néih hóu ma?" which translates to “how are you?’ is a useful Cantonese phrase. When one wishes to introduce self, they can say “ngóh giujouh” which means “my name is.” "Mhgòi" means "please", while "m̀hgòi",
English is spoken by a minority of the population. It is the medium of teaching used in a number of schools in Macao. Patua,Tagalog and Bahasa are other minority languages spoken in Macao. Patua is a dialect mixed of Portuguese, Malay, and Creole. Patua is estimated to have only about 100 speakers in Macao.
This page was last modified on May 1st, 2018