Singapore - Language Schools

General Information
There is no need to learn a language to survive in Singapore, unless you don’t speak English.

English is widely spoken, being one of the four official national languages.  The others being: Chinese, Malay and Tamil (a southern Indian language).
You might want to find out more about 'Singlish' which you can pick up by listening to taxis drivers or any of the locals. Singlish, is English spoken with Chinese grammar and with lots of Malay and Hokkien (a Chinese dialect) words thrown in for local flavour. Beginners in Singlish can just add “lah” to the ends of sentences. Eg. Relax lah, O.K. lah. When asking a question in a store like; “Can I pay with a credit card?” you may get back the answer; “Can lah”.
So why learn another language then? If you plan to travel around Asia then knowing some basic Chinese or Malay may be useful. Learning the language of your new home, is always a good way of understanding the culture. Don’t forget to think about where you might be living after Singapore. If you have always wanted to learn Chinese then Singapore is a good place to start. There are programs in Chinese on TV and the radio and Chinese speaking Singaporeans speak the language clearly and without too much accent. The same applies to  the Malay speakers.
There are plenty of opportunities to study European languages in Singapore.  If you are not a native speaker of English, you can brush up on that too, at places like the British Council.

Berlitz
#05-03/04 Wheelock Place
501 Orchard Rd
Singapore
238880
Tel: + 65 6733 7472/ + 65 6733 7805
email: [email protected]
website: www.berlitz.com 
Individual and small group classes in Chinese and English, for adults and children.

Inlingua
Singapore
Tel: + 65 6463 0966/+ 65 6467 5483 
email: [email protected]
website: www.inlinguasingapore.com
Classes are held in Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish for two to 40 hours per week. Programs for children of all ages are held during the school holidays.

National University of Singapore (NUS) 
Block ADM Level 2
10 Ridge Crescent 
Singapore
119260
Tel: + 65 6874 7956/+ 65 6776 8601
website: www.nus.edu.sg/oce/
Office for Continuing Education.
Courses in Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese, Malay, Spanish and Tamil are held here.

YMCA Education Centre
1 Orchard Road 
Singapore
238824
Tel: + 65 6430 2222
email: [email protected]
website: www.ymca.org.sg
Classes in Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese, Malay, Thai, French, Italian, Spanish, German can be taken here. All classes start at a basic level, two hours per week for nine weeks.

Alliance Francaise
1 Sarkies Road 
Singapore
258130
Tel: + 65 6833 9306
website: www.alliancefrancaise.org.sg
Classes are held in French for children and adults from beginners to advanced levels. One can take a two month course, with lessons once or twice a week.

The British Council 
30 Napier Road 
Singapore
258509
Tel: + 65 6473 6661/+ 65 6472 1010
email: [email protected]
website: www.britishcouncil.org.sg
English lessons for adults and children are held here. Business English is also offered. Part-time and full-time classes can be taken.

Goethe Institut
#05-01 Winsland House 11
163 Penang Road
Singapore
238463
Tel: + 65 6735 4555/+ 65 6735 4666
email: [email protected]
German language courses are held at all levels.

Italian Cultural Institute
#07-03 United Square
101 Thomson Road 
Singapore
307591
Tel: + 65 6255 3073/ + 65 6352 2005 
email: [email protected]
website: www.iic.org.sg
Italian classes are offered for children and adults, basic to advanced levels.