Many of my students are always surprised at that fact that English is my first language. There are few factors: 


We need English to thrive in Malaysia
Malaysia is a multiracial country, mainly made up of Malay, Chinese and Indian people. We all have our own mother tongue but everyone speaks English to some extent. In fact, English is taught in kindergarten up to university. During my time, even maths and the sciences were all taught in English throughout my school life. University lectures and businesses are all  conducted in English as well. In fact, it is crucial to be able to be fluent in English to get a proper corporate job in Malaysia. 



Malaysia was colonized by Britain decades ago
You may be surprised to find a significant number people in their 70s - 80s who can speak very good English. This is because they lived through the British colonial period and had to survive speaking English. 



Most people can communicate in English
I wouldn't say everyone here speaks perfect English.  A general rule of thumb is the higher your level of education and the more urban your hometown, the more likely they are to speak fluent English since they have more years of exposure and need to speak.  But even so, almost everyone can communicate in English without problem. 

English as a first language
Some of the population especially in Kuala Lumpur and Klang Valley (equavalent of Chiba and Saitama in Japan) has English as their first language. In my case, my mom couldn't speak Chinese, so I grew up speaking English actually. In fact I was then forced to learn Chinese when I turned 7 at elementary school since I was ethnically Chinese (which I absolutely hated but have come to appreciate). But due to the diversity here, there are countless reason as to why someone may have their first language as English and mine is just one of them :)

The Malaysian version of English ?!
And of course, we have our own version of English just like everyone else called "Manglish" (Malaysia + English) that only locals would understand. A few classic examples:

• It's good meh? (is it good? - dubious)
• It's good hoh? (it is good, right? - I bet you agree with me)
• It's good lah. (I'm sure it's good - I'm telling you, it's good) 
• It's good gua. (It's good, I guess? - I'm not sure)

Just with a change of the final word, the entire meaning of the sentence changes. But don't worry, if we run into someone from a different country, we will be able to switch back to proper English to make sure we are understood. I promise! I've linked a video in this post if you guys wanna know more about Manglish! ;) 

And of course, apart from that, we have crazy delicious food, friendly people and beautiful sceneries waiting for tourists like YOU! 

So, there you go! If you're still dying to know more about Malaysia while practicing your English, feel free to request a lesson and I'll be happy to chat with you about it :)