Besides the three official languages, there are several other languages spoken by smaller communities in Sri Lanka, including:
| Misconception | Reality | | :--- | :--- | | "Everyone speaks English fluently." | English is common but not universal. Outside major cities, basic Sinhala or Tamil is needed. | | "Tamil is only spoken in the North." | Tamil is also spoken in the East and central plantation areas, plus by a large minority in Colombo. | | "Sinhala and Tamil are similar." | They belong to different language families (Indo-European vs. Dravidian) and are not mutually intelligible. | sri lanka language spoken