Just as the various peoples settling in the Maldives in the very beginning have influenced the looks of Maldivians, so have they left their mark on the language we speak. Known as Dhivehi, the Maldivian language is a mixture of the neighbouring Sri Lanka's language - Sinhala - and Arabic. The language - not unlike many others in the world - has also been fairly significantly influenced by the English language. With Maldivian schools instructing in the English medium it is hardly surprising that English words often pop up in conversations conducted in the native language. The only Dhivehi word in the Oxford English dictionary is "atholu", atoll. Maldivians enjoy a high literacy rate - 98% - and English is widely spoken among the people. With the arrival of tourism, many a Maldivian have become multilingual, speaking fluently in Italian, German and Japanese.