In spite of its wide usage, many English users do not acknowledge the existence of the Sri Lankan variety of English. In terms of class distinctions, the so-called Colombo elite of the “Colombo 07” families of Sri Lanka consider English to be their first language and the variety of English spoken by them is considered to be closer to the international standard of English. However, the further one goes away from the main areas of Colombo, there is a greater influence of Sinhalese and Tamil on the English spoken there, with varying degrees of bilingualism.