Why does the Govt always want to clean-up Singalish???
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A study in S'pore says that 6 out of 10 S'poreans don't speak 'standard English'? As usual, the S'pore govt wants to correct this with a 'Speak good English' campaign (like this will work).........
What in the world is 'standard English'? If you say that people from England speak 'standard English', then what do you call David Beckam's language? He speaks like a butcher with a short tongue and with lots of choclates stuck in his mouth... George Bush speaks like a cowboy whose jeans is too tight.
If Aussies are proud of their 'Aussie English', if the Americans are proud of their many versions of English, if the people of England are proud of their many versions of English...etc, then why are the S'porean authorities so ashamed of our English? A language is a means of communication and also a sign of our identity. In this case, Singlish is fully understood by S'poreans and it's a distinctive part of being S'porean.
So, speak Singlish cannot meh? Si-eh-sian-Man...! I suka spiak Singlish leh. You please don't come play-play with my Engrish lah...or else I hantam you one time good-good then you si-kiow-kiow...... -
they should improve their chinese first.
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Speak Mandarin Campagne, sure is effective.
Now, almost everyone is speaking Mandarin. Be it at work, at play, during studies, whatever.
People have become so comfortable with Mandarin and now they are saying Singaporeans can't speak proper English. Don't be confused, Singlish is a mixture of Malay expressions and slangs, and the form is a direct translation of Mandarin to English.
So, who started Speak Mandarin Campagne? Isn't this another one of their U-turns?
They are even saying that since Singaporeans can't speak standard English, hence the preference for foreighners who can.
And even when locals are so called fluent in Mandarin, when you listen to a PRC speak, you can hear obvious differences. -
Because it sounds crude.
But then again, we can't even prounounce properly, much less speak. -
because u people who speak singlish cannot make the effective switch from english to singlish anytime. that is where the problem lies.
foreigners etc all cannot understand what the hell we are trying to say. -
This Singlish to English switching problem, I believe starts at home.
I can speak a smatter of fluent Singlish daily as can and does everyone in here, and switching to proper English was never an issue.
Oftentimes in elevators, I hear residents in my block speak to their child like this: "Ay, you got bring your water bottle or not?" and the child goes; "Got... neh!" and shows the water bottle.
This, is what's stopping people from speaking Proper English.
But today's lifestyles coupled with mobile phone technology and the Internet, has further bastardized English with SMS English, & IM (Instant Messaging) English. English gets short-formed & abbreviated to oblivion!
I always tell my wife (who speaks Mandarin with all her friends) to brush up, watch less of Ch8 on TV, and improve general knowledge with Nat Geo & Discovery channels. Cause, all I ever saw in Ch8 are all those variety shows, cry-stories, love stories, and nothing informative. -
yeah. i can also make the switch effectively, but problem is, most people cannot even speak standard english; they cannot make the switch.
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Well, we are a multi-racial society. So there are bound to be those who CANNOT communicate in proper English for lifestyle, family, or personal reasons - but nonetheless they do get their message across on a daily basis using whatever form of English or language prefered.Originally posted by missqi:yeah. i can also make the switch effectively, but problem is, most people cannot even speak standard english; they cannot make the switch.
Now my curiosity is; WHY couldn't or didn't our gov foresee this shortcoming decades ago (when Mandarin was made a compulsory subject to pass in primary school all the way up to Uni) since they are comprised of Top Brains???? -
Funny I think, as I recall back when I was in Primary school, I was rather sternly corrected by the teacher when I pronounced the letter 'Z' as "zee".
Now, it's widely acknowledged as "zee" - not "zat".
I feel like a guinea pig in the education system's experimentations ... -
no dialect problems on tv - now most youth cannot speak they own dialects well.
speak mandarin campaign - most people cant speak english well
courtesy campaign - people are so rude nowadays
save water campaign - our daily consumption just keep going up
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language trends are very hard to predict; amidst other problems. lol. u think the govt cares about how we sgreans mutilate and desecrate the english language when they have other problems to settle?Originally posted by ShutterBug:Well, we are a multi-racial society. So there are bound to be those who CANNOT communicate in proper English for lifestyle, family, or personal reasons - but nonetheless they do get their message across on a daily basis using whatever form of English or language prefered.
Now my curiosity is; WHY couldn't or didn't our gov foresee this shortcoming decades ago (when Mandarin was made a compulsory subject to pass in primary school all the way up to Uni) since they are comprised of Top Brains???? -
Oh.... WE are becoming their biggest problem as the years go by, judging from all the topics so far posted!Originally posted by missqi:language trends are very hard to predict; amidst other problems. lol. u think the govt cares about how we sgreans mutilate and desecrate the english language when they have other problems to settle? -
I think alot of Singaporeans speak English/Singlish/Whatever, based on the setting/situation/circumstances they are in, and the person or people they are speaking to.
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The worst kinds, are those who can just speak English, but the moment a European or American speaks to them, the suddenly break into an accent to try and match the European or American!Originally posted by elindra:I think alot of Singaporeans speak English/Singlish/Whatever, based on the setting/situation/circumstances they are in, and the person or people they are speaking to.
Everytime I come across a situation like that, especially at work, I will excuse myself and go away till the conversation is over. Because it makes my skin crawl!
I mean, what the hey, speak normally! Speak proper English normally as you would to your fellow Singaporean colleagues! Don't have to sound like them!
Respect yourself, stick to your own accent. -
So here we have Singlish, and everyone is so hyped up about it.
What about in the USA?? They have the blacks, who speaks their own brand of black american English - lingo.
I mean, if a black guy steps up to you and greets you and say something nice about the weather, you'd probably not understand a single word except perhaps "dude" or "waz-up!".
We don't hear them harping about proper English? Instead, people all over the wolrd, are trying to sound "cool" like them! Waz-up bro! Waz happenin' man! Yo cool bro! Chill man!"
KNN... -
best thing is.. when i was young, i spoke dialect, they don't like, speak english. when i grew to speak english, they want to speak mandarin, then when i now speak mandarin often, they want dialect.
so how? i end up with a rojak of singlish lor!
the very last thing i want to do now is some stupid mindless authority to dictate what language i speak! -
actually hor.. u cannot blame them one. dunnoe why its abit natural for me to try and adjust to their accent.. machiam auto one. try to adjust back but dunnoe why find myself speaking a few words oddly. dats y i dun like to speak to foreigners. becuz no confidence in our style of english, everything we speak oso not good nuff.Originally posted by ShutterBug:The worst kinds, are those who can just speak English, but the moment a European or American speaks to them, the suddenly break into an accent to try and match the European or American!
Everytime I come across a situation like that, especially at work, I will excuse myself and go away till the conversation is over. Because it makes my skin crawl!
I mean, what the hey, speak normally! Speak proper English normally as you would to your fellow Singaporean colleagues! Don't have to sound like them!
Respect yourself, stick to your own accent. -
those people are pathetic, it sometimes can be a torture listening to them talkOriginally posted by missqi:yeah. i can also make the switch effectively, but problem is, most people cannot even speak standard english; they cannot make the switch. -
To speak standard English isn't an issue. I believe most of us here can do it. The problem is pronouncing. Some people pronounciation are so bad that foreigners can't understand, and they thought we are speaking Singlish, when in fact, it's not.Originally posted by missqi:yeah. i can also make the switch effectively, but problem is, most people cannot even speak standard english; they cannot make the switch. -
Zee is American pronouciation for Z if I'm not wrong. Zat is the British prounounciation for Z. I've been taught to prounonce Z as "zat", since we are using British English, not American English. Nowadays, because of our closer ties with US, things are changed, I guess.Originally posted by ShutterBug:Funny I think, as I recall back when I was in Primary school, I was rather sternly corrected by the teacher when I pronounced the letter 'Z' as "zee".
Now, it's widely acknowledged as "zee" - not "zat".
I feel like a guinea pig in the education system's experimentations ... -
I think this is just bullshit.... Where the hack in the world has the most accurate english? I think only london. Even Places like Canada, Australia and even in many parts of England, the english accents and pronouciation is different.
Singapore is the only country in the world that thinks this singlish thing is a shame. We had spoken much better english than almost all the common wealth countries except for a few.
Language differences? The reasons is simple because in a different part of the world we have many things that are unique from others therefore often our lifestyle affects our usage of language. Even in China a province alone have about a 100 different dilects and ways of speaking yet all are the Han people and all speak chinese.
It's nothign to be ashame of. Language is a key for communication. If it is able to achieve it's objective smoothly then what's the problem exactly? -
Where's the problem??Originally posted by banzie:I think this is just bullshit.... Where the hack in the world has the most accurate english? I think only london. Even Places like Canada, Australia and even in many parts of England, the english accents and pronouciation is different.
Singapore is the only country in the world that thinks this singlish thing is a shame. We had spoken much better english than almost all the common wealth countries except for a few.
Language differences? The reasons is simple because in a different part of the world we have many things that are unique from others therefore often our lifestyle affects our usage of language. Even in China a province alone have about a 100 different dilects and ways of speaking yet all are the Han people and all speak chinese.
It's nothign to be ashame of. Language is a key for communication. If it is able to achieve it's objective smoothly then what's the problem exactly?
Oh, it's only a problem when our gov wants us to speak PROPER ENGLISH, to woo foerigners and tourists in the service industry!
That's WHERE, the problem is. -
It's Zeeeee in AmericanOriginally posted by ndmmxiaomayi:Zee is American pronouciation for Z if I'm not wrong. Zat is the British prounounciation for Z. I've been taught to prounonce Z as "zat", since we are using British English, not American English. Nowadays, because of our closer ties with US, things are changed, I guess.
and
ZED in English -
Why Govt not proud of Singlish?
Learning fluent Singlish is a most difficult task.
First, one must be well talking in various dialacts.
Second, also must know speeching other languages like Mandarin or Malay too. -
Americans speak English. British speak English. Australians speak English.Originally posted by Dogtor:It's Zeeeee in American
and
ZED in English
So what's the difference between American and English?