Mandarin speaking people sucks!!!
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Yeah... so long as we bear in mind that language has nothing to do with boorish behaviour at all.Originally posted by loseagain:If abt 70% of sg ppl speak mandarin, then not surprising that abt 70% of boorish ppl come from this group -
condemning mandarin because the teens she encountered spoke mandarin is totally immature and it really tells her level of intellect. i love speaking mandarin and I am proud of it and i behave properly in public. I have some friends who find it cool to fail their chinese exam. These jia ken tang ppl... I will make sure my children speak mandarin in future and my dialect too.
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That lady is
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Proficiency in mandarin is essential if you want to maintain a competitive edge over PRCs, many of whom are learning to speak English. And stop deluding yourself, there are plenty PRCs who speak and write better English than we do.
"SINGAPORE is on the right track in its efforts to get its students to be proficient in English but it must maintain its edge as a bilingual society, said Mr David Graddol, an authority on English language trends.
Indeed, the monolingual English graduate - the 'monoglot' - will face a bleak economic future, as bilingual or multilingual workers are preferred by companies aiming to globalise.
Mr Graddol is the author of English Next, a report commissioned by The British Council.
In an interview with The Straits Times, he spoke of a massive increase in the number of people learning English and reeled off some impressive figures to make his point.
Two billion - that is how many new learners of English are being added, up to the end of the next decade .
More than half of all primary school children in China are now learning English, and the number of English speakers in India and China - 500 million in all - exceeds the total number of mother tongue English speakers elsewhere in the world.
The reason for what Mr Graddol called an 'explosion' is that English is no longer a foreign language for most people. It has become a near universal basic skill, like learning how to use a computer.
Projecting into the future, in the context of unrelenting globalisation, he said soon it is the polyglots who will have significant competitive advantages over the monoglots.
'The competitive advantage of speaking just English will ebb away, because soon, everyone will speak English. Advantage can be maintained only by having other skills, such as speaking several languages,' he said, adding that policymakers elsewhere are now looking at Singapore and Finland as models to follow.
Mr Graddol, whose three home- schooled children learn English, Italian and French, said when one acquires a language, he or she is also likely to develop cultural awareness, which will be a skill much valued by employers.
'It enables people to build rapport with their clients and helps them avoid the social and business faux pas that can cost them lucrative business deals,' he said.
Several employers here agreed with his view. They said that as they set their sights abroad, they look for workers who are proficient in other languages on top of English.
Said Mr David Leong, managing director of regional human resource company PeopleWorldwide Consulting: 'Increasingly, we have employers choosing the bilingual or multilingual candidate over those with just good English.'
Mr Stephen Forshaw, spokesman for Singapore Airlines, said the very nature of airline operations requires one to be able to communicate well, often in more than one language.
'Our customers come from all points of the globe and many of them prefer to communicate in their native language. Being able to do so makes them feel very much at home and it is one of the ways we provide that personalised service which customers look forward to.'
He added: 'SIA has been fortunate beneficiaries of the Singapore education system, in that almost all our recruits can speak at least two languages: English and the mother tongue, which caters for a large proportion of our passengers.'''
(Straits Times, 15 Dec) -
after reading the TS article, I feel quite sad to see the younger generation of chinese singaporeans wrong perception about the chinese language. This has nothing to do with boorish behavior whatsoever. due to singapore's colonial past and govt emphasis of english as 1st language has somehow has made us lose our roots with our native language.
language has the amazing ability to act as a tool for bonding human interaction and you'll fit right into a group if you speak their 'language'. when i was living in finland, the locals native language is finnish but yet they speak perfect english as well. Some are even fluent up to 5 languages! To them, english is just an additional language for corresponding to non-natives who have problems understanding finnish but they still make a strong effort to retain mastery of their native language because of cultural identity and for bonding.
Knowing the native language of the group/person you are talking to certainly helps to break the ice and makes you feel closer and more part of the family. This is something that I learnt to appreciate and it did wonders for me once I make an effort to learn and speak finnish with the locals.
I feel that in the world today when singapore is going global, learning english itself is simply not enough, and for chinese singaporeans like myself, taking an interest in chinese and having some fluency in it is a must. I am glad that my excellent command of mandarin has served me well in a lot of situations, you also get the respect from foreign friends to act as immediate interpreters when you travel overseas. I would feel quite ashamed if I as a chinese could not translate simple chinese terms and explain basic chinese culture to my keen-eyed scandinavian friends. -
i think many singaporeans have a very serious flaw in their thinking.
you learn to speak and write chinese because you are a chinese, not just for economical benefits.
i dont see malays stop learning the malay language because english is used more commonly in the business world.
frankly chinese who cannot speak chinese should be ashamed of themselves. -
You don't want to speak mandrin in public because of this?? What about those
Successful mandrin-speaking bosses of big companies that do singapore proud?
Im myself here is now learning mandrin. Ah lians ah bengs of the chinese society... mats and minahs of the malay society and Anjedi's of the indian society.
These r people that are nonsensical n the pariahs we dun need. Nothing to do with language speaking people. The problem with some Singaporeans are that
they look only at the half-empty glass of water n not the half-filled glass of water... -
Like I said, shoot not the heritage of the person, but the behavior.
Leave the language out of this. And I better not see this degenerate into a Peranakan Chinese bashing thread, which I feel it may have a tendency to become, simply because their linguistic heritage is not Mandarin 100% of the time.
We have to guard against being chauvinists of the Mandarin language too. -
Mmmm, aaaaah, eeeeei, ooooorhOriginally posted by trendz:You're totally wrong that mandarin-speaking people are less vulgar. Hearing them let out a string of hokkien expletives 'kan ni na bu chao chee bye. na bei pu bor. kum lim bei lan jiao lah. yao siu kia.' - do you think it's equally 'glamorous'?
I think "yao siu kia" is cantonese.......
x100000.Originally posted by dragg:i think many singaporeans have a very serious flaw in their thinking.
you learn to speak and write chinese because you are a chinese, not just for economical benefits.
i dont see malays stop learning the malay language because english is used more commonly in the business world.
frankly chinese who cannot speak chinese should be ashamed of themselves.
As a Chinese, if you can't speak Mandarin, you should go dig a hole and live there forever.
You should be proud of your inheritage. We don't see France throw away their language after the English conquered them during the Hundred Years War; Neither did we see the English abandon their language after William the Conqueror cross the Channel.
Why should Singaporean Chinese do what the Brits and the French didn't? -
Correction, as a Chinese, you should know your dialect. Mandarin comes second.
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many singaporean chinese cant even speak or understand their own dialect.Originally posted by LazerLordz:Correction, as a Chinese, you should know your dialect. Mandarin comes second.
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All i can say is that Ang Lixing is narrow-minded and childish.
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very worrying, our younger generation. but most teens these days sprout english no?
besides, the prc arent neccessarily speaking perfect mandarin. some may come from other parts of china and more familiar with their own native dialect, pronouncing mandarin with some accent. -
hoggy i think dats hokkien..Originally posted by Hogzilla:x100000.
As a Chinese, if you can't speak Mandarin, you should go dig a hole and live there forever.
You should be proud of your inheritage. We don't see France throw away their language after the English conquered them during the Hundred Years War; Neither did we see the English abandon their language after William the Conqueror cross the Channel.
Why should Singaporean Chinese do what the Brits and the French didn't? -
Sheesh that lady is like insulting the people who uses Chinese to communicate... and besides, she said so many things that are pretty unrelated to Mandarin...more to elaborating about boorish behaviors performed in public.
If she feels ashamed to speak Chinese in public, then don't say it at the first place to agitate people!
Although singlish had slightly ruined the image of Singapore, yet it's another specialty expressed by us Singaporeans during communications. And Singlish don't suck, it depends on the people who look at it from their standing angle."My friends and I belong to the minority English-speaking group and we are ashamed to speak in Mandarin in public. No, we are not elites, just normal teenagers."
WA LAO, honestly speaking, she got the misconception and somebody must inject the correct formula into her head."Unless the association of bad behaviour with Mandarin-speaking youths can be negated, 'Hua Yu Cool' isn't going to work on us anytime soon."
Are ALL teens in SG really bad? NO! What association is there in this case? Bad behaviour is NOT together with Mandarin-speaking habit, hello! If that is associated, then we don't need to talk! She gave a thought too much and exaggerated it too far! Besides, the campaign doesn't work for her, then that's HER business, not ours.
If I said anything wrong, correct me. ^^ -
I heard someone said before. "yau siu" is cantonese. it's translation is yao1 shou4, meaning short-life. "kia" is hokkien. I might be wrong lah.Originally posted by Ito_^:hoggy i think dats hokkien.. -
This lady doesn't know to differentiate between Singlish and Chinese.
"wo men hen attract attention leh" since when is this language called Chinese?If I don't take, I lose out' and 'If others can do it, so can I, otherwise I lose out'
This sentence nearly made me exploded. Heck, what she's describing is peer pressure. Since when does peer pressure apply to Chinese only?
For goodness sake, majority of the Singapore population are Chinese. Of course one will see more Chinese behaving badly than the other races. The chances are higher. If she has passed her O Levels, she should know that, and not twist the numbers to work with her theory. -
Okay guys I know I'm a newbie here in this forum, but you guys agree with me here that she is acting as a high-ended person and pointing out us teens' common mistakes? My dad blasts techno hits on his MP3 phone loud in the MRT too! Sheesh... Rolling Eyes
That does not make it any more right. It's a goddamned nuisance. The MRT is a transportation system, not a club. -
Yeah well good point though, I'd imagine myself taking an MRT and comes in an middle-aged uncle with his MP3 phone...Originally posted by LazerLordz:That does not make it any more right. It's a goddamned nuisance. The MRT is a transportation system, not a club. -
Wao~!
I never thought that this thread will garner so many post. -
i oso not sure la.. scarly we both wrong.Originally posted by Hogzilla:I heard someone said before. "yau siu" is cantonese. it's translation is yao1 shou4, meaning short-life. "kia" is hokkien. I might be wrong lah. -
yau siu is definitely hokkien.Originally posted by Hogzilla:I heard someone said before. "yau siu" is cantonese. it's translation is yao1 shou4, meaning short-life. "kia" is hokkien. I might be wrong lah. -
chao chee bye
+1 -
I know of English-speaking people who are very rude also. I have a friend in the same department as I. He likes to talk loudly when other people are sleeping in the bunk and has totally no consideration for others. Whenever he comes back to the bunk, he would shout a loud "Hello" to make his "grand" entry known to the inhabitants of the bunk. Also, he only doesn't know basic manners such as not taking one's seat when one just moves away for a short while. He's one English-speaking snob that I can't tolerate, but I unfortunately have to because we live under the same roof, in fact the same bunk. Sign...
Secondly, English-speaking Singaporeans are arrogant most of the time. They usually think that their English is so good that they use it to mock or talk sarcastically to those who's language ability is not so strong. Their pompous behaviour is most intolerable. And I can tell you this: Most of the only English-speaking Chinese are snobs - about 95% -
Ok a lil thread hijack.
How many of U are proud to be a Singaporean?
Ok, dun flame me but i'm not. I see wulu "FTs" around and i dun feel an attachment to SG on a personal lvl. It's just a place i live in, everything being monopolied by *coughcough*. Yea, my opinion. No offense.
But i haf to gif SG credit for the education and safety i receive.
Regarding the thread, the lil kid is most prob a potato. Tryna be one, but hopelessly failing. She can suck up to the angmohs, but no matter wad she cant deny she's a chinese.