Long live Singlish!
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I was suffing the net when this caught my eye :
Thursday, 16 March 2006
The Angus Ross Prize for 2005 was awarded to ex-Raffles Junior College (RJC) student A----L. She is the 18th Singaporean to receive this award, given to the candidate with the best A-level English examination performance outside Britain. The first and second runner ups were also from RJC.
Wah...........RJC English so tok-kong one........Singaporean's English so perfect....got 18 winners so far......
Then I remembered this : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uvjt9uvWf10
Hah!....we got some rebels in our midst.....
Long live Singlish! -
Today, if you travel overseas and you hear a group of tourists speaking, you can actually tell they are from Singapore.....sometimes Malaysia because they speak with the same accent. But it's diificult to tell them apart.
One day will Malaysian English and Singapore English go their separate ways?
It had already happen with spoken Mandarin.......you can tell the difference between the Singapore and malaysian versions...... -
singlish is ok among singaporeans in casual setting but you better not carry over when you speak to foreigners or in professional life.
i am full of singlish but when i am presenting, i make sure my grammar is superb. -
I've met two old ladies from Costa Rica in Tokyo and they looked and sounded very Eurasian so I asked them "Where in SIngapore are you from" then a Chinese lady next to them chuckled, "They not Singaporean lah,my English students and friends for 20 years oreddy you know very long long time".Originally posted by Dr Who:Today, if you travel overseas and you hear a group of tourists speaking, you can actually tell they are from Singapore.....sometimes Malaysia because they speak with the same accent. But it's diificult to tell them apart.
One day will Malaysian English and Singapore English go their separate ways?
It had already happen with spoken Mandarin.......you can tell the difference between the Singapore and malaysian versions......
Malaysian Chinese also sound very Singlish especially those from Penang Island but if you listen carefully Malaysian English and Singlish has already gone their separate ways some time back. -
but malaysian chinese u can tell almost immediately if they expressed themselve when they are very happy, excited...Originally posted by Short Ninja:I've met two old ladies from Costa Rica in Tokyo and they looked and sounded very Eurasian so I asked them "Where in SIngapore are you from" then a Chinese lady next to them chuckled, "They not Singaporean lah,my English students and friends for 20 years oreddy you know very long long time". Malaysian Chinese also sound very Singlish especially those from Penang Island but if you listen carefully Malaysian English and Singlish has already gone their separate ways some time back.
they will say : ji shuang yi xia lah...
while singaporean will say " sibeh song ah " -
I guess it is best to use a spoken language where everyone can be at ease and best express oneself.FYI there are thousands of Japanese people who can speak fluent Singlish and there also used to be a fan club of the magazine 'Kiasu' in Tokyo.Originally posted by Mat Toro:singlish is ok among singaporeans in casual setting but you better not carry over when you speak to foreigners or in professional life.
i am full of singlish but when i am presenting, i make sure my grammar is superb. -
while doing a student exchange here in germany, most people do not understand us when me and my frens spoke in Singlish. However, they understood better when we try to accent and speak in more proper english. It's interesting that Singlish has evolved to a language of its own that only Singaporeans/Malaysians understand. It has become like a dialect of English...
There's even a wiki article on Singlish. -
Which reminds me of an old war movie called "STALAG 13" where they(American POWs) were trying to flush out the traitor in their camp.William Holden suspected one of their fellow officers was a German spy and caught him just by talking c.o.c.k.Let me give you an idea in SInglishOriginally posted by Mospeada:but malaysian chinese u can tell almost immediately if they expressed themselve when they are very happy, excited...
they will say : ji shuang yi xia lah...
while singaporean will say " sibeh song ah "
William H >Hello friend you eat oreddy ar not?
German spy>2 pratas no telur
William H>hey I got something to ask you
German spy?Wat lah cant you see I am busy
William H >Which state won the Malaya Cup in 1998?
German Spy>Pahang lah who some more!!
Willian H >KNNCCB you dont play play here I tell you ar where got Malaya cup that time????
Suddenly lights off and then blanket party
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Exactly. Most people do not realise how they sound to people from other countries. Even the Chinese and Taiwanese laugh at our singlish behind our backs. Those people who keep hitting the govt's for their push for proper english and insist that singlish is our right cos its our culture are silly.Originally posted by eagle:while doing a student exchange here in germany, most people do not understand us when me and my frens spoke in Singlish. However, they understood better when we try to accent and speak in more proper english. It's interesting that Singlish has evolved to a language of its own that only Singaporeans/Malaysians understand. It has become like a dialect of English...
There's even a wiki article on Singlish. -
we can always use singlish among ourselves.Originally posted by eagle:while doing a student exchange here in germany, most people do not understand us when me and my frens spoke in Singlish. However, they understood better when we try to accent and speak in more proper english. It's interesting that Singlish has evolved to a language of its own that only Singaporeans/Malaysians understand. It has become like a dialect of English...
There's even a wiki article on Singlish.
who in the right mind will use singlish when speaking to foreigners?
there is nothing wrong with singlish. i am sure even aussies, british and americans have their own type of english slangs that the other doesnt understand. -
Better to master code-switching than to play a zero-sum language campaign.Originally posted by Mat Toro:Exactly. Most people do not realise how they sound to people from other countries. Even the Chinese and Taiwanese laugh at our singlish behind our backs. Those people who keep hitting the govt's for their push for proper english and insist that singlish is our right cos its our culture are silly.
Singlish is our cultural heritage, English is our link to the world.
Get it? -
I do understand. But the problem is, many do not know how to switch. Most cannot switch fully. So given the choice, it better to push for proper English.
Yes, Singlish is our culture, the question is, is it necessarily a good culture?
On the whole, no. We don't need a patois language in order to bind us as a nation. -
I think the world is not black & white. Why insist on either?Originally posted by Mat Toro:I do understand. But the problem is, many do not know how to switch. Most cannot switch fully. So given the choice, it better to push for proper English.
Yes, Singlish is our culture, the question is, is it necessarily a good culture?
On the whole, no. We don't need a patois language in order to bind us as a nation.
I, for one, was very glad to hear strangers who were speaking Singlish when I was studying in the US. -
its not a matter of black or white, its a matter of being able to communicate clearly.
there are many Singaporeans who cannot express themselves properly because they are stuck in singlish. -
Like it or not Singlish will be here to stay, for the simple reason you can't stop a grassroots movement that arises from the failings of our own language policy.
Singlish was the child of the artifical attempts to enforce one mother tounge on the local population regardless of their dialect, as well as making them bilingual in english as a functioning language. Not to mention having a mismash of languages like malay as our national language, english as our functioning one, and pushing chinese to the local population.
While this served to work for a while, it is no surprise that eventually the locals who feel left out of the loop will find a more efficent way to communicate much to the government's despair.
So no matter what the purists say, Singlish will survive no matter how hard the government attempts to hit it short of a total ban and fine for its utterance (and even I doubt that will help), and as long as a marginalized linguistic culture survives in our various dialects, it will trive.
In Singapore, Queen's English is simply no match for Singlish in its ability to reach out to the masses. -
Well, the Speak Good English campaign should stay, but the message should be changed to one that doesn't persuade Singaporeans to give up Singlish, but rather, attain the ability to code-switch.
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I concur. Even countries like Germany face the same problem with the invading influence of the English language, yet they're teaching the kids how to code-switch instead of wiping out these influences entirely.Originally posted by LazerLordz:Well, the Speak Good English campaign should stay, but the message should be changed to one that doesn't persuade Singaporeans to give up Singlish, but rather, attain the ability to code-switch. -
Can you design a code switch course or start a code switch campaign then?Originally posted by LazerLordz:Well, the Speak Good English campaign should stay, but the message should be changed to one that doesn't persuade Singaporeans to give up Singlish, but rather, attain the ability to code-switch.
How in your opinion can the govt conduct a code switch campaign? Won't it confused people?
Whenever we suggest something, there must be the practicality & implementation plan too you know? -
LOL, if you haven't noticed our government has given up on stamping out Singlish, but talking about code switching in parliment as well.Originally posted by Mat Toro:Can you design a code switch course or start a code switch campaign then?
How in your opinion can the govt conduct a code switch campaign? Won't it confused people?
Whenever we suggest something, there must be the practicality & implementation plan too you know?
The basis of being able to code-switch is to know good English, and that's what they have been talking about of late.
The real reason why our English standards are dismal is not the use of Singlish, but because our English standards are (by western standards) indeed dismal and there has obviously been a failure in one way or another in our hodgepodge language policies. Singlish simply moved in to fill the gap that our English education failed to provide to the masses who fell behind in the program, and indeed, a symptom and not the cause of the disease.
As I said Mat Toro, you can moan all you want but Singlish will be here to stay for the simple reason if you want practicality and implementation, Singlish is pratically impossible to wipe out. As long as the Singaporean non elite exists with a feel of his land and culture, there will be Singlish.
So as someone said, long live Singlish. -
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Surely every country has their own 'Singlish'.Its not only casual but is the best form of communication for the different races and bridging generation gaps.As for speaking English in a totaly different environment......your Engrand no need to be superb lah just make sure it is standardized and clearly understood.Singlish is contagious and will never go away.Originally posted by Mat Toro:singlish is ok among singaporeans in casual setting but you better not carry over when you speak to foreigners or in professional life.
i am full of singlish but when i am presenting, i make sure my grammar is superb. -
Originally posted by SingaporeTyrannosaur:
They never said anything about stamping singlish out in the first place. you need to understand the issue very clearly my fren.
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LOL, if you haven't noticed our government has given up on stamping out Singlish, but talking about code switching in parliment as well.
Can we have a code switch course then? Can you design one please.
The basis of being able to code-switch is to know good English, and that's what they have been talking about of late.
Not true buddy. The fact that there are many people who can speak excellent English in singapore proved you wrong. You can have a good speaker and a bad speaker sitting in the same class in every school. Its a matter of habit and effort and that is what the govt is saying.
The real reason why our English standards are dismal is not the use of Singlish, but because our English standards are (by western standards) indeed dismal and there has obviously been a failure in one way or another in our hodgepodge language policies. Singlish simply moved in to fill the gap that our English education failed to provide to the masses who fell behind in the program, and indeed, a symptom and not the cause of the disease.
As long as we insist on sticking with singlish and be lazy in changing our langauge habits, we will never be able to speak good english as a whole.
As I said Mat Toro, you can moan all you want but Singlish will be here to stay for the simple reason if you want practicality and implementation, Singlish is pratically impossible to wipe out. As long as the Singaporean non elite exists with a feel of his land and culture, there will be Singlish.
So as someone said, long live Singlish. -
LOL, you're missing out the point... if there's anything more obvious from the language policies of Singapore is that it has created a disparity of skill in the midst of its speakers.
This condition is not unique to Singapore, but you could say that Singapore has been less consistent in dealing with it. This is because Singapore often pushes a contradictary language policy when it comes to promoting it's languages, trying to push for good english (for functional purposes) as well as mother tounge (for social purposes), and then keeping a national language of malay. All this while ignoring the cultural and social aspect that arises from dialect that leads the some being quite confused in which language they can muster.
If you won't take it from me, at least take it from others who have observed the same thing.How this situation came about is too complex a tale for here, not that I even know half of it, but I shall touch briefly on the role played by our politics.
Up until the 1960s, and even in schools where English was the medium of instruction, no one assumed that the children spoke English as a family language. Consequently, the methods used were those of teaching English as a second language, which meant very careful attention paid to enlarging vocabulary and instilling the rules of grammar. Much time was spent on grammar drills to hone the pupils' skills at things like the future perfect tense, the subjunctive and the fine shades of meaning among similar words. See example at right.
However, in the 1970s, a rapid conversion of all schools into English-medium ones took place, as the government shut down Chinese, Malay and Tamil-medium schools. As demand for English teachers grew, so standards fell. Furthermore, geography, physics or carpentry teachers were also required to use English in their classes, but as these adults were not using English as their first language, it meant that the students would hear broken English from those teachers.
In addition, the rapid expansion of English-medium education meant that students from families that never used English at home had to use English in school. This was unlike the previous decades when the English-medium schools tended to attract pupils from homes that did speak some English. Just when the task of teaching English became wider and harder, the difficulty of getting teachers who spoke good English became greater.
At around the same time, the Education ministry experimented with American teaching methods. Those were the days when British prestige had sunk to new lows and even the Sterling Pound had to be bailed out by the IMF. America was the shining example of modernity. These teaching methods involved more listening and speaking than being drilled in grammar rules.
It was a hopelessly misguided change, for the linguistic background in Singapore was nothing like White middle-class America, where children absorbed English with mother's milk. Learning by immersion and example cannot work if the environment was saturated with bad English.
(Nowadays, the scales have fallen from our eyes. Every time we see some American write on any bulletin board something like, "What I want to know is whether your expected to tip...." we see living proof that teaching language without grammar drills simply doesn't work.)
Another American idiocy imported into our education system was the multiple-choice test. I myself don't remember any use of multiple-choice testing when it came to English in my schooldays. We had to write long essays. We had to read and re-read dense passages followed by some questions to test our understanding of the text, and those questions had to be answered with a paragraph or two. We had to paraphrase other sentences or condense an entire paragraph into a key sentence to capture the gist of it. We had to pen telegrams in exactly 25 words (which I thought was a useless skill since telegrams were obsolescent, only to discover decades later that I can tap out more concentrated sms messages than most). And we had to transpose sentences into other time frames to test our mastery of tenses, or insert new ideas into an existing sentence by means of additional clauses.
How multiple choice questions would teach students to do all that with language, I cannot imagine.
Thus, except for a small minority, the masses picked up, not English, but a corrupted form of it.
More politics was to come. The annual Speak Mandarin Campaign confused priorities. Together with political campaigns against western "yellow culture", official veneration of Confucianism and emphasis on our "roots", "aping the West" became a liability. It was a small step from here to a general ridicule of people with perfect English and internationally acceptable intonation.
Meanwhile, the economics-trained technocrats in our government said that Singapore must preserve our competitive advantages vis-Ã -vis a rising China, and one of them is the fact that we're an English-speaking country.
Lo! we're now officially an English-speaking country, because the government said so. Therefore, what we speak must be English. If it sounds like English and the government says it's English, it's English. Since we have arrived, why is there a need to make an effort to improve our English?
It's hardly surprising then that Richard Teo, in his letter to the Straits Times (15 January 2005), said, "there did not seem to be any effort to speak in complete sentences or even speak coherently without the interjection of other dialectal or language words."
As he concluded, there "is a seeming disregard of the use of proper spoken English."
Good he left it at spoken English. He'd get a heart attack if he saw the written English we have here! -
Hey for once I agree with you. Long live Singlish!Originally posted by Dr Who:I was suffing the net when this caught my eye :
.......................
Hah!....we got some rebels in our midst.....
Long live Singlish! -
LOL, do you need a course to learn how to walk? Code switching comes naturally to all good English speakers. Simply put, to teach code switching means one has to teach our people to speak good English. Code switching comes naturally once the user understands the difference in structure in both languages.Originally posted by Mat Toro:As long as we insist on sticking with singlish and be lazy in changing our langauge habits, we will never be able to speak good english as a whole.
The problem is, do you seriously think our educational system offers a route out for non-native english speakers who are not raised up in an english-speaking household? Or are all Ah Bengs and Ah Sengs who can't speak good English simply lazy?
Our language habits will not change for the simple reason language habits ARE a social construct, and you can't change the language without having to change the social structure of things.
Asking Ah Beng and Ah Seng to start using proper English simply won't work for the simple reason having a good grounding in any language comes from a lifetime and upbringing grounded in the language. Hence the MOE's first few language policies were correct in teaching English as if it was for non-native speakers, but ran into error when they decided to flip over totally to the system we have today that teaches English as if ALL households were raised with an English background, language stratification is inevitible.
From language stratification, creoles will simply emerge. Singlish is not broken english as it is a almost whole new language in itself, with its own unique structure and sense.
And seriously it's not as if I have not encountered people who are making an active effort to learn better English, but unfortunately our educational system isn't helping by tieing their hands behind their back by assuming they are raised as English speakers.
And most importantly, the most productive way of teaching Singlish speakers on how to use original English is not in telling them to stop using Singlish, but how to TRANSPOSE from Singlish to English. Unfortunately since Singlish is not a formalized language, such a thing can only be done in the informal manner from friends or family.
If you want a course I seriously doubt that is possible. But for some reason you seem to think that formalized courses are the solution to each and every thing, especiall social and cultural things like language... last I checked the government hasn't launched courses to raise our birth rate.Singlish is a key ingredient in the unique melting pot that is Singapore. This is a city where skyscraping banks tower over junk boats; a city where vendors hawk steaming pig intestines next to bistros that serve haute cuisine. The SGEM's brand of good English is as bland as boiled potatoes. If the government has its way, Singapore will become a dish devoid of flavor. And I'm not talking cock.