Which means that their second language isn't Mandarin.Originally posted by FireIce:actually the surname is "zeng"
and they are peranakan......
I know they are peranakans, no excuse!!8-)) I know every one has their own priorities- learning about ur own culture and language may not be amongst them, but I utterly despise peepur who are such pretenders - i've came across lotsa peepur who think that by anouncing that they are very poor in mandarin it makes them high class. U may not agree with me, but just sit down and look carefully, there are, there are such peepur.Originally posted by FireIce:actually the surname is "zeng"
and they are peranakan......
talking about mmos?Originally posted by elindra:Actually, some caucasians kill their own language.
Their grammer is atrocious
Their vocab limited
AND they think they are way cool
I think that is much much worse!
I play lots of online games on American servers and trust me, some of them speak really atrocious english
I don't quite understand you here...if they didn't learn mandarin in school, how are they supposed to speak it? Take 3rd language?Originally posted by cunnibal:I know they are peranakans, no excuse!!8-)) I know every one has their own priorities- learning about ur own culture and language may not be amongst them, but I utterly despise peepur who are such pretenders - i've came across lotsa peepur who think that by anouncing that they are very poor in mandarin it makes them high class. U may not agree with me, but just sit down and look carefully, there are, there are such peepur.
Not getting worked upOriginally posted by pie:talking about mmos?
but anyway you don't have to get worked up..after all they're just unknowingly making a fool of themselves
well, at least english is the mother tongue of more then 80% of em...Originally posted by elindra:Not getting worked up
But its pretty funny really
Because they never believe me when I say I'm Asian
Or they go something like:
"Really? You mean you guys speak English in Singapore" Duh
Use to think the same way to. This is until I talk to some of them and understand that in some cases it is not their fault. Now, I am not refering to those who publicly denounce Chinese and happily doing it (These will be still condemn by me). I am refering to those who cannot speak Chinese but who did not choose to.Originally posted by cunnibal:I really cannot stand chinese singaporean who act as though they do not have chinese ancestry, like the Zheng family of Joochiat - quote from old uncle zheng '...I dun understand mandarin...' and he say it with an air of arrogance - i know many singaporean has the same type of atitude and mentality, they thought that by denoucing their chinese-ness and by speaking their broken and laughable english(which to them is perfect), it makes them very ang mor.
Little do they know that they are the laughing stock that Ang Mors make fun of in their little potluck parties. I've came across these couple of American ladies when I was working in American club making fun of the way a singaporean auntie spoke on the MRT - for all u noe, the s'porean auntie may be thinking that "U see, I showed the angmor lady that I oso can speak English, wat!" without knowing that in actual fact, she is just making a fool out of herself.
I always feel that if you can't even master ur own mother tongue, or attempt to master it, and know your own culture, how can you demand respect from others? I'm sorry for the strong words, but I despise peepur who despise their own language and culture.
Dunno if this problem exist among our Malay and indian brothers? do u have peepur of ur own race who are like these chinese counterparts?
i don't mean you ..i mean cunnibal, was still editing my postOriginally posted by elindra:Not getting worked up
Yes...they usually don't know that we're Asians until we tell them although a few of them are sharper and can tell through our mannerismsOriginally posted by elindra:But its pretty funny really
Because they never believe me when I say I'm Asian
Or they go something like:
"Really? You mean you guys speak English in Singapore" Duh
I agree with you, I do not condemn peepur who can't speak bcos of the environment they are in, hell, I can't speak my dialect too. It's those great pretenders u have on the streets, in the media and everywhere else. In most cases, these are peepur who are extremely insecured about their own selves..Originally posted by Qitai:Use to think the same way to. This is until I talk to some of them and understand that in some cases it is not their fault. Now, I am not refering to those who publicly denounce Chinese and happily doing it (These will be still condemn by me). I am refering to those who cannot speak Chinese but who did not choose to.
How so? What you speak is really largely a decision by your parents and not yourself. So, when a person is unable to speak Chinese, it may not be exactly their fault, especially some of the older generations. Some come from parts of China who never need to speak Chinese (E.g. Cantonese people) and after coming over was never needed to learn Chinese since they are living perhaps more of under a English environment due to working for ang mohs. Also, there are always those that look and maybe chinese but are actually from hong kong, vietnam, burmese, or one of the western countries etc... So, chinese language is never a language they need to learn.
Basically, I know now not to make immediate judgement on someone who look chinese but do not speak chinese. They may have good reasons. But after knowing them and if they belong to the category who denonuce their origin and tried to act like as if they are another breed, they still get my condemnation. But I learn not to judge too fast.
that peranakan part was a joke. My point in using the zeng uncle's example was not to say that i despise peepur who dun speak mandarin bcos they dun have that envirnment. My point is that, I can't stand peepur that admit proudly that they can't speak their mother tongue, just bcos they think that's gonna bring up their status.Originally posted by pie:I don't quite understand you here...if they didn't learn mandarin in school, how are they supposed to speak it? Take 3rd language?
Anyway, you don't have to get worked up over the "pretending ones"..after all they're just unknowingly making a fool of themselves. Not everyone is like that though.
really? most peranakan I know have chinese as their mother tongue, but maybe these are peepur of my generation...Originally posted by pie:Which means that their second language isn't Mandarin.
my ah pa ..second language malay..i think he can count a bit in mandarin but that's about it.Originally posted by cunnibal:really? most peranakan I know have chinese as their mother tongue, but maybe these are peepur of my generation...
dun despair, we'll all one day become dinosaursOriginally posted by pie:hmm..those that I know all speak malay..that means..i dinosaur![]()
i concur, the gah'men oso one kind, on one hand say dat chinese important, bcos china booming, blah blah, on the other hand reduce the standing of chinese, appears to me that whatever is preached is not practised by whoever is the preacher.Originally posted by reyes:i can understand ppl who study in the 50s 60s and early 70s have problem speaking mandarin becoz at that time, it either english sch or chinese sch. for those born at my times, 70s onwards have no reason not able to speak. some ppl might blame family, but isnt chinese taught in primary sch and secondary. those who claim they can speak at all, i really doubt it. just that by denying it, maybe will make them more up class.
if our society become like this, who responsiblity is it? parents? govt? society?
all play a part. if you have parents that like behaving like angmo then kids sure go amgmo road.
govt- they recently abolish the chinese as a prerequiste show how education slowly shifting away from the mother tongue. what the point of having speak mandarin campaign when our education system doesnt promote one. by having a campaign we can improve our chinese standard?
society: our society are surrounded by angmo company, investment, management style, movies, entertainment programs.
question : does malay have speak malay campaign?? why not? maybe their have strong roots to their culture.
: does country like HK, korea, thailand, japan, china have their own race who cant speak their languages.
not asking to speak perfect chinese languages, just dont pretend and look down on your own languages. by the way, not all angmo speak good english. french love speaking french, spanish speaks spanish, germans speak german.
what wrong with us?? perfect society?
what's it gotta do with canada? what's it aboot canada?!Originally posted by laurence82:Blame Canada!