Originally posted by Sky_Blue223:What do you think is the crux of the problems mentioned?
What solutions do you propose?
Parasite! whose clone are you?
Originally posted by King-X:MediaCORK and the half fuck education system
whose clone are u
Originally posted by Dalforce 1941:The core issue is a political issue. It centres on the power stuggle between one group against another group.
Minority group vs majority group.
Some people think that it is only an economic or educational issue. Whether this or that language is better or not.
Actually all language issues at the core lies a political power issue
-------- Political power issue is a major reason for manipulation of usage and promoting of languages in Sg.
Originally posted by Rock^Star:Precisely because this mentality where people think nothing is wrong, where something is wrong. I'm fine with Singlish, that's our identity. The challenge is...has it come to a point where it interferes with us speaking either of the two languages properly?
Why don't you go ask 10 people in your office how many know how to say the word "cashier" in mandarin and then you might get an idea which planet you're coming from.
There are so many words to pick from. Throw it at someone among us and they may not know how to say too.
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I am from planet Earth.
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There are many people around me who are relatively lesser educated (at most sec 4) but can speak 2 to 3 languages fluently without much intermixing. For example this Singaporean Punjabi lady who can speak Hindi, Malay and English well. (dun say very good, but at least she possess all the necessary basic vocabulary. Code-switching is only needed when wanting to express seldomly used concepts.)
I mentioned a bus driver who can speak English, Chinese, Hokkien, Cantonese and Malay almost relatively well without much mixing. In another thread in the past.
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There is no need to know all the words in a particular language. And there is a possibility no one has yet to be able to know all the words, all the proverbs, all the idioms, all the quotations, all the nuances, all the similes, all the metaphors, all the word-plays in the language, as "language" itself is not subjected to the limits of time (i.e. synchronical) or the horizon of space (i.e. dichronical).
Originally posted by Rock^Star:Singlish cannot be helped, it goes back a long way in our nation building. It's the language education policies that come about thereafter that's key. It also has a lot to do with mainstream media.
If you ask me, I would say no to Singlish but we can't deny the fact that it's us. Languages being mixed together too much is not a good thing. Imagine England having their language mixed with Punjabi and Mandarin, can 500 years later....the masses say that it is acceptable?
Be more open-minded.
English itself was a Germanic-language that was transplated onto the British Isles a couple of thousands of years ago. In the past 700 years or so, French and Latin vocabulary has crept into English so much so that English now comprises of more than 60% of non-English vocabulary. Given that 700 years ago, those people in England was also like you, very anti-foreign. But now after so many years in year 2011, it will be absolutely weird that one can speak English "normally" without using any of those French, Latin, and Greek loanwords.
Pushing back further into the history, the Germanic Language itself was a bastardized form of language when the Franks mixed with the Celtic people originally living in the area spanning from modern-day Spain to the eastern boundary of Germany.
Modern-day French itself is also a bastardized form of Latinate when the Franks invaded the French area and spoke the Latinate language with a heavy Germanic tinge.
Therefore, regarding your hypothesis (English mixed with Punjabi and Mandarin), given a timespan of 500 years later, I can safely say that the masses will accept naturally.
Well, there are obviously varying degrees of an open mind here. To each his own. Cheers.