Singlish
-
+1 me too!Originally posted by HENG@:im confident. no problem. i can handle different accents comfortably
-
be proud of that stupid mars language? oh god! we've enough of national identities and we don't need one which is an utter disgrace. Please.Originally posted by Pitot:Must be proud of our singlish. its local.
As long as you can speak english clearly. I think it would;nt be a problem if you head to other english speaking country. But here in Singapore. be proud of ur accent.
oh. btw, it isn't an accent. it's a self-invented language which is passed down, fine-tuned into our today's known 'Singaporeans'-versioned' English; SINGLISH. blah.
i mean, if you do understand and speak singlish sometimes; it's pretty ok. But if you stick to singlish most of the time and are unable to switch to standard english when the need arises; you'ld be a f*ckin bloody chee-na low-class, lowly-educated; an utter disgrace! Blame it on your inversatility then. Blame it on your chinese-educated parents. Blame it on your f*ckin' kampong ancestry. Grrrrr....!!!!
-
i said before, i'll say again. It's NOT an accentOriginally posted by Pitot:Must be proud of our singlish. its local.
As long as you can speak english clearly. I think it would;nt be a problem if you head to other english speaking country. But here in Singapore. be proud of ur accent.
I'd prefer my typed letter to words spelled in shit on the wall anyday
-
SPEECH BY PRIME MINISTER GOH CHOK TONG AT THE LAUNCH OF THE SPEAK GOOD ENGLISH MOVEMENT ON SATURDAY, 29 APRIL 2000, AT THE INSTITUTE OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION (ITE) HEADQUARTERS AUDITORIUM, DOVER DRIVE, AT 10.30 AM
Last year, in my National Day Rally speech I highlighted the problems that will arise if Singaporeans continue to speak Singlish instead of good English. This sparked off a spirited debate. The debate was useful. It raised awareness of a language situation which we all had come to accept as normal. Some supported the need to speak good English but others defended the place of Singlish in our society. Some said that Singlish, with its smattering of Chinese and Malay words, is unique to Singapore. Singlish allows us to identify each other as Singaporeans.
If Singlish were only &a smattering of Chinese and Malay words", there would be no problem. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Singlish uses Chinese syntax and Singlish speakers often use literal translations of Chinese phrases. This means that the sentences are not only ungrammatical and truncated but often incomprehensible, especially to foreigners.
Classic examples would be: "You got money, sure can buy one." or, "This is my one" derived from "zhe shi wo de" .
so...singlish ISNT an accent. ur right HENG@ -
hmm, accents and colloquials are two different thing
anyway, i am ok with singlish
but i am not 100% good at singlish, neither am i 100% strong in english -
I can switch without problems. It's a habit.Originally posted by mystiv:hmm, how many of you are actually confident of code-switching when the need arises? -
thank youOriginally posted by udontknowme:SPEECH BY PRIME MINISTER GOH CHOK TONG AT THE LAUNCH OF THE SPEAK GOOD ENGLISH MOVEMENT ON SATURDAY, 29 APRIL 2000, AT THE INSTITUTE OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION (ITE) HEADQUARTERS AUDITORIUM, DOVER DRIVE, AT 10.30 AM
Last year, in my National Day Rally speech I highlighted the problems that will arise if Singaporeans continue to speak Singlish instead of good English. This sparked off a spirited debate. The debate was useful. It raised awareness of a language situation which we all had come to accept as normal. Some supported the need to speak good English but others defended the place of Singlish in our society. Some said that Singlish, with its smattering of Chinese and Malay words, is unique to Singapore. Singlish allows us to identify each other as Singaporeans.
If Singlish were only &a smattering of Chinese and Malay words", there would be no problem. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Singlish uses Chinese syntax and Singlish speakers often use literal translations of Chinese phrases. This means that the sentences are not only ungrammatical and truncated but often incomprehensible, especially to foreigners.
Classic examples would be: "You got money, sure can buy one." or, "This is my one" derived from "zhe shi wo de" .
so...singlish ISNT an accent. ur right HENG@
singlish... is shit on the wall -
It depends on situations. If it's an informal gathering, as long as one understands, I won't care how poorly the sentence is constructed. If it's a formal, then I would insist on the proper way.Originally posted by mystiv:what i'm baffled by is some people's insistence on standard English 24/7, and also some people's refusal to switch away from Singlish when the need arises
hmm. do you guys feel that as long as communication is clear, it doesnt matter what garbled language is used, or do you guys insist on the language being used in the proper way? -
its a bad habit cum singapore's own language
-
its not even a language actually.Originally posted by sand king:its a bad habit cum singapore's own language
its like...some weird mixture of several languages and dialects... -
Something to be proud of if you are able to switch when the need arises. If you can't, then it's a disgrace.Originally posted by mystiv:
alright. another thing. do you guys actually reckon that Singlish is something to be proud of, being our...'national', 'invented' language, or simply feel that Singlish is a downright disgrace to Singaporeans? -
It's not recognized as a language. Rather, it's an identity unique to Singapore.Originally posted by sand king:its a bad habit cum singapore's own language -
Not all people see English as an easy language to pick up. But more of a compulsory language to pick up.Originally posted by HENG@:its definately NOT our national language. Its quite a disgrace, because it projects the image that we're all stupid people who cannot pick up a simple language easily. The rest might like beeing seen as idiots. but I'm not. I have no wish to be seen as part of the rest of the rabble -
This description best fits Singlish.Originally posted by HENG@:singlish is more than an accent. it has loads of malay, dialect, chinese and even tamil mixed in. its a bastardization of many languages, so i don't think its as acceptable as say, a cockney accent -
Goodness, I don't even live in Mars.Originally posted by trendz:be proud of that stupid mars language? oh god! we've enough of national identities and we don't need one which is an utter disgrace. Please.
oh. btw, it isn't an accent. it's a self-invented language which is passed down, fine-tuned into our today's known 'Singaporeans'-versioned' English; SINGLISH. blah.
i mean, if you do understand and speak singlish sometimes; it's pretty ok. But if you stick to singlish most of the time and are unable to switch to standard english when the need arises; you'ld be a f*ckin bloody chee-na low-class, lowly-educated; an utter disgrace! Blame it on your inversatility then. Blame it on your chinese-educated parents. Blame it on your f*ckin' kampong ancestry. Grrrrr....!!!!
Anyway, some of the words are too strong and it's insulting to the Chinese if you know history well. -
are you guys Singporeans?
Looks, Singapore is a 40 year old country without a 1000 year ancenstry. Having our own language is kinda cool. If we speak too perfect english, we'll sound like channel 5's new season of police and thief.
I know the importance of good english but to completely right out singlish would be kinda sad.
P.S, You guys notice I type good english. This is coz i'm a victim of watching too much english sitcoms... I wish Phua Chu Kang was back. -
how can it be harder than say, written chinese? only 26 letters to memorize, and u can guess the spelling of words from the way they r pronounced. ok granted my spelling sucks anyway but hey, still much easier to learn compared to loads other languages.Originally posted by ndmmxiaomayi:Not all people see English as an easy language to pick up. But more of a compulsory language to pick up. -
that depends, really. sometimes the grammar and everything can just be such an headacheOriginally posted by HENG@:how can it be harder than say, written chinese? only 26 letters to memorize, and u can guess the spelling of words from the way they r pronounced. ok granted my spelling sucks anyway but hey, still much easier to learn compared to loads other languages.
guess that's the main reason why Singlish is so popular. i mean, its much easier to just anyhow say, anyhow type
i have to admit, i am part of the Singaporeans who speak mainly Singlish. Well, when the need arises, i do try to stick to standard English, but sometimes, i stumble over what i want to say, trying to keep singlish out -
was there a need for all the insults and everything? so what if they cant switch to standard English?Originally posted by trendz:i mean, if you do understand and speak singlish sometimes; it's pretty ok. But if you stick to singlish most of the time and are unable to switch to standard english when the need arises; you'ld be a f*ckin bloody chee-na low-class, lowly-educated; an utter disgrace! Blame it on your inversatility then. Blame it on your chinese-educated parents. Blame it on your f*ckin' kampong ancestry. Grrrrr....!!!!
so if you cant speak standard Chinese, we should blame it on your inversatility, parents, ancestry, music and what-nots too?
-
i think they shud make it a real language
-
Originally posted by sand king:i think they shud make it a real language
interesting.. -
we asians are not the only one who have our own version of english...European people,mostly youngsters(like ours) also have their version of english...they spell the word according to how it sound like...eg "Tear" as in "tear something up" is "Tare" and "my" becomes "Ma"
-
i'm multi-mode.
-
but that's still not as...extreme as SinglishOriginally posted by ceecookie:we asians are not the only one who have our own version of english...European people,mostly youngsters(like ours) also have their version of english...they spell the word according to how it sound like...eg "Tear" as in "tear something up" is "Tare" and "my" becomes "Ma" -
Like most things that are Singaporean, that's a pretty unoriginal name.Originally posted by sand king:i think they shud make it a real language