(no subject)
"Is Singlish to blame for many Singaporeans’ poor command of proper English?"
http://sg.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100421065937AA7SSvR&r=w
No it's not. Learn to code-switch, kids. Banning Singlish in schools will just make me sad, even though I'm technically out of the school system. Singlish is extremely useful for getting things said quickly, for ordering food, for certain jokes, for fostering that sense of national identity, and for being angry in. It's harder to be effectively angry in proper English.
I like the comment:
"say if you get involved in an accident with an american, you will not be understood if you said "wah lao eh! how u drive? langar me from backside!". however, if you say "dude! oh my f****** god! you hit me from the rear! how the hell do you drive?" i'm pretty sure he would understand you perfectly"
and my life will be much less convenient without the ability to use the phrase "anything can" as an answer to questions like what to have for dinner. as well as the ubiquitous "lah". hurry up lah. go to bed lah. can already lah. shut up lah.
and yeah - there's the whole thing with Singlish incorporating other languages like Malay and various Chinese dialects, because some things just can't be translated to English and retain the same effect.
though I do have issues with people using Singlish on the Internet, even though - since some are friends - I know they are perfectly capable of proper English. The Internet is usually a global medium, and written, while for me Singlish is much more of a verbal language and it's weird to see it in written form. :\ plus! apparently everyone on the Internet is American, so it could result in communication problems.
Also, using the older generation as an example - while a smaller percentage speak English as a first language, their standard of English is generally acknowledged to be much higher, and yet many are also fully capable of switching between that and Singlish with no problem. So the issue evidently lies elsewhere. I'm not sure how or why things changed from then. My mother is trillingual; grew up in Malaysia, came to Singapore for university, English was her third language after Cantonese Chinese and Malay, but she was fluent enough in it to become an English teacher.
And quite a lot of people in her generation seem about the same: if not English, then their mother tongue is really good. Most of them basically had at least one language which they excelled in, which seems less the case today, where people are mostly billingual but not very good at either language and tend to mix the two. idk. what caused the shift?
someone: "I grew up in the Senior Cambridge era, most of us, retired or still working spoke reasonably good English, conversational Malay and Mandarin."
another commenter suggests: "Our country is focused on speaking 2 languages and thus making us confused as to how to use them separately."
and "Singlish is the essence of Singapore. Singlish defines me as Singaporean. Singlish is a mixture of the majority of dialects and languages of the different races in Singapore. Singlish brings all races and cultures together to form a singular communication tool that ALL Singaporeans understand.
Improving English and banning Singlish are two different things.
Improve English = Training to better ourselves in the study of a foreign language
Ban Singlish = Removing our identities"
^I LIKE YOU.
http://sg.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100421065937AA7SSvR&r=w
No it's not. Learn to code-switch, kids. Banning Singlish in schools will just make me sad, even though I'm technically out of the school system. Singlish is extremely useful for getting things said quickly, for ordering food, for certain jokes, for fostering that sense of national identity, and for being angry in. It's harder to be effectively angry in proper English.
I like the comment:
"say if you get involved in an accident with an american, you will not be understood if you said "wah lao eh! how u drive? langar me from backside!". however, if you say "dude! oh my f****** god! you hit me from the rear! how the hell do you drive?" i'm pretty sure he would understand you perfectly"
and my life will be much less convenient without the ability to use the phrase "anything can" as an answer to questions like what to have for dinner. as well as the ubiquitous "lah". hurry up lah. go to bed lah. can already lah. shut up lah.
and yeah - there's the whole thing with Singlish incorporating other languages like Malay and various Chinese dialects, because some things just can't be translated to English and retain the same effect.
though I do have issues with people using Singlish on the Internet, even though - since some are friends - I know they are perfectly capable of proper English. The Internet is usually a global medium, and written, while for me Singlish is much more of a verbal language and it's weird to see it in written form. :\ plus! apparently everyone on the Internet is American, so it could result in communication problems.
Also, using the older generation as an example - while a smaller percentage speak English as a first language, their standard of English is generally acknowledged to be much higher, and yet many are also fully capable of switching between that and Singlish with no problem. So the issue evidently lies elsewhere. I'm not sure how or why things changed from then. My mother is trillingual; grew up in Malaysia, came to Singapore for university, English was her third language after Cantonese Chinese and Malay, but she was fluent enough in it to become an English teacher.
And quite a lot of people in her generation seem about the same: if not English, then their mother tongue is really good. Most of them basically had at least one language which they excelled in, which seems less the case today, where people are mostly billingual but not very good at either language and tend to mix the two. idk. what caused the shift?
someone: "I grew up in the Senior Cambridge era, most of us, retired or still working spoke reasonably good English, conversational Malay and Mandarin."
another commenter suggests: "Our country is focused on speaking 2 languages and thus making us confused as to how to use them separately."
and "Singlish is the essence of Singapore. Singlish defines me as Singaporean. Singlish is a mixture of the majority of dialects and languages of the different races in Singapore. Singlish brings all races and cultures together to form a singular communication tool that ALL Singaporeans understand.
Improving English and banning Singlish are two different things.
Improve English = Training to better ourselves in the study of a foreign language
Ban Singlish = Removing our identities"
^I LIKE YOU.