<!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --> By Tessa
Wong <!-- show image if available -->
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"-->
This is despite an eight-year effort by the movement to raise
standards through advertising campaigns and classes.
The survey of 1,243 Singaporeans aged 15 to 39, released
yesterday at the launch of this year's language drive, found that
this blase attitude was especially rampant among those in their
late 20s. Nearly half of those aged 25 to 29 said they felt their
English was already up to scratch, and that there was no need for
improvement.
This sentiment was prevalent among many others too - about 65
per cent of all respondents claimed their standard of spoken
English has risen in the last two years.Such people will be among
three groups that the movement will target this year. The others
are Singaporeans who want to speak good English but cannot, and
those who can speak the language well.
This approach of focusing efforts on a few groups marks a change
for the movement, which targeted all in the past.
One of the key thrusts of this year's campaign is building
confidence and providing resources for those who want to improve
their English, and those who think there is no need to do so.
The campaign's motto, 'I Can', alludes to this, and classes and
proficiency tests will be lined up to help the public.
For those who speak English well, the main aim is to get them to
avoid lapsing into Singlish when communicating with those who speak
the language badly. This, the movement hopes, will encourage the
latter to practise and improve their English.
More information can be found at www.goodenglish.org.sg
Besides people who see no reason to improve their English,
another area of concern is service staff. The survey compared the
standard of English spoken by service staff, superiors, business
associates, family members, colleagues and peers, and retail and
service workers fared the worst.
To improve the standard of English, the movement has launched a
course on the language together with the Singapore Retailers
Association.
The guest of honour at yesterday's launch, Mr Lim Boon Heng,
Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, urged Singaporeans to heed
the example of China.
Referring to the recently released documentary Mad About
English, which is about the Chinese fervour to learn the language,
he said: 'If we do not admit that we do not know, we will never
learn. It will always be difficult in the beginning and people will
laugh...(but) the embarrassment should not stop us from improving
ourselves.'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Like Beijing preparing for Olympics,... we are preparing this
for YOG 2010?
we r better oredi...
taiwan news showed that virgin chicken 'tong zi ji' in a beijing
restaurant is called 'chicken without sexual life'...
