Speak good English? 4 in 10 S'poreans say 'no need lah'

last SG · 2008-08-28T17:44:38+00:00

you say that enforcing children to speak properly is not pragmatic, but you agree that parents are responsible for children's education, I take it that paren...

Rednano SG

I think that chinese language and chinese culture in Singapore collapsed under his rule.

Don't know will take how long to repair his damage.

I really despise his language policies, that british dog Lee Kuan Yew.

Mess up everything.

then how? speak what?

d3rF SG

I believe that language skills shouldn't be something that we depend on govt to tell what to improve / learn.

Language should be something personal... something to put in the CV to make one more marketable in the industry.

Think we are too dependent on what the govt says...

Rednano SG

I believe that language skills shouldn't be something that we depend on govt to tell what to improve / learn.

Language should be something personal... something to put in the CV to make one more marketable in the industry.

Think we are too dependent on what the govt says...

speak what language to connect internationally with the world then?

xtreyier SG

Never forget that the purpose of a language is only for communication. If one can communicate one's expression across without misunderstanding despite spelling errors, syntax errors, etc, then that lingo used would have served its purpose.

The beauty of that language is only used for artistic expression - literary works, some songs, etc. I sincerly doubt if an engineer talking to another engineer would appreciate such beautitude expressions! :-P

Rednano SG

then u need an interpreter or linguistic to speak to another friend liao

d3rF SG

speak what language to connect internationally with the world then?

A friend of mine... learned Vietnamese as a third language... go there and work. Now doing very well.

Another person I heard, learned Tagalog and moved to Phillippines to work.

If we wanna work with the westerners, better brush up english. No need govt to tell us to do so..

Poh Ah Pak SG

Never forget that the purpose of a language is only for communication.

It is primarily about cultural roots and identity in my opinion.

Language means cultural identity.

Strong cultural identity means high morale, means power.

Weak cultural identity means demoralisation.

sgdiehard SG

It is primarily about cultural roots and identity in my opinion.

Language means cultural identity.

Strong cultural identity means high morale, means power.

Weak cultural identity means demoralisation.

Fully agree! ever ask a French colleague why can't we discuss French culture in English, "French language is our culture!" I shut up, very shy.

Yes, the Englishmen now insist that the american speaks american, not english or an adulterated english language. they are now more conscious of their english culture. But unfortunately they colonised the indian subcontinent and the indians in UK are adulterating the english in the land of the Queen.

That is the reason why many Singaporean feel empty, try to find the Singaporean culture but cannot find. chinese cannot be malay even if you accept islam and call yourself Mohamad. call yourselves Jonathan Wilson Chen still won't be acknowledged as a lao wai.

Singapore is too young to have our own culture developed. Singlish is a good start. It is a unique Singaporean identify, I will keep it.

Rednano SG

It is primarily about cultural roots and identity in my opinion.

Language means cultural identity.

Strong cultural identity means high morale, means power.

Weak cultural identity means demoralisation.

then what should be the language for administrative for working in unison in multi races singapore?

Chin Eng SG

Let me give my two cent's worth....

How LKY and Low Thia Khiang speak is directly connected to their upbringing and how they were educated. One comes from a primarily English speaking background while the other was education in a Chinese environment. Hence whether one speaks with a slight English accent and the other in a Teochew accented English is not really intentional.

So, please, to those who are already bias towards one person, at least be objective in this observation. I am in no way implying that one language of education is superior to another.

Back to the topic: What then is GOOD English? I don't think the intent is to say that spoken English has to carry an accent of another country.

Language in itself is dynamic - as long as the person listening to you is able to make up what you are saying, it can be deemed that communication has taken place, regardless of whether good or bad English is spoken.

But to broaden the argument - what is GOOD English when we are dealing with other people beyond your circle of influence? Actually it is no different from the previous paragraph.

However, taking into context the level of language prowess among our people, I don't think it is wrong to state that many Singapores do not speak GOOD English because foreigners may not understand what we are saying....

It goes beyond accent - it goes into the jargons, the colloqualism, the patois etc. Many people are not able to remove these when communicating, hence the chances of beind misunderstood or not understood is very high.

I know these for a fact because I work with foreigners either here or their home country. And when I communicate, I have to ensure that my language is crisp, precise, and clear.

henshin SG

I think there is a need to speak a better english, one way is to exterminate singlish. I find that a lot of the people speak singlish and yet claimed that is english. The "lah, leh" are not part of english, they are more on the mandarine side. So when we speak one language, we speak it properly.

XenStar SG

Well said. Singlish is good as a flavour to spice up a conversation during parties when you're drunk, but not meant to make up the entire conversation all the time.

Poh Ah Pak SG

I think there is a need to speak a better english, one way is to exterminate singlish.

That won't be easy, since it is the education system itself that created singlish.

XenStar SG

That won't be easy, since it is the education system itself that created singlish.

Why would you suggest that?

Poh Ah Pak SG

Why would you suggest that?

What do you mean?

d3rF SG

Let me give my two cent's worth....

So, please, to those who are already bias towards one person, at least be objective in this observation. I am in no way implying that one language of education is superior to another.

Back to the topic: What then is GOOD English? I don't think the intent is to say that spoken English has to carry an accent of another country.

But to broaden the argument - what is GOOD English when we are dealing with other people beyond your circle of influence? Actually it is no different from the previous paragraph.

I know these for a fact because I work with foreigners either here or their home country. And when I communicate, I have to ensure that my language is crisp, precise, and clear.

I applaud you for your convincing and well-rounded argument.

"Language in itself is dynamic - as long as the person listening to you is able to make up what you are saying, it can be deemed that communication has taken place, regardless of whether good or bad English is spoken."

People from different cultures are brought up in different kind of speaking habits which includes pronounciation, accents, etc.

Hypothetically speaking, if someone who was brought up in a all-Cantonese speaking environment, and being billingual, this person speaks good English (i.e. no "lah", "leh" , "lor", etc.). Would you agree that a westerner will find it difficult to make out the words that this person is speaking? ... He will be replacing "R" sounds with "L", most of the time... e.g. "I like to lun in the morning... and then lide my bicycle to wok"...

*** In case you don't know, Cantonese has little or no words that starts with the consonent "R" ***

XenStar SG

What do you mean?

I mean... Why is it that our education system created Singlish? I know it's a point for teachers not to infuse Singlish with any lessons?

Rednano SG

That won't be easy, since it is the education system itself that created singlish.

wrong, society locally creates it in the 50s... rojak... how to talk to huang kias, ah nehs, ah pu nehs, ah bengs, ah sengs in one common language...

d3rF SG

wrong, society locally creates it in the 50s... rojak... how to talk to huang kias, ah nehs, ah pu nehs, ah bengs, ah sengs in one common language...

But back then, Malay was the commonly spoken language. If I'm not mistaken, most people could speak what they call "melayu pasar" (Market Malay) or something like that...

Poh Ah Pak SG

I mean... Why is it that our education system created Singlish?

Anyone trained under the Singapore public school system will naturally pick up the singlish style of speaking.

The reason for that is due to the way language is taught to school children at a young age.

Two languages are taught at an early age, with the child being bombarded with vocabulary from two languages, one being english, the other mother tongue.

The emphasis in the Singapore school system is on english language, since it is the medium of instruction in teaching maths, science etc, and not mother tongue.

The effects of such early bombardment of two languages on children is the result of "singlish".

Meaning rojak language, since two languages is taught at the same time to a child.

In other school systems, only one language is taught, so the child from the beginning has a good grasp of the language, without confusion from another language being taught at the same time.

This can be seen in the Taiwan school system, where their grasp of mandarin is far better than the average Singaporean.

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