Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2006 1:10 am Post subject: Speak good English campaign
Time to 'Speak good English, lah'
Laden with bags, Lorinda Hollis just wanted to go home when she hailed a taxi after a recent shopping excursion in Singapore. But she ended up lost and frustrated because she couldn't understand her Singaporean driver, even though he was speaking English.
"We were going in the wrong direction from my home, and he just kept saying, 'can, can?' and using expressions that confused me, like 'lah' and 'mah,"' said Hollis, 36, a Texan who moved to Singapore 15 months ago. "We were having a serious problem communicating."
English is one of four official languages in this former British colony that is a hub of Asian trade and culture. Mandarin, Malay and Tamil are the others.
The linguistic diversity has meant the English spoken in Singapore has its own flavour, sometimes borrowing words and phrases from other languages, sometimes evolving unique new ones into a slang known locally as "Singlish."
In an effort to address communication snags, Singapore has just launched a drive to promote the use of proper English, saying the wealthy Southeast Asian city-state should strive to be understood globally.
The push targets teachers, parents, service industry workers and young people.
Retail assistants will be given pamphlets encouraging them to replace Singlish expressions with proper English.
The Singlish "Can fit or not?" should be replaced with "Is this the correct size?" the pamphlet suggests, and "No more this colour" should become "We no longer have it in that colour."
But speaking Singlish can be an effective way of building rapport with local customers, said May Lee, 24, a former sales assistant at a clothing store.
"Of course when I speak to foreigners I will speak proper English, but if I use 'atas' English with local customers, they will be put off," Lee said, using the Malay term "atas," which means highbrow.
The drive comes amid a debate about whether foreign native English speakers should teach the language in Singapore instead of locals an option the government said it may consider to improve English standards.
The suggestion raised concerns about jobs being lost to foreigners, and that students could be confused by foreign accents. Supporters said foreign native speakers could help strengthen the teaching of English and reduce the use of Singlish in classrooms.
English is the medium of instruction in Singapore, and is used in commerce and government. Decades of bilingual education policy have resulted in English literacy in three-quarters of Singaporeans one of the highest rates in Asia.
Cambridge-educated Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong says this has given Singapore a competitive advantage over its neighbours. Over 7,000 multinational companies have offices in Singapore, an important financial centre in Asia and a major destination for Asians who want to learn English.
But with other Asian countries fast acquiring English proficiency, Singapore can't afford to let its standards slip, its leaders say.
Much-loved by its speakers, Singlish follows its own syntax and is peppered with Chinese, Malay and Indian expressions that reflect the multiethnic composition of the island's 4.3 million people.
For example, when Hollis' cab driver said "lah," he was using a Malay expression commonly attached to the end of a sentence for emphasis though it is sometimes also used as an imperative, as in, "Do it, lah!"
The expression is not to be confused with "mah," a Chinese expression to say that something is self-evident.
"I didn't understand a word he was saying," Hollis said. In Singlish, she might have expressed the same idea by saying "I catch no ball."
Source: The Straits Times (Singapore), August 3rd 2006 _________________ Wer tanzen will, muss die Musik bezahlen
Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2006 1:14 am Post subject: Re: Speak good English campaign
Hewer wrote:
"We were going in the wrong direction from my home, and he just kept saying, 'can, can?' and using expressions that confused me, like 'lah' and 'mah,"' said Hollis, 36, a Texan who moved to Singapore 15 months ago. "We were having a serious problem communicating."
In all fairness to good old Singlish, Ms. Hollis must be pretty dumb if she has been there for 15 months and still doesn't have at least a basic grasp of the differences between Singlish and English.
_________________ Wer tanzen will, muss die Musik bezahlen
Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2006 6:34 am Post subject: Re: Speak good English campaign
Hewer wrote:
Hewer wrote:
"We were going in the wrong direction from my home, and he just kept saying, 'can, can?' and using expressions that confused me, like 'lah' and 'mah,"' said Hollis, 36, a Texan who moved to Singapore 15 months ago. "We were having a serious problem communicating."
In all fairness to good old Singlish, Ms. Hollis must be pretty dumb if she has been there for 15 months and still doesn't have at least a basic grasp of the differences between Singlish and English.
I agree with Hewer. I can understand not being able to grasp the local language, but an English speaker whose been there for such a long time should be able to pick up the "local English" dialect as it were.
That being said, I still think this poses a major problem - what if one needs to communicate something important or urgent to the cabbie
HK used to be better in this regard, but not any more. I feel major cities like HK, Singapore etc should DEFINITELY try and speak decent English ... not just Chinglish or Singlish. _________________ Dongguan Expat - Your online Community!
yep would agree... I don't think it is an inability to speak proper English, especially where the younger generations are concerned, it is more of a lazy approach to the language.
yep would agree... I don't think it is an inability to speak proper English, especially where the younger generations are concerned, it is more of a lazy approach to the language.
Very true - especially in the case of HK. Young HK'ers seem to be more reluctant to learn English ... Not in keeping with what you'd imagine from the general populace of an "international" city like HK. _________________ Dongguan Expat - Your online Community!
yep would agree... I don't think it is an inability to speak proper English, especially where the younger generations are concerned, it is more of a lazy approach to the language.
Very true - especially in the case of HK. Young HK'ers seem to be more reluctant to learn English ... Not in keeping with what you'd imagine from the general populace of an "international" city like HK.
IMHO, HK is in a different league (i.e. the league below) when it comes to English proficiency. I've spent a fair bit of time in Singapore and I don't think the level of English there is even comparable between the two. I think even KLers speak more English than the folks in HK. Maybe I'm wrong though - my impression of HK is fairly limited.
I found that there were a lot more dodgy signs in Hong Kong than Singapore too. Mind you, I haven't been there since 1998 _________________ Wer tanzen will, muss die Musik bezahlen
yep would agree... I don't think it is an inability to speak proper English, especially where the younger generations are concerned, it is more of a lazy approach to the language.
Very true - especially in the case of HK. Young HK'ers seem to be more reluctant to learn English ... Not in keeping with what you'd imagine from the general populace of an "international" city like HK.
IMHO, HK is in a different league (i.e. the league below) when it comes to English proficiency. I've spent a fair bit of time in Singapore and I don't think the level of English there is even comparable between the two. I think even KLers speak more English than the folks in HK. Maybe I'm wrong though - my impression of HK is fairly limited.
I found that there were a lot more dodgy signs in Hong Kong than Singapore too. Mind you, I haven't been there since 1998
Hewer, you are very right. I haven't been to Singapore, but my parents have and they've also been to HK - and from what they say, the general Singlish in Singapore is quite understandable, but HK was a different story altogether. I can't speak for Kuala Lumpur though, since I haven't been there, and only know one person from there.
It used to be different before 1998, or even a little after 98 ... it's only recently (I'd say over the past two years) that the general English level in the Kong has REALLY started to deterioate.
The only area where I'd disagree is the signage - in HK, the signs are usually written in correct English. My impression is that the standard of English in the HK government, police and other official institutions has remained the same as before 1998 (at least till now, now I'm not sure what'll happen in the future). Major signs are usually erected by the government, so those (as far as I know) are not written in Chinglish. _________________ Dongguan Expat - Your online Community!
The only area where I'd disagree is the signage - in HK, the signs are usually written in correct English. My impression is that the standard of English in the HK government, police and other official institutions has remained the same as before 1998 (at least till now, now I'm not sure what'll happen in the future). Major signs are usually erected by the government, so those (as far as I know) are not written in Chinglish.
LOL, that was the only area where I was dead sure.
When I came back from Hong Kong I realised that most of my photos were of stupid signs. I just pulled out the old album for a look and I realise I will have to back pedal a bit on my previous assertion. All the pictures I have are of private businesses, shop signage etc. Nothing official.
Does the clothes shop "Wanko" still exist in HK? Not so much an English mistake, just a very poorly researched shop name... _________________ Wer tanzen will, muss die Musik bezahlen
The only area where I'd disagree is the signage - in HK, the signs are usually written in correct English. My impression is that the standard of English in the HK government, police and other official institutions has remained the same as before 1998 (at least till now, now I'm not sure what'll happen in the future). Major signs are usually erected by the government, so those (as far as I know) are not written in Chinglish.
LOL, that was the only area where I was dead sure.
When I came back from Hong Kong I realised that most of my photos were of stupid signs. I just pulled out the old album for a look and I realise I will have to back pedal a bit on my previous assertion. All the pictures I have are of private businesses, shop signage etc. Nothing official.
Does the clothes shop "Wanko" still exist in HK? Not so much an English mistake, just a very poorly researched shop name...
Wanko?? Whacko?? Wanker?? Never seen that shop there - but then I don't pay much attention to clothing stores.
But yes, most of the government signs use proper English. Touchwood on that one.
One reason for this English decline is possibly due to the large influx of Guangdong natives into HK - they don't really like English too much ... and it's pretty easy these days for Guangdong residents to travel to HK (and probably also in some other parts of China).
Honestly, I cannot see why anyone would have problems with the general level of english here.
Locals don't use colloquialisms or singlish in their conversations with foreigners.
I just wish all Asians would have the same fluency in english . . . make our jobs a lot easier and we could remain lazy. _________________ _____________________________________
Honestly, I cannot see why anyone would have problems with the general level of english here.
Locals don't use colloquialisms or singlish in their conversations with foreigners.
Ah, they do in HK/China ...
Quasimodo wrote:
I just wish all Asians would have the same fluency in english . . . make our jobs a lot easier and we could remain lazy.
My experience with english in Singapore has always been good. Found it easy to communicate with everyone (at the hotel)
In China, communication in 5 star hotels is sometimes a problem.
Funny thing is, when the manager can't understand your English, he'll usually refer you to the bellboy/girl, who usually speaks better English than the higher ups.
Aiyor... why you all so like that??? It is not that difficult what...
come come, I can give you lessons in Singlish if you all want, and call that ang moh lady along, within a week, she'll be super-proficient in singlish!!!
besides, quasimodo and cheekybeek also beri good in singlish, despite being ang mo...
sorry ah, quasi and cheeky... but cheekybeek, make sure people don't shorten your name to CB la... doesn't sound beri good lor, its vulgar in hokkien leh! _________________ excuse me if I make no sense...
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