Studying in Sg, will it work out?

[Swede]

I´ve applied to NTU and will probably start sometime in July.

Does anyone here have any experience from studying in SG? What are the main difficulties , the right budget to set aside and how are singaporeans in their early twenties to hang out with?

/ Raz from cold, cold, cold Sweden
rasmus@cgi-planet.com

[ksl]

I really don't understand why you want to study in Singapore, study what?

If it's chinese, your wasting your time, they have a job to speak chinese correctly. I studied in Beijing language institute, also with some friends from Sweden, it's very cheap and you get a taste of chinese cultur at its best. Singapore is more Englsih, which they speak very badly. In fact so bad, that I being from the UK cannot understand the most.

I speak fluent Danish, and can get by understanding swedish and Norwegion. Take my advice, Chine is very much cheaper and better for language learning. Taiwan is even better because it is traditional Chinese.

regards

[Strong Eagle]

Singapore is more Englsih, which they speak very badly. In fact so bad, that I being from the UK cannot understand the most.

Eh? Maybe you should take the peanut butter out of your ears. Seriously, your sweeping generalization is utter poppycock!

PS: It looks to me as though your English could use some serious improvement. Start with "Basics of Grammar", move on to spelling and capitalization, then perhaps something about sentence structure. And you say you're from the UK?

[Swede]

It´s not because of the chinese language I´m gonna study in SG for 3 years.

I know, as many others, that during my lifetime the world is going to get bipolar with asia being the other main economic power.

Having an business-education from the region will probably enable me to get a little bit of insight in the area and hopefully, together with working experience, enable me to get on quite alright...maybe even start my own business importing stuff from scandinavia, who knows?

Do you guys think I have a point, or is this idea way off?

/ Swede (Looking forward to escaping from all the snow aswell

[Guest]

Eh? Maybe you should take the peanut butter out of your ears. Seriously, your sweeping generalization is utter poppycock!

PS: It looks to me as though your English could use some serious improvement. Start with "Basics of Grammar", move on to spelling and capitalization, then perhaps something about sentence structure. And you say you're from the UK?

Well that is your opinion! and yes I will admit to some of your remarks, considering I have lived outside of UK for over 30 years, and speak 7 other languages and never profess, to be a native speaker, even though I am from the UK.

Actually I do have Singaporean relatives, and their children pronounce English very poorly.

My wife who is Taiwanese also complains, that Singaporeans have difficulty understanding her, also.

And without a doubt, the difference can be noted, that Taiwanes who receive English tuition from native English speakers, pronounce English far better than Singaporeans, and believe it or not, many Singaporeans I know agree.

That the reason is because of the teachers in Singapore not being native speakers. and to be quite honest with you, I think you are really naive, not to recognise this point, which is pretty clear cut.


Why not conduct a poll to see!

[Guest]

Eh? Maybe you should take the peanut butter out of your ears. Seriously, your sweeping generalization is utter poppycock!

PS: It looks to me as though your English could use some serious improvement. Start with "Basics of Grammar", move on to spelling and capitalization, then perhaps something about sentence structure. And you say you're from the UK?

Well that is your opinion! and yes I will admit to some of your remarks, considering I have lived outside of UK for over 30 years, and speak 7 other languages and never profess, to be a native speaker, even though I am from the UK.

Actually I do have Singaporean relatives, and their children pronounce English very poorly.

My wife who is Taiwanese also complains, that Singaporeans have difficulty understanding her, also.

And without a doubt, the difference can be noted, that Taiwanes who receive English tuition from native English speakers, pronounce English far better than Singaporeans, and believe it or not, many Singaporeans I know agree.

That the reason is because of the teachers in Singapore not being native speakers. and to be quite honest with you, I think you are really naive, not to recognise this point, which is pretty clear cut.


Why not conduct a poll to see!

PS: Strong Eagle? Oh no not an American

[Strong Eagle]

Well that is your opinion! and yes I will admit to some of your remarks, considering I have lived outside of UK for over 30 years, and speak 7 other languages and never profess, to be a native speaker, even though I am from the UK.

Actually I do have Singaporean relatives, and their children pronounce English very poorly.

My wife who is Taiwanese also complains, that Singaporeans have difficulty understanding her, also.

And without a doubt, the difference can be noted, that Taiwanes who receive English tuition from native English speakers, pronounce English far better than Singaporeans, and believe it or not, many Singaporeans I know agree.

That the reason is because of the teachers in Singapore not being native speakers. and to be quite honest with you, I think you are really naive, not to recognise this point, which is pretty clear cut.


Why not conduct a poll to see!

Your English does not score real high on the Understand-O-Meter, either. Perhaps an example of the pot calling the kettle black (an old English saying, by the way)?

I speak with Singaporeans everyday. Some speak perfect English, easy to understand, and they certainly understand me. Their written English is much better than yours. Some have very limited English skills. I don't denounce this, I celebrate the fact that I am speaking to a person who is at least making an effort to speak a second (or maybe a third or fourth) language.

As far as the Taiwanese are concerned I have very limited experience. However, I regularly fly EVA Air, the Taiwanese airlines, and I can tell you that their English is more accented than that which I encounter in Singapore. Of course, flight attendants do not reflect Taiwan as a whole.

Again, you make sweeping statements about "Singaporeans", and it just aint so. English skills run the gamut from excellent to poor. But this is true in virtually any country, including the United States.

[Strong Eagle]

PS: Strong Eagle? Oh no not an American

Do I detect a bit of nationalistic snobbery here? You can't broadbrush Americans any more than you can broadbrush Singaporeans. Yes, I hold an American passport... and a UK passport... and a Canadian passport... so there should be plenty of material here for you to work with.

[Wei]

'Actually I do have Singaporean relatives, and their children pronounce English very poorly.

My wife who is Taiwanese also complains, that Singaporeans have difficulty understanding her, also.

And without a doubt, the difference can be noted, that Taiwanes who receive English tuition from native English speakers, pronounce English far better than Singaporeans, and believe it or not, many Singaporeans I know agree.

That the reason is because of the teachers in Singapore not being native speakers. and to be quite honest with you, I think you are really naive, not to recognise this point, which is pretty clear cut. '

Surely, the 'problem' here is not so much good versus bad English, but the existence of many different accents and indigenous variations in grammatical syntax and colloqualism. So Singaporeans might misunderstand your Taiwanese accent because she has a Taiwanese accent, or she's using terms that Singaporeans are not familiar with? Terms mean different things to different people: e.g a 'rubber' or 'pants' in the US and the UK.

So-called native English speakers do not necessarily understand each other. I would doubt that Essex boys with strong Cockney accents would understand much of what an inner city Glaswegian lad is saying.

Of course Taiwanese who undergo expensive private tuition from 'native' speakers might speak English that sounds more American (again, there's a whole gamut of American accents) or more like the Queen's. However, comparing these 'elite' with the average Singapore would be a tad unfair. Singaporeans have never claimed to speak American or British English. And the vast majority of Taiwanese do not have private English tuition.

It is true that the majority of English language teachers in Singapore are not 'native' speakers. It is perhaps also true that Singaporean students, on the whole, do as well, if not better in English language than British students in their GCSEs and A levels.

[Wei]

'I´ve applied to NTU and will probably start sometime in July.

Does anyone here have any experience from studying in SG? What are the main difficulties , the right budget to set aside and how are singaporeans in their early twenties to hang out with?

/ Raz from cold, cold, cold Sweden'

Good luck for your application. It would be great to see more and more international students in sunny Singapore.

The budget depends largely on what one spends one's money of course. mmmmh. If you want an estimate, just message / email me, and I'll ask some friends who are studying / have recently graduated from NTU, NUS and SMU.

mmmh. Singaporeans are friendly people, and Singapore being such a small country, Singaporeans tend to be rather outward looking (i.e. looks to the rest of the world for news, culture, entertainment) and curious to interact with international students. Socialisation though, tends to revolve more around food (cuisine in Singapore is yummy!), rather than around booze. Alcohol can be more expensive in Singapore than in Sweden, due to high import taxes. Having said that, the locally brewed Tiger beer is not too bad.

[To Strong Eagle]

PS: Strong Eagle? Oh no not an American

Do I detect a bit of nationalistic snobbery here? You can't broadbrush Americans any more than you can broadbrush Singaporeans. Yes, I hold an American passport... and a UK passport... and a Canadian passport... so there should be plenty of material here for you to work with.

Hi Strong Eagle,
This may be a little off topic but here goes.
Have a question that you can hopefully help me answer. My son is US born and holds a US passport and Canadian PR. He's applied for Canadian Citizenship as he studies and resides there. Does the US allow 2 passports; I know Canada does. Many thanks for your help.

P.S. I saw your website and enjoyed reading it .

[Strong Eagle]

Hi Strong Eagle,
This may be a little off topic but here goes.
Have a question that you can hopefully help me answer. My son is US born and holds a US passport and Canadian PR. He's applied for Canadian Citizenship as he studies and resides there. Does the US allow 2 passports; I know Canada does. Many thanks for your help.

P.S. I saw your website and enjoyed reading it .

Thanks. Yes, you can hold dual citizenship if you are a US citizen. Thanks to a series of Supreme Court rulings over the years, legislation enacted by Congress that effectively extended the Supreme Court rulings, and an attitude adjustment by the State Department, obtaining a second citizenship will not result in the loss of US citizenship except in extraordinary cases.

You could not however, hold dual citizenship with Singapore, for example, because Singapore requires that you renounce your existing citzenship, in writing, to consular authorities, before granting Singaporean citizenship. Canada does not make you do this and therefore should not be a problem.

An excellent source of information on this subject can be found at:

http://www.richw.org/dualcit/

From the author of the site: "I was born in California in 1952. My wife, daughter (born in 1990), and I moved to Canada in late 1992 as landed immigrants (permanent resident aliens). We obtained Canadian citizenship via naturalization in Waterloo, Ontario, in 1996; as a result, we are now dual citizens of both Canada and the US. Our son, born in Canada in 1993, is a dual citizen by birth. We moved back to the US in mid-1997."

[To Strong Eagle]

Thanks again.

[singaporean]

I am not ging to argue but instead I will answer swede's question.

NTU is a reputable university but not as good as NUS.

Singapore is a multicultural society and has been so since its foundation so I don't think adding a swede will be a big problem. In fact, I think many would find you interesting because you are rare here. Expect lots of questions from local students about your home town etc....bring lots of photos just in case. We are generally very friendly and race doesn't really matter.

Singaporeans normally either hang out in the shopping mall (Orchard road) or the beach (East Coast beach). Having meals together and shopping are our national hobbies. Hawker or food court food is plentiful and cheap. I think alcohol drinking is not as popular during meals but you can get them everywhere. Pubs and clubs can be really expensive. Bad drunken behaviour is looked down upon. If you are a smoker, just remember there are some places you cannot smoke...eg in a queue, in an enclosed place etc.

If you are invited to a singaporean's home, do remember to take off your shoes. Many singaporeans are obssessed about cleanliness. Wearing shoes at home is a big no no.

As you have already heard, singapore is safe and clean. It is a FINE city because most inconsiderate things such as littering, spitting, not flushing the public toilets are illegal. Chewing gum is also banned here. If you are normally a community-friendly person, then you will find singapore a very pleasant place to be. Although it is safe, it doesn't mean we are crime-free so be careful. (however, I have lived here for 20 years and no one I know have ever had a crime committed against them...including theft or bugglery etc)

I must admit singaporean english is very heavily accented (personally, I think it is not as bad as the irish) and may be hard to understand at first. As you see, many singaporeans speak at least 2 or 3 languages and we can get confused sometimes.... However, I'd like to believe that our written english is not as bad. Contrary to american culture, it can be cool to be a nerd in singapore especially if your grades are very good.

Living in singapore can be as cheap and as expensive as you want. A movie cost about $8, a meal less than $4. Alcohol and cigarettes are expensive. A taxi ride anywhere is normally less than $20. Normally about $15. No tips are expected....ever. However, if you feel generous, feel free.

I don't know much about health insurance because I don't have any. A typical doctor's visit is about $30 including medication. In singapore, the doctors prescribe drugs in the clinic so you don't have to go to a pharmacy.
I think health care is heavily subsidised in singapore...even for foreigners.

Hmm...feel free to ask more questions about singapore. We look forward to seeing you in July.

[kisumisu]

Hi Swede,

What irony... I'm Singaporean but currently studying in Helsinki And gosh, I so know what you mean by getting out of the cold. For now though, Italy and Greece will have to suffice 8)

I graduated from NTU a couple of years ago.. Have to agree with singaporean's comment about NUS being 'better' .. unless you intend to pursue Accountancy which is only offered at NTU. (or has that changed?)

SG is great - weather, food, people. On that perpetual issue about chewing gum - importing gum is illegal but not chewing gum per se. So it's alright to bring some for your personal consumption but do keep a poker face at the customs (it's beginning to sound like drugs )

1 thing,if you can't do without the all-time scandinavian favourite, licourice, stock up on them. The local Ikea has got a few bags but selection is meagre... (Abba herring, rye bread and lingonberry jam are found in Ikea too. Rejoice!)