The point is, that most of the arguments you see against Singlish here are economic: that no-one will trade with them if they don't speak "standard English", whatever that is. I was merely observing that other English-speaking countries manage to maintain local dialects without economic ruin. Indeed, some countries now actively try to retain linguistic diversity.Plavt wrote:Ecka Dimmock wrote: The British economy has so far struggled along despite the Welsh, Cockneys and Geordies.
Spot on. That's what all my posts was trying to point out but you said it best. When I first came to USA, many Americans had problem understanding me. I had to unlearn the English that was taught to me in SG and re-learn a new way of pronunciation. And I do not wish it upon another person and hence the opposition against Singlish. Most Singers never did that and continue speaking English the way they did in SG despite years spent in USA. It is very hard to change childhood speech pattern!k1w1 wrote:
It is not the mistakes that are being made, it is because the average person does not know why it's a mistake and how they should actually say/write it.
That, my dear, is the basis for my whole bias against singlish. Standard English (be it british, american, aussie or kiwi) has a proper sentence structure so, regardless of the slang that may be used or the different context meaning, it is still comprehensible to the listener if they can speak standard english. singlish has no structure to speak of so it sounds like a person is uneducated or of low IQ. While they may not actually be dull, they would have to be preceived that way when the only basis is their spoken language. And if they wrote it like they write in the beauty and airline threads it would tend to confirm the absence of IQ as well.Wind In My Hair wrote:not sure if this is related, but why is that a person who cannot speak good english is somehow perceived (especially by foreigners) to be less smart? why does singlish sound 'stupid' as opposed to merely different, in the way that other english dialects are just different? why is there a higher expectation of singlish?
see, that's not singlish. there are more unwritten rules than many realise. which is why i think singlish is more like another language altogether. this is how you might say it in singlish: correct not? yes right?sundaymorningstaple wrote:I have to correct myself just a wee bit. There are rules, of a sort, to the using of the tag at the end of a string of words (I will NOT use sentence to describe it) e.g., Lah, Leh, Lor, Meh. But that seems to be about it. Am I right leh? Yah Lor!
Now there's something that I can get my mind around. If they wouldn't call it Singlish (meaning "Singaporean English") then it would be okay.Wind In My Hair wrote:anyway, i find singlish useful because it identifies another singaporean from the first few words, and it's actually a more economical way of speaking, much like chinese and malay. but it should be treated as a different language and not called english, as it is in schools. and if someone finds it difficult to be effectively bilingual then i think english more important.
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