still is "singaporeans speak singlish"

[AminoAcid]

Croccs22 just what are you getting at? That we only speak mild Singlish? Who else in the world but us are more capable of speaking full Singlish?

"English language isn't the 1st language for 60% of Singaporeans" but "IDK about you but many Singaporeans speak English as their first language." So is English our first language or not?

For goodness' sake please stop making contradictory comments like these. Recognize the fact even with learning English as our 1st language we're nowhere better than the Scottish. Sure, we speak English at home, but are you certain we're speaking proper English?

A quick search of your posts reveals that you are obviously a sinkie who thinks the grass is greener on the other side. The kind that would speak in fake pseudo American accent (but still fails to sound American) and stare wistfully at any caucasian. The male version of the sarong party girl.

idk if the singaporean accent is clearer than the scottish. Why don't you go to scotland or glasglow and then tell me? maybe after you go abroad, you will be in a better position to compare countries and accents. making cultural benefits for glorious singapore.

No I don't think the grass is greener on the other side. I just recognize how Singaporean I truly am after interacting with them, that this is a forum for the expats by the expats, so why can't you. They've already recognized how good our kids are with Math and Science, so why can't you do the same for their English. I just can't stand you disgracing us Singaporeans with your baseless comments and crass personal attacks, as what you're doing to me now.

As mentioned, you need to differentiate accents from grammar. You are obviously trying to sound pseudo American in your video. I am not proud of my Singaporean acccent but at least I don't claim superiority over the Scottish.

[sundaymorningstaple]

You don't happen to think that i do kung fu as well do you?

Nah, no chance of that. But, on the other hand I'll bet your maid still carries your books to school for you. How's that for a stereotype!

[EADG]

Yeah, yeah, I know, not sure how all dem big words spilled out of my head, guess it was kinda tounge in cheek.

And wasted effort, given the block-headedness of the antagonist here.

At this point it's like shootin fish in a barrel, with the aptly-named croc(k) holding the gun at his head for anyone else to pull the trigger.

Let Darwinsim take its course.

[vision of an ME 109 spiraling downwards, leaving a smoke trail, P51 Mustang breaking off to head back to the squadron]

Perhaps ......

[Splatted]

Is your friend's wife near / above 40? Singapore is not like America where English was spoken by the masses for 200 years. Your American grandfather spoke English because he inherited it from the Brits when they left.

Who said anything about over 40 or close to 40?

I'm talking about your generation - Gen Y.

The masses in Sigapore only started speaking English 50 years ago. Hence, a lot of the old folks still do not speak properly but I can understand them, that is all that matters to me. Some do speak English well but even these people have a noticeable hokkien accent; traces of their upbringing. Most of them grew up speaking Chinese dialects or Malay, only a minority (peranakan chinese etc) spoke English at home. This is where Singlish was born. And this is why they speak English with a Chinese gammar.

Young sinkies like myself do not have this hokkien tone because hokkien has died out when I was growing up. Young sinkies hear a lot of different accents from the TV shows to movies to Internet and travelling. Educated sinkies like myself do know how people all over the world speak. The acrolectal Singaporean accent is changing.

Yet, can you say with certainty you know it well enough to pick up Singapore-specific idiosyncrasies? Like my father, who had no legitimate point of reference to compare his English skills, and my wife and her friends that were taught by teachers who did not speak English fluently, how solid is your point of reference?

Young English speaking sinkies like myself speak English with a mix of British (inherited from 200 yrs of british rule), Mandarin(second langauge) and American accents (tv/radio influence).

This is just the way I speak and I like it a lot. You can hear the Chinese in my voice.

I don't think you can even differentiate a Mainlander from a Chinese Singaporean. You will probably complain that a Mainlander waitress speaks "Singlish" or pidgin English. No point ranting on and on trying to explain stuff to you. You can think whatever way you want. After all, you are living in Singapore and you have to adapt to Singapore. It doesn't work the other way around.

Actually, I would surprise you. Certain accents are extremely easy for me to differentiate. Also, in many instances I can pick the verbal cues of those born in Singapore but who have Vietnamese or Korean parents. Occupational hazard.

Or just pack your bags and go home. You can listen to Obama all day long and jack off to his English.

You don't have to take my word or the government census's word. You just have to live in your own world...ala SMS.

Well now you are just being plain nasty.

No one has been rude to you, so why stoop to this low?

[crocss22]

Yet, can you say with certainty you know it well enough to pick up Singapore-specific idiosyncrasies? Like my father, who had no legitimate point of reference to compare his English skills, and my wife and her friends that were taught by teachers who did not speak English fluently, how solid is your point of reference?

Hey bro, I have a secret to tell you. Don't tell it to anyone else k?

There is this thing called the Internet where you can hear different English dialects all over the world with a few clicks of the mouse. You can watch millions of videos and talk to different people on it as well.

Growing up, we did not have the internet. But we had a box with people living in it. If you have such a magic box, you might find a lot of Americans and British people living in it and chatting with each other in their dialect.

We also have a device that goes "ring ring..ring ring"

Pssst...another secret is that we have metal birds that can fly us to different places in the world for holiday and work. I have rode these metal birds before and they have taken me to far far away places and back.

Assuming someone has half a brain, he or should would be able to benchmark his language skills and accent with those of other speakers around the world very easily indeed.

This is how you know that someone like "EADG" is a fool.

Pssst...Singaporean English teachers do speak English fluently you know. They used to speak fluent English when I was in school. It can't be that they dont speak fluent English...oh wait could it be that someone is trying to be demeaning and arrogant towards them?

what? damn...gotta use those math and science skills to figure this out pronto!

[AminoAcid]

Bloody disgrace. The folks at sammyboy have better sense of logic. Go eat your rice and practise your kungfu.

[EADG]

A comment my companion made at dinner tonight made me think of this thread.

She remarked how strange it was that I, a non-Asian, use chopsticks better than 99% of the people she sees in Singapore, how she would be ashamed to bring someone like that over to her family's house for dinner.

She's made similar observations on how poorly many locals use western eating utensils like forks and knives. These are her words but I've had the same observations.

It's an interesting analogy to the language issue.

[crocss22]

dss

[QRM]

I can now see why the Govt is trying to actively encourage schools to promote the ability to debate. This missing social skill is clearly evident in Crocs sudden lowering of the discussion, which is a real shame as its always nice to get a locals perspective on any subject.

There are some valid point raised here. There is confusion over accents and incorrect grammar. Imagine someone whose speech is grammatically correct but with a really strong regional accent, would that be classed as good proper English?

Thats where Singlish fails on both counts, the local accent is tough enough to deal with let alone the sentence structure.

There is also this strange local habit that sounds like someone has just randomly sprinkled the radio news script with commas.

[EADG]

Agree QRM.

SGBoyxxx is a great example of someone with constructive opinions, excellent perspective, and an open mind towards these things.

So there is hope.

[QRM]

She's made similar observations on how poorly many locals use western eating utensils like forks and knives. These are her words but I've had the same observations.

Ha ha funny its just not the locals I am amazed how many Americans never use the knife and fork correctly. They cut everything first and then eat with the fork.

While we are on the subject of protocol another bug is people who dont leave the knife and fork correctly after finishing a meal, especially in a restaurant.

[EADG]

I remember my mother correcting me and my brothers for doing that when were kids, she said that's what you do for babies so that they can eat unassisted. Things like that weren't tolerated kindly at our dinner table.

So naturally we retaliated by making each other laugh as soon the other drank milk, so as to have it come shooting out of their noses....

[crocss22]

Agree QRM.

SGBoyxxx is a great example of someone with constructive opinions, excellent perspective, and an open mind towards these things.

So there is hope.

lol speaking of this lad "sgboxxxxxxx". i bet my last dollar that he did not finish his o levels and speaks mandarin or mandarin dialect at home. probably a dialect of mandarin. he probably works in a low level position as well.

i can smell em even over the internet.

now that is LOCAL for you.

[Splatted]

Yet, can you say with certainty you know it well enough to pick up Singapore-specific idiosyncrasies? Like my father, who had no legitimate point of reference to compare his English skills, and my wife and her friends that were taught by teachers who did not speak English fluently, how solid is your point of reference?

Hey bro, I have a secret to tell you. Don't tell it to anyone else k?

There is this thing called the Internet where you can hear different English dialects all over the world with a few clicks of the mouse. You can watch millions of videos and talk to different people on it as well.

Growing up, we did not have the internet. But we had a box with people living in it. If you have such a magic box, you might find a lot of Americans and British people living in it and chatting with each other in their dialect.

We also have a device that goes "ring ring..ring ring"

Pssst...another secret is that we have metal birds that can fly us to different places in the world for holiday and work. I have rode these metal birds before and they have taken me to far far away places and back.

Assuming someone has half a brain, he or should would be able to benchmark his language skills and accent with those of other speakers around the world very easily indeed.

This is how you know that someone like "EADG" is a fool.

Pssst...Singaporean English teachers do speak English fluently you know. They used to speak fluent English when I was in school. It can't be that they dont speak fluent English...oh wait could it be that someone is trying to be demeaning and arrogant towards them?

what? damn...gotta use those math and science skills to figure this out pronto!
i

And yet you have difficulty with your "th"'s on occasion, as well as the odd plural when you speak, eg "foreigner" instead of "foreigners".

Do you even notice when you make these mistakes? Do your fellow friends correct you when you make these slips, or do they make the same mistakes as well?

[crocss22]

Yet, can you say with certainty you know it well enough to pick up Singapore-specific idiosyncrasies? Like my father, who had no legitimate point of reference to compare his English skills, and my wife and her friends that were taught by teachers who did not speak English fluently, how solid is your point of reference?

Hey bro, I have a secret to tell you. Don't tell it to anyone else k?

There is this thing called the Internet where you can hear different English dialects all over the world with a few clicks of the mouse. You can watch millions of videos and talk to different people on it as well.

Growing up, we did not have the internet. But we had a box with people living in it. If you have such a magic box, you might find a lot of Americans and British people living in it and chatting with each other in their dialect.

We also have a device that goes "ring ring..ring ring"

Pssst...another secret is that we have metal birds that can fly us to different places in the world for holiday and work. I have rode these metal birds before and they have taken me to far far away places and back.

Assuming someone has half a brain, he or should would be able to benchmark his language skills and accent with those of other speakers around the world very easily indeed.

This is how you know that someone like "EADG" is a fool.

Pssst...Singaporean English teachers do speak English fluently you know. They used to speak fluent English when I was in school. It can't be that they dont speak fluent English...oh wait could it be that someone is trying to be demeaning and arrogant towards them?

what? damn...gotta use those math and science skills to figure this out pronto!
i

And yet you have difficulty with your "th"'s on occasion, as well as the odd plural when you speak, eg "foreigner" instead of "foreigners".

Do you even notice when you make these mistakes? Do your fellow friends correct you when you make these slips, or do they make the same mistakes as well?

I did notice those errors while replaying. There were obvious grammatical errors in some of my sentences as well but I was trying to rush the entire thing into 10mins which is the max lenght of a youtube video and I was speaking impromptu. And I just woke up as well.

But I bet your little brain would go, tadaaa! there singlish! all Singaporeans speak that way! see the "th"? see!

But hey, thanks for marking my youtube video. Mr English purist aka Mr "I have the right to mark your English" aka Mr "my accent is better than yours" aka Mr "Singaporeans dont speak English at home that is just a rediculous assertion!" aka Mr "singstat is lying, I am right".

It is just the way it is. Many people go into a new country and always magnify all the flaws to make themselves feel better. Especially if they are very insecure. Not all do so, but many do.

Enjoy the company of "sgboyxxxx" and other sarong party boys.

"Sgboyxxx" types in an illiterate manner; easy for you to bash his "singlish" and feel good about yourself. btw, i dont even understand wth sgboyxxx is typing. it is definitely not singlish, he is just plain illiterate in English. I am quite sure has not been educated to O levels, most probably not even to PSLE and speaks Mandarin/ Mandarin dialects at home.

but hey, don't let me burst your bubble.

He suits this forum perfectly. I don;t. <- see i told you, singaporeans dont know how to use the apostrophe. they are "non native" speakers and we speak better than them.

it's all good for a laugh anyway.