Mandarin equivalent of Singlish?

macaroonie · Post by **macaroonie** » Mon, 08 Mar 2010 1:05 pm

Hi Everyone
I am interested in taking up conversational mandarin and was wondering if there were proper mandarin classes. I would like to avoid any mandarin equivalent singlish classes here if that make sense.

Anyone know of any such classes? I would be starting absolutely from scratch! Anyone also in the same boat and interested in signing up for classes?

Post by **sundaymorningstaple** » Mon, 08 Mar 2010 4:13 pm

You will probably have to go to Shanghai. Or get a PRC here in Singapore to tutor you.

durain · Post by **durain** » Mon, 08 Mar 2010 6:11 pm

hmmm... interesting. so language schools teaching english in singapore is actually teaching singlish?

Post by **sundaymorningstaple** » Mon, 08 Mar 2010 8:22 pm

Put it this way, if they are using local teachers you can almost bet on it. I mean, just take a look at examination papers used in the local schools and you will know what I mean. I don't think they are even aware of it.

QRM · Post by **QRM** » Mon, 08 Mar 2010 8:49 pm

I was told to keep well clear of Singaporeans teaching Mandarin you end up speaking "Sindarin"

Post by **sundaymorningstaple** » Mon, 08 Mar 2010 9:17 pm

perxactly.

Post by **nakatago** » Mon, 08 Mar 2010 9:48 pm

People wished it were Sindarin!

Sindarin is a fictional language in the fantasy works of J. R. R. Tolkien. One of the languages of Arda in Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, it was the Elvish language most commonly spoken in Middle-earth in the Third Age. It was the language of the Sindar, those Teleri which had been left behind on the Great Journey of the Elves.

IIRC, the Elvish language isn't grating to hear.

Mandapoor? Sorry, I'm bad at portmanteaus

Koalabear · Post by **Koalabear** » Tue, 09 Mar 2010 6:58 am

I can tell you this is really hard because China is just so diverse that its a challenge to find someone in China who speaks PROPER mandarin without any hint of dialects.

The only people whom I've heard speak the real authentic MANDARIN are the KMT old guards in Taiwan. In fact, I have not heard any CCP leaders speak proper mandarin before. Having said that, I was glad that my grandmother is a communist old guard who brought up my dad to speak PERFECT mandarin (sadly he did not influence me much because I was schooled in Singapore all the way from P1 to JC and took 4 years of isolation from Sindarin to be able to speak 80% proper mandarin)

mayaray · Post by **mayaray** » Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:55 am

Depends on your purpose of leaning. I learnt it so that i could speak to the aunties in the hawker centres.
I took some level 1 classes taught by a mainland Chinese teacher when i first came here and the little i learn was often 'not applicable' conversationally here. In fact I was corrected by locals when I spouted some phrases, saying the order of some words were the other way around. well no point saying it 'correctly; when no one understands or thinks you speak funny.

macaroonie · Post by **macaroonie** » Tue, 09 Mar 2010 2:17 pm

yeah you got a point, no use speaking properly when no one understands you - but it all goes back to the purpose of learning.

Surely there have got to be some language schools that teach pretty decent Mandarin here....if not, that means that no one speaks any language proficiently on this island...

Post by **sundaymorningstaple** » Tue, 09 Mar 2010 5:28 pm

sundaymorningstaple wrote:perxactly.

dazzlebabe · Post by **dazzlebabe** » Tue, 09 Mar 2010 5:30 pm

macaroonie wrote:if not, that means that no one speaks any language proficiently on this island...

That's a bit harsh

I had a PRC mandarin tutor for a month. Gave up as it was too painful for me. I will try to look for her number and pass it to you if you are interested.

Koalabear · Post by **Koalabear** » Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:47 am

macaroonie wrote:yeah you got a point, no use speaking properly when no one understands you - but it all goes back to the purpose of learning.

Surely there have got to be some language schools that teach pretty decent Mandarin here....if not, that means that no one speaks any language proficiently on this island...

The only place where I think you can find some decent Chinese teachers is
http://en.sccl.sg/

They teach teachers there, so if you can find someone there to teach you mandarin its definitely good Mandarin. My ex principal is serving on the board now.

tomyin · Post by **tomyin** » Thu, 11 Mar 2010 2:13 pm

just start learning Mandarin from scratch ?a little late, be realistic , try some conversation class may be the best approach.
I did meet a few western people in China who can speak almost perfect Mandarin, really amazed.

macaroonie · Post by **macaroonie** » Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:04 am

Eh why is it a bit late?

So tell me, what level and type of Mandarin is taught in the schools here? Seems like a bit of an oxymoron if the 'chinese' are teaching 'bad chinese' if you know what i mean....

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Mandarin equivalent of Singlish?

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