SINGAPORE EXPATS FORUM
Singapore Expat Forum and Message Board for Expats in Singapore & Expatriates Relocating to Singapore
Speak Good English Campaign
-
- Newbie
- Posts: 7
- Joined: Mon, 26 Sep 2011 3:49 pm
Speak Good English Campaign
Very interesting to see the ad campaign around "Speak Good English". When majority of the private schools in the US are teaching their kids Mandarin. What is really wrong with Singapore English? Is it the accent the government wants to fix?
- sundaymorningstaple
- Moderator
- Posts: 39771
- Joined: Thu, 11 Nov 2004 1:26 pm
- Location: Retired on the Little Red Dot
- sundaymorningstaple
- Moderator
- Posts: 39771
- Joined: Thu, 11 Nov 2004 1:26 pm
- Location: Retired on the Little Red Dot
- nakatago
- Moderator
- Posts: 8358
- Joined: Tue, 01 Sep 2009 11:23 pm
- Location: Sister Margaret’s School for Wayward Children
It's all over the internet; I just started to bring it here...like what I did with "+1".sundaymorningstaple wrote:I see Nak has discovered another use for the Kannada script and I didn't need a Masters to figure it out.
Maybe if someone posts something rage-worthy, I could reply with this:
(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻
"A quokka is what would happen if there was an anime about kangaroos."
-
- Reporter
- Posts: 699
- Joined: Thu, 23 Jul 2009 2:14 am
-
- Manager
- Posts: 1988
- Joined: Sat, 20 Aug 2005 5:01 pm
Singlish, especially the spoken form, may be difficult to understand if you are not used to it. It is the way the words are/aren't being enunciated + the grammatical structure. It has a very distinct accent (southeast asian, chinese malay mixture????). Say you work for an MNC overseas and need to communicate with the SG staff, you have to try to decipher it. It is important to speak standard English, from a business point of view.
However for foreigners living in SG, over time they should be able to grasp the flavor but a lot depends on how linguistically inclined their brains are which I am not. I have lived overseas for over 2 decades and usually speak mandarin with family members back home, so when I am back, I also kenna get tripped up by Singlish and sometimes need them to repeat. But you see, I am linguistically challenged. Trying to switch between English and Mandarin already very taxing for my little brain.
Despite the good efforts of the govt to promote bilingualism, I think most people can only master one language.
However for foreigners living in SG, over time they should be able to grasp the flavor but a lot depends on how linguistically inclined their brains are which I am not. I have lived overseas for over 2 decades and usually speak mandarin with family members back home, so when I am back, I also kenna get tripped up by Singlish and sometimes need them to repeat. But you see, I am linguistically challenged. Trying to switch between English and Mandarin already very taxing for my little brain.
Despite the good efforts of the govt to promote bilingualism, I think most people can only master one language.
-
- Similar Topics
- Replies
- Views
- Last post
-
-
looking for native german speaker (i speak english & chinese)
by sujun93 » Tue, 25 Dec 2018 12:39 am » in Language Exchange - 0 Replies
- 1787 Views
-
Last post by sujun93
Tue, 25 Dec 2018 12:39 am
-
-
-
American Institute Of English Language Noida is best place for learn English
by aielnoida » Sun, 14 Apr 2019 5:51 am » in Leisure Chat, Jokes, Rubbish - 1 Replies
- 3549 Views
-
Last post by Strong Eagle
Sun, 14 Apr 2019 7:32 am
-
-
-
My Korean for your Spanish or English
by Unimaginable » Sat, 03 Mar 2018 12:43 am » in Language Exchange - 3 Replies
- 3213 Views
-
Last post by ma.chen.esq
Sun, 15 Jul 2018 9:31 pm
-
-
-
My English (business level) for your Japanese / Korean
by cloudiz » Tue, 13 Mar 2018 12:10 pm » in Language Exchange - 0 Replies
- 1865 Views
-
Last post by cloudiz
Tue, 13 Mar 2018 12:10 pm
-
-
-
English/Mandarin language exchange
by joyoverseas » Sat, 28 Apr 2018 10:14 am » in Language Exchange - 0 Replies
- 2146 Views
-
Last post by joyoverseas
Sat, 28 Apr 2018 10:14 am
-
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 36 guests