sad truth


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i always very enthu to read chinese article.. but once i met some characters i dunno how to read.. my morale went down and give up :sweatsm:
 

y0ngcheng said:
i always very enthu to read chinese article.. but once i met some characters i dunno how to read.. my morale went down and give up :sweatsm:

oeyvind said:
sad sad... :angel:

hehe...very ironic u 2 =)
 

This is not true.
It is totally bullshit.

As with every country, there exist differing level of educated citizens.
To find some of us conversing in Singlish is not uncommon.

The crux of the matter is we can speak good english. Personally i switch between singlish and english sometimes to relay a more "buddy buddy" feel to the conversation.
In my course of work, I have never had problem using good english.

This is an article by a person who relies on rumours and market gossips. He/ she definitely has not been trained formally in English here in Singapore. To teach english in Singapore, require to certain standard. It is unlikely to be successful if it is as he described.

I do not want to lash into a crusade but let the taiwanese self examine their own proficiency in English and compared it with the standard in Singapore. Once i witness, a contestant on Jacky Wu Variety show using english to introduce herself.... and that was her supposed talent. I could barely make out what she is trying to say.
 

zekai said:
This is not true.
It is totally bullshit.

As with every country, there exist differing level of educated citizens.
To find some of us conversing in Singlish is not uncommon.

The crux of the matter is we can speak good english. Personally i switch between singlish and english sometimes to relay a more "buddy buddy" feel to the conversation.
In my course of work, I have never had problem using good english.

This is an article by a person who relies on rumours and market gossips. He/ she definitely has not been trained formally in English here in Singapore. To teach english in Singapore, require to certain standard. It is unlikely to be successful if it is as he described.

I do not want to lash into a crusade but let the taiwanese self examine their own proficiency in English and compared it with the standard in Singapore. Once i witness, a contestant on Jacky Wu Variety show using english to introduce herself.... and that was her supposed talent. I could barely make out what she is trying to say.

The writer has his mistakes but he is not totally wrong either. Kids at a younger age would pick up a language from his/her peers. and more often than not they would be speaking Singlish to a certain extent. Go to any neighbourhood school and listen to them, they would be speaking singlish among their friends. The program probably teaches standard english but the kid would be more likely to be affected by others kids would speak singlish. So that probably led to his misunderstanding.

You can't compare Taiwan to Singapore. One's common language is mandarin, the other is English. Language proficiency comes with practice and experience and Taiwanese find it hard to have either. Furthermore they are taught English in school a lot later than us, my cousins didn't start learning english until they are in secondary school. Of course their standard would be a lot worse than ours. For us we can pick up good english with little difficulty because we come into contact with a lot of native speakers and communication within our society is based on English. A difference that has to be considered before making a comparison.
 

Ah well, having temp as a permanent relief english teacher at a neighbourhood school during one of my holidays (and as a relief teacher on other holidays), I can tell you that languages are one of the hardest subject to teach. Learning about nouns and verbs and grammar is one thing; putting them to use is another. It normally takes lots of practise and exposure to the language to enable a person to pickup the circumstances when one should use a particular form over another. It doesn't help if the student doesn't speak English at home and uses the language only during certain lessons in school.

Just my 2cents worth.. :D
 

somehow it sucks having a taiwanese bombard our kind of english.

1. singlish is a national phenomenon.
2. we do speak proper english.
3. as above, just look at this thread.
4. my higher chinese teacher used to teach english in taiwan. no her english wasn't even that good.
5. having somebody who's standard of english is lower than ours bombard our standard of english is really screwy.
6. he hasn't exactly seen singapore yet.
 

tmc17479 said:
The writer has his mistakes but he is not totally wrong either. Kids at a younger age would pick up a language from his/her peers. and more often than not they would be speaking Singlish to a certain extent. Go to any neighbourhood school and listen to them, they would be speaking singlish among their friends. The program probably teaches standard english but the kid would be more likely to be affected by others kids would speak singlish. So that probably led to his misunderstanding.

You can't compare Taiwan to Singapore. One's common language is mandarin, the other is English. Language proficiency comes with practice and experience and Taiwanese find it hard to have either. Furthermore they are taught English in school a lot later than us, my cousins didn't start learning english until they are in secondary school. Of course their standard would be a lot worse than ours. For us we can pick up good english with little difficulty because we come into contact with a lot of native speakers and communication within our society is based on English. A difference that has to be considered before making a comparison.

He is not wrong, we did speak Singlish here, but is there anything shamelful about it? By the way we can able to speak proper English when require therefore if you consider Singlish as a form of language, we Singaporean can actually speak one more type of language. :D

But back to the that article, it is the friends who thinks that Singapore is a good place to learn english which is not wrong, however the drawback is that they are able to pick learn Singlish in the process. I must emphaize, is pick up meaning they are exposed to it and learn it on their own and not we teach such language in school.

If they really thinks that the standard of our English when compared to the American is not standard enough why don't we compare their level of mardarin to those in China, I am sure their Maradarin is not as pure. They also introduce differnent meaning and usage of words into their language, this is part of live anyway. This is what they call culture. People at different place will cutomize their our language and lifestyle accordingly.
 

i've been a Singaporean all my life, and I have yet to hear this "No Buy No Ask, Ask No Buy, Go To Die" phrase being used. This is really interesting. :think:
 

how abt some interesting comparison :bigeyes: :bsmilie:

> SINGLISH VS ENGLISH
>
> -Use
> Singlish, it's so much economical n effective-Compare n See
>
> When Going Shopping
>
> -Britains: I'm sorry sir but we don seem 2 haf the sweater u want in ur
>size, but if u gif me a moment, i can call the other outlets 4 u.
>
> -S'poreans: No Stock!
>
> When returning a Call
>
> -Britains: Hello, this is Mr Bean. Did anyone page me a few moments ago?
>
> -S'poreans: Hello, who page?
>
> When some1 is in the way
>
> Britains: Excuse me, i'd like 2 get by. Would u please make way?
>
> S'poreans: Lai, siam! or Siam hor! or Skius!(excuse)
>
> When some1 offers 2 pay
>
> Britains: Hey, put ur wallet away, this drink's on me.
>
> S'poreans: no need lah!
>
> When asking 4 permission
>
> Britains: Excuse me, but do u think it would be possible 4 me 2 enter
>through this door?
>
> S'poreans: (While pointing at the door) Can pass or not?
>
> When asking 2 be excused
>
> Britains: If u would excuse me 4 a moment, i have 2 go 2 the
>gents/ladies. Carry on without me, it would onli take a moment
>
> S'poreans: Go toilet! Buay tahan ahh... ...
>
> When doubting some1
>
> Britains: I don't recall u giving me the money.
>
> S'poreans: Got meh?
>
> When disagreeing on a topic of discussion
>
> British: Err. Tom, i have 2 stop u there. I understand where u r coming
>from but i really have 2 disagree wif wat u said about the policy
>
> S'poreans: Talk **** lah u!
>
> When asking some1 2 lower thei voice...
>
> Britains: Excuse me, but could u lower ur voice, i'm trying 2
>concentrate over here.
>
> S'poreans: Eh, Tiam leh!
>
> When asking some1 if he or she noes u
>
> Britains: Excuse me, but i noticed u staring at me 4 some time. Do i noe
>u?
>
> S'poreans: See wat see?! Buay Song ah!
 

yeap.. in fact during my 2 weeks trip in taiwan... pple can tell mi.. hey yr singlish damn solid.. haha.. a lot lah.. hee.. orh...
:p

im so proud of singlish... tts why my coy name so singlish too :D and the wonderful tattooooooo
 

leonzhu said:
i've been a Singaporean all my life, and I have yet to hear this "No Buy No Ask, Ask No Buy, Go To Die" phrase being used. This is really interesting. :think:

I think that is a taiwanese phase in actually. It goes like this "Mai Buai, Mai Men, Wu men bo bui, qi si ka ho" ...... another one is "Wu bui wu sang, mai buai qi h-xiong gan" ;P ........
 

leonzhu said:
i've been a Singaporean all my life, and I have yet to hear this "No Buy No Ask, Ask No Buy, Go To Die" phrase being used. This is really interesting. :think:
I have seen in before in newspaper article, it was a a prank but a customer on a shop owner
 

Ice said:
He is not wrong, we did speak Singlish here, but is there anything shamelful about it? By the way we can able to speak proper English when require therefore if you consider Singlish as a form of language, we Singaporean can actually speak one more type of language. :D

But back to the that article, it is the friends who thinks that Singapore is a good place to learn english which is not wrong, however the drawback is that they are able to pick learn Singlish in the process. I must emphaize, is pick up meaning they are exposed to it and learn it on their own and not we teach such language in school.

If they really thinks that the standard of our English when compared to the American is not standard enough why don't we compare their level of mardarin to those in China, I am sure their Maradarin is not as pure. They also introduce differnent meaning and usage of words into their language, this is part of live anyway. This is what they call culture. People at different place will cutomize their our language and lifestyle accordingly.

please consider using shorter sentences. I do not understand what you are trying to convey?
 

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