English in Singapore - English, Singlish, Broken English

[@roytating4915]

It's a good thing that Singaporeans acknowledge this issue and are doing some steps on fixing it. Unlike some other countries who "think" they speak the language properly but not realize that the rest of the world don't understand them...

[@cenhardyao]

I’m not Singaporean but lived there for a year. I’m concluding that Singlish is actually people speaking English using Chinese grammar & Chinese or Chinese dialects’ intonations mix with Bahasa Malayu or Bahasa Indonesian. If your speak or understand all that languages, it’s very easy to learn.

[@brackpersian]

Let's say we set up a Standard english class for singaporeans. Now imagine a group of singaporean student entering the class: "eh walao eh what is this ah? simi lesson lai eh?" *Proceeds to lesson, talk proper english *Ends clas* *reverts back to singlish: "Walao eh damn boring sia, simi standard english, so fake lor" This is the typical response for majority of singaporeans.

[@shika206]

Ironic that the chairman of speak good english campaign does not speak good english

[@johnchua1087]

Absolutely! He is not fluent in his flow of speaking and he does not know how to control the panelists. All three representatives including the ""so called"" Chairman of the Speak Good English Movement has poor command of English, however, their singlish is really tok-kong! So, its more appropriate to say this is a Speak Singlish Movement session.

[@brackpersian]

This video has shown us that Singaporeans are really reluctant to speak good english as seen by the 3 panelists mocking and making low-key attacks on the chairman of SGEM. This is truly hopeless....

[@kylec0678]

the speak good english movement got their approach all wrong. they should just focus on spreading awareness on the importance of speaking and using good english to a target audiences. no point pushing their agenda on the populace. they should instead give advice on how to improve the use of english to those who are willing to learn to speak or use good english. language is either you use it or lose it. if one does not want to speak or use a language who are we to force them.

[@kateaye3506]

Singlish is fabulous. It makes Singapore seem more relatable and endearing. I want to speak Singlish.

[@yapoonteng7162]

Singlish is for mentally retarts!

[@brackpersian]

This video shows a problem on how singaporean have difficulty presenting their clear idea with standard english as evident from the chairman himself.

[@johnchua1087]

Albeit its already 2019 but frankly after watching it, here's my thought. Mr. Goh, you should go back to school to learn your grammars and how to properly structure your sentence that is easily understood by others, you should learn how to speak good and proper English to begin with. I don't see how you were selected as Chairman of the Speak Good English Movement when your English really sucks, The department in-charged should replace him with someone who are not only fluent in proper English speaking and had good command of the English language but also well spoken in Singlish to Chair the Speak Good English Movement (if it is still an ongoing campaign). I am true blue Singaporean and yes I speak Singlish and good and proper English. And yes, no amount of campaign can do away Singlish because it is our only identity to differentiate us from the rest of the world. I agreed with the panelists, Singlish does have grammar, if someone speaks some grammatically error singlish to us we true blue Singaporeans will know at an instance.

[@brackpersian]

Thanks for you constructive feedback. I agree with you totally, english should contain ZERO singapore accent, and the chairman should have proper english.. I would like to know how well do you speak english too, maybe could you do a minute demonstration of Singlish vs proper english? Cheers

[@johnchua1087]

@@brackpersian TO begin with, I did not say anything about ZERO Singapore accent but yes I did say the Chairman should be fluent in both English and SInglish. The reason for that is within those audience or the panelist. there are singlish speakers and if the Chairman knows his singlish well he could use that opportunity to correct the singlish sentence into proper English with a good sense of humor, making speak proper English is a fun thing to adopt. You asked how well do I speak in proper English/ I am just ordinary person with average English spoken skills. Le'ts just say that I speak normal simple proper English when I am engage in a meeting with various executives of the Fortune 500 companies in Singapore or abroad. But when it calls for singlish to get the point across I do not hesitate to get my message across in an instance. i even uses dialects like Cantonese, Hokkien & Teochew if it calls for. That does not mean I don't speak proper English when it is required of me to do so Like when I am presenting in a seminar. BTW what does the demonstration you asked for accomplish? There are plenty of those SInglish/English video available if you need to refresh yourself. The video is about speak Good English Movement if I am not mistaken, isn't it ironic to have a speak singlish chair person to host the panel? What are they trying to accomplish? May be you can explain to the viewing audience.

[@brackpersian]

@@johnchua1087 I totally understand you.. I apologize if i caused any misunderstanding by asking for a demonstration. I am not affiliated with this movement but i am really glad to find a like minded local individual like you John, and i hope Singaporeans will change their way of speaking english. All these aside.... Another point that i want to share with you is based on my anecdote... where singaporeans (local university, poly,jc and secondary school students) are afraid to speak standard english because they are afraid of the following: 1. Being judge by fellow friends, co-workers & classmates 2. Being called "Fake" 3. Conform to the norm of speaking Singlish & broken english. I conclude that these are all due to the "Crab in bucket" mentality. During my project presentations in the good'ol university days... I remember i used a singaporean accent to present. Why is it so ? It's because i was afraid of being judged and labelled "fake". But now I learnt the importance of speaking good standard english...... What's your view on this, John? Also.. teachers in primary school and secondary school plays a HUGE part in this accent building. For example, i remember my malay english teacher back in primary school, she taught us english using a heavy singaporean accent. As i'm typing now, I am truly disappointed in this education system. I have a whole lot to pour out. If you're interested, we could have a private message in youtube here... also.. Speak good english movement you can private message me if you are keen to learn some of my experiences as well. Thank you John for sharing your thoughts here too... and thanks speak good english movement. Cheers

[@johnchua1087]

@@brackpersian To answer your questions in a nutshell, it has to do with the environment that we are in. It will take years if it is possible to do away with our Singaporean accent. I do not see any possible changes that can be made in the next decade or two that can help improve that. However, I am not so sure it is good to remove completely our Singaporean accent, that may result in the lost of our identity. The possible changes is for educators to encourage and provide more public speaking for students to boost their confidence. But it is hard for local uni individuals who are introverts and do not have a good command of the English language to begin with. I think if they really want to improve their spoken English skills. my advice is to study abroad in either US or British universities, mix around more with locals and less with overseas Singaporean. That will create an environment where they have to learn to speak and pronounce in an accent that the locals can understand. But do not totally loose the imbue accent, just improve the pronunciation of words. Proper grammars and structure of sentences...etc. Take me as an example. I spoke with a heavy Singaporean accent before I went to US.I had my higher education in the US and have lived and worked there for quite some time before I decided that I had enough of the so called ""Democracy"" in the United States. However. during the first few weeks of my returning to Singapore. I realized I could not understand any dialects or mandarin that I am so used to during my earlier primary and secondary education. It actually took me a couple of months to force myself to re-learn my listening and understanding skills. On top of that.at work (my first job in an Oil Refinery company after returning to Singapore) I realized only my immediate Manager and Chairman understands my spoken accent without having to repeat myself because I did not speak with a Singaporean accent. Some of my colleagues thought I was from HongKong or ABC (feeling sad for that mis-identity). Subsequently after a couple of years I was able to speak with an accent in accordance to the audience or people I meet. Obviously I do not have a British accent, so I spoke with an american accent to whoever I met that is not local. Gradually, I have get rid of that American accent and now I just speak with a tone that is a mixed of accent (American + British + Singaporean) in between words (like elevator versus lift, stand in line versus queue up ...etc). So my view is that, it takes time for the environment to change ( but I am not optimistic about this). Studying abroad in English native speaking country seem the only way for moment. You can do an experiment if you knew of any of your friends who are educated and had spent considerable amount of time in those native speaking countries, I am sure you will see the difference in them. But after all that is said, I will keep part of my ""Singaporean-mess"". Please pardon the pun. I would be glad for you to share your experience here so like minded people may want to share their opinion.

[@brackpersian]

Hi John I have rewatched this video and i have noticed that Irene ang is overly defensive of the singlish language. What is your opinion on her?it is evident on 43:32 onwards that she definitely upset by what the chairman said to her. However, this is a pretty bad panel discussion considering the poor moderation and poor way of stating his idea from the chairman and with irene ang dominating the panel and turning it into a debate.

[@fooksengloke3625]

One interesting aspect of Singlish is its intonation. Amos Yee had a lecture on KZbin, when he was still quite tiny, on how to speak Singlish. Knowing the right intonation allows one to differentiate the fake Singlish from the authentic one.

[@fooksengloke3625]

BBC English is no longer the Received English it once was. It has become a lazy form of English. By the way, Singapore should speak a form of English that, one day, Apple Siri can understand us. That should be our goal. All we need to do is to set up Siri by ticking Singapore English in the settings. This calls for consistency in intonation, grammar and pronunciation and it is not easy to achieve.