SINGAPORE ENGLISH VS BRITISH ENGLISH (Ft. Noah Yap)

[@GeorgiaCaney]

SINGAPORE ENGLISH VS BRITISH ENGLISH! 🇬🇧🇸🇬 Hope you guys enjoy mine and Noah's collab, I had a great time filming with him! 😂 Be sure to LIKE the video because it really helps me out, and go check out the video we filmed on Noah's channel too! Comment below and let me know what you think! 😜

[@morislaguerta4415]

Apologies love, but you'd better rename your video because the title is misleading. It should be "Abominably Bad English vs British English". Ve ar right on thiz one lol

[@reginatan_]

Singapore English and British English is the same.OK？

[@musenw8834]

1:05 we do have a bit of American English (underwear), not a lot. Also aussie english (toilet/rubber). fundamentally we still use british English.

[@musenw8834]

And singlish btw is just literal, not so sophisticated translations of mandarin sentences, so it seems somewhat grammatically incorrect. But it's what makes us unique. noah did a similar comparison (std English vs singlish) years ago in his older channel waitformeleh.

[@musenw8834]

@@Klavissimo sorry but i kinda disagree on the ditching singlish as a whole. I really think it should stay as part of a long standing culture. In fact being able to code switch between singlish and std English in our natural accents would be great! Yes, i do get your point that we're not taken seriously as an English speaking nation, but eventually I think we can get there.

[@jlcdrivewayramps7343]

Noah is so so Singaporean... I did not think you could find someone so Singaporean anymore in today's modern Singapore. It's like he came out of a time capsule.

[@GeorgiaCaney]

haha! 😂

[@rendallkoh1787]

there are many lol

[@jackchong1444]

errr... many people I know (myself included) still speak like him. its not uncommon lol

[@serapia1976]

Hahaha ikr but if u go to coffee shops, there's a lot of peeps like him lol

[@prophet1388]

You mean nowadays people in Singapore doesn't sound like him no more? Pls guys don't change the way you speak. It's so rare, nobody on the planet speaks the way you guys do so.

[@YagiYagiYagi]

Im singaporean and even noahs singaporean accent hurts my brain, its SO thick

[@Patroclus27]

Yagi actually his accent isn’t on the thicker end of the spectrum. It’s quite softened. Quite usual of people his age.

[@YagiYagiYagi]

@@Patroclus27 not really, I'm around his age and even for me his accent is super thick.

[@jlcdrivewayramps7343]

@@Patroclus27 I have to agree with Yagi. Maybe it's because he is next to a British native and the contrast is that much more pronounced.

[@_.blank._9459]

JLC Driveway Ramps No I don’t think so. At least among my friends, we don’t use as much hokkien and our English is slightly more accurate. His accent is a little awkward (it sounds gangster-like even) even for a Singaporean.

[@YagiYagiYagi]

@@_.blank._9459 this is the most common accent the "gangster" accent if you're from around the not so city areas in Singapore, it's pretty common for people to use hokkien / canto and still have this accent but his is very strong

[@demonetization6596]

Singaporean translation Wait wait wait(Stop being impatient) Wait ah(I going to do something) Wwwaaiittt(Calm down) WAIT WAIT WAIT(Regret)

[@gordonng8090]

Demonetization 🤣 this is so accurate

[@economicapple2609]

no for the first one is wait wait wait wait wait wait wait waaaaait waaaait waaaait (7 fast waits, 3 slow waits)

[@economicapple2609]

for me la

[@musenw8834]

Yeppp you can give one word many meanings just by the tone itself and the way it's written. stylised how we want it. that's the fun part.

[@argheighteen]

I know of people who do say "open/close the light/water" because it is directly translated from chinese...

[@GeorgiaCaney]

makes sense!

[@adrianohjr93]

Yes we literally translate some words from mandarin

[@serapia1976]

Lmao and sentence structure

[@jackytang3683]

没毛病，简单直接

[@Adjuz]

@@jackytang3683 what,does that mean my chinese suks

[@mayaamartalal8395]

I’m moving from Portugal to Singapore next year to study at NUS and I’m terrified lol your videos have helped me a lot! I’ve been to Singapore once and I totally loved it; still scared though! Xx

[@blackhorse7553]

Don't be afraid, laterally u will learn how to speak Singlish...lol

[@PleasedTown]

don't worry about it though people are still fluent in english so they will be able to communicate with you

[@ThomasNovLoh]

Black Horse, *English.

[@serapia1976]

Pfft it's ok there's so many exchange and foreigners in our unis

[@pwnageking97]

Maya Amartalal I’m studying at NUS, I could be your guide!

[@dreamteam0506]

Agree with so many of these! please do more of such videos, they are so interesting to watch. I think "wait a while" is similar to "give me a second" that British people frequently use - both are ambiguous in terms of the exact timing that you're expecting the other party to wait. I study in the UK and i get pretty annoyed when British people tell me "give me a second" instead of "give me a minute" or a couple of minutes for that matter when they never literally just take a second.😂

[@GeorgiaCaney]

Hahaha so true thanks for sharing that!😂

[@ebonyloveivory]

It's never "just a second" haahahha that'd be impossible!😂

[@thelocaltouristsg2222]

I will say switch on/switch off the light :)

[@sarahadelelim5899]

im from Singapore and currently studying in Sydney and this made my day!!! this was pretty cute and interesting haha i had quite a laugh xx

[@GeorgiaCaney]

Awr thanks haha so glad you enjoyed it!

[@yukiousuzumi2595]

"Last time" sounds to me like a English transliteration from Chinese "上次", which bears both the meanings of "the previous time" (formal) or "in the past" (casual)

[@leeyokepeng2209]

Last time is more like 以前

[@ylw]

I felt like the conversation in this video went nowhere, with Georgia just saying that's wrong or that's funny, and with Noah just saying sounds fine to me. It would have been more interesting if the origins of the sayings were discussed, as some commenters have already brought up. Finally I'd like to add that we should start viewing English as a world language with all its varieties and quirks, and calling one form of English "right" or "wrong" doesn't make sense anymore.

[@binimbap]

word!

[@morislaguerta4415]

Dispense with the pathetic excuses and own up to your nation's inability and innate reluctance to adhere to standard English grammar.

[@aizac91]

I disagree, I'm Malaysian and even I can't stand when the locals here can't differentiate between a word that's plural or singular and that an "S" must be added without proper dissection of the word. True, English is the common language spoken worldwide but you have to give respect to its origin. Without it there will not be Singlish, Manglish, etc. I wouldn't use the word wrong but improper would be the better term for it. When a westerner/foreigner learns another language most of the time they will speak with proper grammar, pronunciation, and vocabularies. Example, if an English bloke speaks mandarin he follows the system of the language. Is okay for Singlish, Manglish to exist but it should be kept within the context of the two countries and shouldn't be encourage as another form of English. Just my two cents or in this case pence. Lol

[@morislaguerta4415]

@@aizac91 what in your view is the root cause of this? Why do ragged nations like the Philipines or Kenya have better command of English, whereas the nation with the world's second-best education system is miles behind?

[@someguy3766]

@@morislaguerta4415 Lol dude. Try reading Old English (Anglo Saxon) or Middle English; the latter you would struggle with, the former you wouldn't be able to understand at all. Both would seem very 'wrong' to you. But, both were the 'correct' forms of English in their day, until they were not. Or you could go back even further to proto-Germanic, from which English and all other Germanic languages originate. Is German 'good Germanic' and English 'bad Germanic' or vice versa? Of course not. That's just how language evolves and so naturally English is evolving into different things in places like Singapore, Jamaica, the US, the UK, even regional dialects within these countries etc just as it and its linguistic ancestors always have. Here's an easy rule to help you understand what makes a language/dialect 'correct': if the people who live around you can communicate effectively with you, then you're speaking perfectly fine.

[@sadistmy]

Just want to chime in here with phrases like, 'Wait a while, Open/Close the light, Just now and Spoil'. Most Sporeans (especially the Chinese) literally uses these phrases with an effortless lateral translation from Mandarin but for English purposes.

[@epiphadipity]

Regarding the "stuffs", I think a lot of people know it's not proper but they say it like... for fun? I guess it's like how people sometimes say "Yoz" instead of just "yo". And like how people know say "smol" instead of "small" just cause it looks cuter and tinier LOL. (or is it just me HAHAH). And I think someone has mentioned in previous comments but people say open and close the light because it's directly translated from Chinese! But honestly idk why they say that cause any proper school teacher would have taught you to say on and off the light.

[@jieqiiii]

I wonder how much Noah's slaughtering of the language triggered Georgia 😂

[@GeorgiaCaney]

🤐🤐🤐 hahaha

[@musenw8834]

@@GeorgiaCaney i assume also you've heard of the "damn shag at work" expression?

[@missysfx]

i haven't watched noah in a while.i didn't realise how deep his voice is

[@MrJonslife]

Basically these are grammar rules which were taught in schools. I remember learning fish and not fishes too. My teacher always reminded us to say ‘turn on the lights’ and not ‘on the lights’. So it’s just that the average Singaporean has bad grammar when he or she speaks, and usually it’s because we want to speak fast and get to the point. And yes, as some people pointed out, we translate directly from Chinese as well.

[@lethihoan]

My teacher taught me that in the UK spoil is normally used for human. For things/food: broken/ stale...

[@GeorgiaCaney]

Correct more commonly used as in someone is ‘spoilt’ as in spoon-fed, over indulged or pampered. E.g your kids are so spoilt. Other way we used it is to ‘diminish or destroy the value of something e.g ‘I wouldn’t want to spoil your fun’.

[@keretaman]

Btw! For luggage, I think Noah was thinking of suitcase. I think people here mean suitcase when they say luggage which is why it becomes luggages

[@funkee9]

What a fun idea! Noah is so chill (like time in Singaporean English lol). In defense of Singaporean English on the plural nouns issue (e.g. luggage), English has weird rules for "non-countable" items that sometimes make no sense. So just to be safe, add the "s"... 😁

[@GeorgiaCaney]

haha I don't think I'll ever agree on that one 😜 Thanks for watching!

[@ssummerdew]

Regarding plural nouns... i think many singaporeans just don't remember which nouns should never come with a 'S'... I'd just say it's poor English for this one 😂😂

[@livealittle6369]

Haha. It is true in a way. Why do ants, bees, cows and even clouds have plural forms, but sheep don't?

[@Yama01182710]

And sometimes fishes or fish can be used too, for different collective nouns? Sorry if my english is bad

[@livealittle6369]

@@Yama01182710 Fishes is used by scientists to refer to different species of fish.

[@TheCB94]

No American says "show me how it looks like." It's not in the lexicon. We would say "show me what it looks like," or MAYBE "show me how it looks."

[@naha555jp]

I used to live in the US, and I hadn't heard that expression. They would say, "Show me what it looks like" like the British do.

[@someguy3766]

It sounds like Singlish relies on a lot of assumed meanings, which is typical of a 'simplified' language, whereas in regular English everything has to be said very clearly or else meaning is lost without the required context. 'On the light' is a good example; in Singapore one assumes the meaning to be an instruction to turn on the light because that is the assumed context based on colloquial usage of the term. Whereas in the UK where we make fewer assumptions the lack of the verb 'turn' completely changes the context of the phrase; we would think the person is trying to say there is something physically on top of the light, rather than the person wanting us to activate it. I see similar sorts of rules in Caribbean variations of English. Very interesting.

[@clarencesim8973]

Georgia should teach English in Singapore or make videos on common English errors made by Singaporeans. Being a Brit, her English pronunciation and diction are perfect. Singaporeans have to learn that in order to be understood, they can't be too sloppy in their verbal expressions.

[@ANEWCreationLimited]

For the uncountable nouns, like luggage, I would probably say "there are 4 pieces of luggage" instead of "there are 4 luggage".

[@cherylsng8850]

hahaha with ''spoiled''/ ''broken'', linguistically it could be due to the fact that chinese, malay ad the majoritan dialects only have one word to describe both. Hence when Singaporeans adopted/ learned the English language, it translated across as one word for all instances- and of course, passed verbally from generation to generation.

[@cherylsng8850]

same with close light/ on/ off lights. It's a direct translation from mandarin.

[@diablolrm90]

"Last time the police used to wear shorts". Haha, idk why but this never fails to crack me up whenever I hear it.

[@dominic2446]

5:47 "4 luggage" this doesnt make sense as luggage is an uncountable noun, so how can you count the number of luggages?

[@play4serve959]

This is much better than the GeorgeShampoo video. I can actually understand Noah and his explanations how certain words are used is helpful.

[@rigelandreazabala3991]

This was fun to watch! The differences in the language but meaning the same thing. Totally agree with not adding “s” on the collective nouns (i dunno if the term is correct). But the usage depends on the culture, as always. 👌🏻

[@GeorgiaCaney]

totally! Thanks for watching girly! 😘

[@rigelandreazabala3991]

Thanks for your vlogs Georgia! ♥️

[@zanmxy]

Honestly, the equipment, luggage and clothes thing isn't really Singaporean English, it's just bad English, because it isn't even right to add an S behind, but a lot of people don't know and they still make that mistake

[@morislaguerta4415]

How come? Doesn't the island boast the world's second-best education system? Why are its people so inept at basic English grammar?

[@yopin7026]

@@morislaguerta4415 I beg to differ. Our countrymen's mastery of the English language is quite apparent in writing and speech. However, the mistakes you see in the video are not representative of the younger, more educated class. Such basic mistakes are few and far between nowadays and I can vouch that only "last time/in the past" is commonly used in speech. I can sense a subtle hint of biasness in which you have something against Singapore from the other reply of yours and this one. I don't know what your motive is but I do hope that I have clarified your misunderstandings.

[@johnchang1226]

Do you say "roadworks ahead" or "roadwork ahead"? Is roadwork countable or non countable?

[@ReineDeLaSeine14]

American here...I’ve said “Shoe me how it looks”...but never with the “like”. I’m from New England Also, Noah sounds Jamaican and French AT THE SAME TIME.

[@kadajlim]

"Chui" is something like America English "totaled", sometimes a Chinese might slip up & said open d light becoz in their brain it's the literally translation of Mandarin way saying turn on d light~

[@tinaliu1811]

I think all these special phrases came from Chinese. They are just translated directly but words not actual meanings. Like the first one, wait a while in Singaporean means the same in Chinese（等会儿）, and the open/close light（开／关灯）

[@michael_santos_serra]

The "concept of time thing" being jumbled is the same in South African English.

[@innerlight10]

Singaporeans like to keep their English short and crisp. Other than the wrong add-on of 's' for plural usage, the rest is fine.

[@MrNavarros]

To be honest, I really wanna learn how to speak in British accent. I find it sexy though.. I’m a Singaporean 😅

[@morislaguerta4415]

Then why is your English so appallingly bad?

[@MrNavarros]

Evgeny Kaledin blame my English teacher. and by the way, it’s “Than” not “Then” your English really bad. Don’t blame your English teacher, you are the problem.

[@morislaguerta4415]

@@MrNavarros Your fallacious remark is a case in point.

[@MrNavarros]

Evgeny Kaledin you are the suspect, because your English is gone case. 😆

[@MrNavarros]

Evgeny Kaledin wow “fallacious” that’s a “deep” word 🤣 I had to Google it. Please don’t used deep words because, my English is bad.

[@eitherway_8r9]

I agree!!! the word "stuffs" is my biggest pet peeve.

[@wmlwmlwmlwml]

Regarding the word "luggage", I find that "four luggage" also sounds extremely ungrammatical; I think "four pieces of luggage" is the more standard way of saying it. When Noah said that "there's for of them", it sort of hints that in the Singaporean English lexicon, "luggage" refers to a single bag or suitcase, whereas standard English uses "luggage" to refer to the collection of belongings (traditionally a matching set of bags) one lugs with them on travel. Do any British speakers actually say things like "four luggage"?

[@wmlwmlwmlwml]

The same applies to other mass nouns like "stuff" - which is treated as synonymous with "thing" - hence multiple "things" = multiple "stuffs". "One footage" in SgE is one "piece of footage" and so on. These aren't grammatical mistakes as some would say; rather they are a different system and that system is the grammar of (Colloquial) Singapore English :)

[@A7Xgreatestfan]

GEORGIA!,IT WOULD BE GREAT IF YOU MAKE A VIDEO WITH DEE KOSH

[@pylpoh]

if you translate "switch on the light" to mandarin, it will be "open the light" . Singlish is not broken or corrupted english. it is a creole language. We have more than just americian and british english.

[@DfXy96]

Oh my God I'm so appalled, he assumed she could understand spoil in Chinese - 'huai' HAHAHHAHA

[@LuminescentQuarter]

Cui 🤣🤣 I cannot

[@MichelleYee]

Open/close the lights is literally spoken English directly translated from the Chinese language.

[@musenw8834]

On/off the light, yes.

[@mystique912]

We use nouns as a verbs a lot!

[@boogywumpy]

My mom:open the light... Me:HUH? HOW DO I OPEN THE LIGHT BULB?!?!?!?

[@ariesspring1949]

This me and my mom real life convo lol

[@penguin6700]

4 pieces of luggage Works the same as 'money'. We count dollars and cents but not money i.e. one money, two money, many money

[@mynameisYumi]

don't know if anyone has explained the "open the light" and "close the light" - it's probably 'cos in Mandarin we say 开灯 and 关灯, which literally means open the light and close the light haha

[@paosernlim]

Hahaha. Hey Goergia, ....many thanks for another another hilarious and brilliant Vlog. Very entertaining indeed.

[@nuoutdoor]

additionally I have Hungarian accent/mindset, requires one step more focus to understand. I do practice every day

[@zafirahzain3875]

This is so hilarious ! Love it ! 💕💕

[@keretaman]

Great video! Good choice of guest too, Noah was funny , and has ... that Singaporean accent :D

[@radyi.4334]

"Wait a while" sounds really strange to me, i think it's more frequently used by old Chinese aunties. I think "hold on a moment" sounds more natural...and keep in mind that malays and indians speaks english differently too

[@imvanessalee]

Not from Singapore but Malaysia, but I do agree some of those phrases/words sound grammatically wrong. Especially the one with as extra 'S' on uncountable nouns. And for the 'wait a while', usually I'd say 'wait for a while' instead. And for 'last time', I'd use last time for 'in the past' and 'the last time' for literally 'the last time'. 😂

[@deezeed2817]

The Singaporean accent is an acquired taste, initially it sounds weird as fuck but then it sounds pretty cool.

[@bu834]

i think most of us use just now as in like literally just now ( things that happen in a day )

[@shinnxinhui]

"Wait a while" seems to be directly translated from the Chinese term "等一下" (Deng yi xia) (not very sure). I think the time frame for this should be a few minutes, if its anymore than 15 minutes I guess we might say "Give me 20 minutes/ I will take another half an hour more" so and so. At least that's how I use it haha. And I didn't even know adding 's' to uncountable noun is wrong lol omgosh.

[@liz-lizlovedonetsotsi1160]

Great video👌🏾

[@AdamZhafir]

The funny thing is that we Singaporeans is learning British English but we don't have the accent but I have a normal English accent cause I am Malay not Chinese and Indian and I am 13 sec 1 ahha

[@angelojeremias4301]

My mother tongue is spanish of chile, and I'm learning english but I never thought that in singapore people speak english, sounds super funny and sweet to me even though is so difficult to get it 🤣

[@jolintruong6263]

It's very interesting to watch

[@jianxiongRaven]

By right Singapore uses British English , but everything got mixed up . Even Chinese too .

[@flawyerlawyertv7454]

Awesome 👏

[@SunNy-fm7dz]

To all teachers watching this video, please teach your students all these commonly and wrongly used English in Singapore - open/on the light (which should be switch/turn on the light), last time (which should be in the past), no battery (which should be battery is flat), etc.

[@jesuisravi]

I've lived in the US my whole life and never once have I heard any American say, "Show me how it looks like". We say: "Show me how it looks, or show me what it looks like".

[@iqniy9]

I just realise Noah was in the movie ah boys to men

[@sharkenwonderswhy]

1ST LIKE,COMMENT N VIEW!!

[@nneomao.7351]

Noah’s accent sounds like Nigerian accent

[@notme6753]

I'm a Singaporean Filipino and as a Filipino yes... We would often say open the lights hahaha because in Tagalog open and on uses the same word. As a Singaporean no leh... We would say on the light lah lol.

[@wanxinandwanxinwanxin6123]

im the one who say open n close the light n water.....

[@muhd7144]

I don't think Noah got it. He didn't catch the nuances of what Georgia trying to convey, for example "wait a while". You really have to live in the UK for "a while" to fully understand Georgia.

[@Wynn15]

Wow.... Noah’s English is SO Singaporean. I can’t. Me, and friends in my circle don’t speak like this.

[@RamaDani-kr3sx]

Singapore become a chaina now ,, But literlery its malayu land . As you know singa its mean lion in malayu leaguech .

[@wasiamaghfira1620]

i used to say lights on, lights off.

[@MisterCF8]

"Your mum says it." Said Tracer from Overwatch.

[@ChristyKonaChanLeong]

i can’t 😂😂 i love this!!

[@GeorgiaCaney]

Yayyyy😊

[@sllee3575]

Hahaha, Singlish is always very effective. NIce sharing.

[@STheR1DER]

she needs to invite a matrep and an ah beng this one cfm funny one sia HAHAHAHA

[@davidsoh7883]

u found the right candidate Noah to speak broken english aka singlish. Hes a chinese "helicopter" go check with the older ppl what a chinese"helicopter" is

[@park_suhong]

Noah so funny Sia

[@st0rmbreaK]

"4 luggages" good god

[@mei-br7ch]

I know that most of our singlish is grammatically incorrect but for some reason, I still use it and it just comes naturally

[@plebbieproductions5785]

I always say open the light XD

[@SharonGoh12]

Lol 😂 I would say “wait ah” instead of “wait a while”

[@oreodreyy]

im so determined to learn how to speak/ phrase sentences using proper english, after watching this. it's a little bit embarrassing / humiliating , when your foreign friend doesn't get what your broken english means * awkward * :(

[@Name_less_youtube]

I’m singaporean but I have a little bit of a British accent lmao

[@sansoo4976]

actually singlish is rather new, its literally poor english,it started with kids that spoke dialect and couldnt speak proper english like noah.

[@NikaDLuffy01]

Noah yap ah boys to men movies shows from singapore 😂

[@hamizahaqilah9291]

My professor is so annoyed at us students for adding an ‘s’ to research. Hahahahahahahahah researches

[@GeorgiaCaney]

Hahaha 😂

[@darrylk808]

Too funny!!

[@metalheaddave666]

His teeth are freakin epic

[@Yumi-na]

Um Singapore follow british what the u mean? Is doughnut in Sg because British way. British colonized Sg so become liddat liao. But in the other country ah it the spell as donut Sorry. My inner Sg

[@Patroclus27]

Open the tv

[@GeorgiaCaney]

you say? 😀

[@smooth122]

Well I do say open the light haha

[@spacex6997]

What lah

[@icedra123]

We shorten ''Teacher'' to ''CHER''

[@binyoung7297]

I am horrified that you use the MRT toilet. They are quite dirty.

[@physika]

Only Singaporeans know Singlish.

[@ct8168]

go and ask people Do u PCC.

[@samesamebutnotsame1172]

You should stand next to chinese woman trying to dress in victorian dress. Should be funny

[@faehimmirza2381]

Second comment