Singaporeans Try: Speaking In Their Dialect For 24H

Dialects spoken by elders and our ancestors are gradually dying out in Singapore, with many no longer being able to communicate or even understand their dialects. In this episode of Singaporeans Try, we got 3 colleagues to speak in their respective dialects for a day!
Become a TSL supporter and watch our content early!
www.youtube.co...
Follow The Smart Local on Social Media!
/ thesmartlocal
/ thesmartlocaltv
/ thesmartlocalsg
/ thesmartlocaltv
/ thesmartlocalsg
t.me/TSLMedia
thesmartlocal.com
Featuring:
Jeslene Chia - / jeslenec
Mandon Lee - / zxns
Steph Leong - / mianbaobreadpan
Additional Filming by:
Victoria Low - / victxrialow
Listened to Jes say Ummm 1,500 times:
Amanda Feng - / amandalpaca
Business Enquiries:
[e-mail]

[@TheSmartLocal]

How well can you speak in your dialect?

[@coconutwombats]

5.5/10

[@kokhuisd]

Hokkien ezpz😂

[@HONG38]

@@kokhuisd i'm hokkien and i cant even speak. haha

[@HONG38]

Hokkien 0/10.

[@JamesLee-on1yb]

Hokkien i could speak Singaporean Hokkien and Taiwanese Hokkien.

[@geraldkoh209]

more dialect content please!

[@ambievert]

words cannot express how hard I broke down in laughter hearing jess saying wah meng ti LMAOOO

[@benlafontaine969]

As a Canadian who loves learning varieties of Chinese, not just Mandarin but also Cantonese Teochew, Hakka and also (Minnan/Hokkien/Taiwanese), I have learned new words through this video. It is very sad to hear that dialects are facing extinction. Elderlies have a lot to teach to the future generations and they should not be taken for granted. However I am happy to see Steph and Mandon who can speak their dialect better than most of the younger generations.

[@deepstormsean]

Please do a part 2 , featuring sew, adria , Brenda , john . This episode totally rocks

[@FayeRob618]

As someone who grew up listening to my family speak in our native dialect my whole life but dont really speak it much with them, i felt Jes struggle here 😂 for the most part, i understand what they’re saying but conversing/speaking is on a whole another level. My brain need to process for a long and find the right words. I would either def failed this challenge or refer to my dialect book a lot 😅

[@chloelim7993]

THERE IS A DIALECT BOOK??

[@FayeRob618]

@@chloelim7993 lol yeah. Im from Brunei and we have 7 dialects based on our 7 puak (clan) . Someone from my district wrote a the book/dictionary of a sort just listing down the words and translate it to standard Malay 😂

[@chloelim7993]

@@FayeRob618 this is super interesting thanks for sharing! ❤️

[@Jaspheroid]

Please make Lery speak Tagalog/Filipino! Then ask him to add the subs when the KZbin team is editing the video already hahahaa

[@tsunderenekokun]

I’m a Hong konger and I think that the Cantonese girl’s accent made her sound like she’s from the mainland - a guangxi-mandarin accent maybe? But otherwise I think she’s pretty good at it. She uses vocabulary close to HK Cantonese so I can still understand it easily

[@songwaikit8718]

Her cantonese accent is more of those English educated trying to speak some canto accent. Anyway I'm from Malaysia when I speak with my hk and Macau friends. I found my accent much closer to their grandparents. We also have some vocabulary that modern day hk don't use. Possibly some phrases only certain villages in guangdong uses. Like kids are still referred to dao gei zai which I heard is no longer used in modern canto

[@tankeankiat6785]

I'm half hokkien half Teochew. When I speak sometimes, I mixed both hokkien and Teochew together without realising, since both are very similar

[@dawnho7744]

This goes to show how important our dialects are. Mandon spoke the best out of the three. Steph's pronunciation needs further improvement but on the whole, she can speck in complete Cantonese.. I applaud Jess for trying her very best. 加油！ Growing up in a Cantonese-speaking environment, my dad didn't pass down Hainanese dialect to me and the rest in the family. The funny thing is, my mom's Cantonese is rather twisted and inaccurate. The saving grace was from watching many 70s, 80s and 90s HK dramas and listening to Cantonese songs of those eras. I can't say that my Cantonese is perfect but I never have big issues communicating using it.

[@usagikinomoto_sakura]

Growing up getting scolded by my mum in Hokkien definitely helps you to learn it one way or another 😂

[@joshualee8151]

and goodness i would never guessed steph is 34 i would have guessed 25 or 26 years oldd!!

[@hoiweng]

Her canto damn solid!!

[@joshualee8151]

very true jes and steph!!! hokkien dialect used to be the national language of taiwan at one point till they changed it to mando!! look at taiwanese now this generation cant even speak it... i couldnt imagine myself speaking welsh or polish

[@KpopLunatic]

HAHAHAHAHA JES CRACKED ME UPPP!!! 😂😂😂 I laughed so much watching her struggle. Mandon's Hokkien is really good and quite fluent. My Hokkien is quite broken as well, but I still try to practice speaking it to my mum, grandma and boss 🤭

[@supreme87878]

Just FYI for those who think our dialect composition is just mere; teochew, hokkien, cantonese, hainanese and hakka. Amongst each individual group you have also got different way of pronunciation. Example within teochew you have got different tones and pronunciation. Teochew haiyeo, teochew swatow, teochew por neng, teochew kekyeo....etc. Just "sleep" itself, you have got: ngk, ngee, uuk, ngor amongst the teochew. Hokkien: you got hokkien, huiwah, hokkien an kueh, hokkien namwah, hokkien engchoon, hokkien chuanchwee, and all of them speak differently. "Fire" in hokkien you have got; hey, her, huay. Same applies to the other dialects, you have sub group ammongst the same dialect.

[@20pointer]

steph's canto impressive :)

[@JuzNicky]

@mianbaoo Yeap my aunts only use Canto so... have to canto and mandarin everything at CNY so must say 2 times greetings tossing salad sayings. 🤐 but then If we don't want ppl to listen into our convo use Canto easy.

[@marcuswong6743]

I love this 'speaking in another language/dialect content'. Ever since the video where they learn korean

[@Suzette1122]

My late maternal grandfather knew how to speak English so when I was young I basically relied on him as a translator whenever I had to speak to my grandmother who only spoke Teochew. One time, my parents left me with them for a week when they went travelling and my mom hoped when they came back I would have picked up some Teochew (since my grandfather was working part time, there would be some time of the day when it would be just me and her). To her great surprise when they came to pick me up, my grandmother was speaking little bits of English. Turns out that whenever she spoke to me, I just looked at her blankly having no idea what she was talking about and she just gave up and asked my grandfather to teach her some English words so she could somewhat communicate with me. I do feel a bit sad not having picked up either Teochew or Hokkien as I can only communicate with both my grandmothers with only very basic Chinese since they speak and understand their dialects better.

[@petteripan2658]

Omg... you guys made me want to speak my Hakka language again...

[@CitiesSkyGay]

This is why if people try to shame me for not speaking mandarin fluently, even though I'm actually fluent in Teochew, I will shame them back for likely not being able to speak their dialect. Our grandparents, great grandparents, and all other ancestors definitely did not speak Mandarin. Yet few people would ever question how Chinese they are. Let's remember that.

[@UzumakiNaruto-ln9kg]

ya sia, dialect is our real mother tongue lor

[@CitiesSkyGay]

@@UzumakiNaruto-ln9kg Also the peranakan.... Baba Malay is their mother tongue, but they have to learn Mandarin in school. Makes no sense

[@dingus42]

@@CitiesSkyGay my dad (half Hokkien/half baba) learnt Malay in school. At least he had the choice of one of them in his generation. Myself... i wasn't allowed to learn either, just Mandarin... sad

[@jeremychia1281]

would say dialect is a misnomer. they are all languages (hokkien, cantonese, hakka) in their own right. ☺️ good for featuring this!

[@lubis1991]

But they aren’t. They are the same Chinese language, using the same script.

[@jeremychia1281]

@@lubis1991They share the same script but are mutually unintelligible. That's what makes them languages. For example - 佢哋 (Cantonese) translates to 他们 (Mandarin). Dialects are only if speakers understand each other. For example, Toishanese and Cantonese. But Cantonese, Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka, have different lsnguage branches and are not mutually intelligible. Therefore calling them a "Chinese dialect" is a misnomer. ☺️

[@lubis1991]

@@jeremychia1281 There’s mutual intelligibility between portuguese and spanish, but they are distinct languages. Unless you want to call them dialects of the romance language. Mutual intelligibility is not a good differentiator of language vs dialect.

[@jeremychia1281]

@@lubis1991 Mutual intelligibilty is the linguistical differentiator of what is a language. Spanish and Portugese are not all that similar ☺️.

[@jeremychia1281]

@@lubis1991 How do you define languages then, if not for mutual intelligibility?

[@JamesLee-on1yb]

I would pass this 24hr challenge without fail as i been speaking dialect since young.

[@alexandral8913]

this was so funny and relatable HAHAHA honestly Jes did way better than I would have

[@rayroar1117]

Can i make a special request for Mandon to sing the whole 我问天 song, Mandon has a really nice voice for the hokkien language!

[@RobertHeslop]

This episode was so interesting! Please do another pt. 2 with others!

[@audreychoong7323]

Lol, did Steph just said 粉腸 in Cantonese for rice rolls? 😂 It should be 腸粉 (Cantonese). 粉腸 is to Scold someone in Cantonese, especially in HK.

[@TheSmartLocal]

😭😭😭😭

[@thestarsoul111]

Not enough, more dialect content please! So funny when they’re not good at it (yes Jas) 😂

[@nanthiny8634]

Jes vulgarities not in dialect , now that's really bad 😂

[@TheSmartLocal]

Editor was also surprised that the vulgarities not in hokkien sia..

[@YoutiaoVlogs]

Hahaha I am teochew that is bad at it, but well versed in hokkien, as for cantonese swearing is my forte 😂

[@ProjectElf]

this mandon really spoil market sia...he's cute, can cook, and now he's so fluent in hokkien too! (i love it when guys speak dialects, maybe coz i like ahbengs lol)

[@awkwardsmile]

Lol not sure if mandon wants to be associated with ah bengs

[@Namae_Desuuu]

Yayy Cantonese represent ☺️🙌🏼

[@b7076-y7x]

Wow, Mandon can speak Hokkien so well, better than my "Hokkien Lang" friend from Penang.

[@kohkohkoh-fb2iq]

Hokkien listening comprehension =100m but hokkien oral= 50m I guess it’s quite hard to speak hokkien in one full sentence coz quite a lot of mandarin vocabulary don’t hv hokkien equivalent or we will simply just use Chinese when we are stuck.

[@dingus42]

that's why it's better to think of it as a separate language mah... while it is helpful to think in mandarin terms because the grammar is similar, Hokkien has its own equivalent terms for every vocabulary if you go study up on it properly, and some are just not related to the mandarin one at all

[@johcx1994]

I feel so nervous for Steph. While watching I cannot emphasize how stressful it must have been to try to convert to HK's version of Cantonese, which is usually what we hear when watching TVB dramas (which is close to Chinese). Fun Cheong not wrong, but usually Cheong Fun is spoken and more understood (good that she brought this out, but only people who speak Cantonese can understand). Air fryer I think hei zha guo is enough, then I think rarely people will say tong seuhng (not cheong), but its understood. Maybe tak hahn is more appropriate, though Im not seeing it fitting in this situation. Although my Hokkien/Teochew isnt that great, but for Jes, rather than say baibai (praying), we can say tolong (ask for help; I know its originally Malay, but Malay and hokkien has many words that are borrowed from each other). "tolong dan je mai laosai" - hope that later I dont have diarrhoea. Dont have to say sa zhup hun for mentioning minutes in time; bua also can (means half). if ending 5 mins use the analogue clock number that it is at and say (number) ji. I think rather than translate, language or dialects itself is quite dynamic. Usually dialects are quite expressive and don't usually conform to the standard language that we learn in school. So long as it is understood. Hope Jes dont give up and hope the government can allow more dialect shows to be produced in Singapore, even if the only timeslot is on Friday around noontime for now - or maybe it has changed coz I havent been keeping up with Mediacorp. Mandon: there is a term for bye in hokkien: zai kian, just that its not commonly used and direct translation from Jack Neo's "Happy Can Already" series.

[@supreme87878]

Zai jian is mandarin lah. Ppl usually say zao liao, kia liao.

[@johcx1994]

@@supreme87878 If direct translate from Chinese la... I mean taking the reference from Jack Neo so... might not be right.

[@tankeankiat6785]

Not sure in Hong Kong, but in kl, fan cheong could be a swear word, which literally means idiot, so better to use cheong fan or chee cheong fan

[@shucklesors]

Mandon has strong "i prepare super hard to try to impress before turning on my camera" vibes

[@renaawq8742]

Should’ve made Jeslene do the outro in Hokkien also HAHAHAHA

[@TheSmartLocal]

The way she would’ve just upped and left

[@gracef629]

we want more content like this!!

[@xzdrtxyzxvn]

It's not dialects but language. A lot of people got confused in the meaning of dialect. I speak Cantonese but I dont understand Hokkien. If dialects you can understand hokkien and Cantonese vice versa as it sound similar. I also speak Taishanese a vatiant or DIALECT of the YUE where Cantonese is one of the dialect of YUE. Taishanese and Cantonese sound similar.

[@shinkaitan5664]

That's why I force myself to start speaking Cantonese and my own dialect, Hokkien 4 years ago at the age of 17.

[@junhao702]

Actually, dialect won’t die one. But in Sg, it’s true that younger generation have lesser knowledge of their dialect. But these dialects are from China, and people there, even the young ones speak it day to day. So it won’t die. Only in Sg. You see even the younger generation in KL can speak fluent Cantonese. The people in Klang can speak fluent Hokkien.

[@supreme87878]

Eventuallu will die out. The dialect spoke amongst the younger generation in china are literally mandarin phrases translated. The phrases use by our grandparents are lesser heard in china other than amongst the older generation there.

[@starshine9836]

I could speak really well before 20yo, until all my grandparents passed on and seldom speak, but able to understand well. As of now, a decade later, it's rusty, but understandable.

[@maine2309]

Can we have an ep with teochew pleaseeee~

[@yukilynx3526]

Steph sounds so sweet speaking Cantonese 😊

[@danieltoh71]

I am 52yo and grew up in a Hokkien / English family. We never speak in 100% Hokkien, there are always English, Malay, etc mixed into our sentences

[@ceaesea2695]

petition for a compilation of jes saying umm 1500 times ✋

[@TheSmartLocal]

😵😵😵😵😵😵😵😵😵😵😵

[@MrAlright1111]

This eps isso interesting and satisfying to hear them speak. Im a hokkien but i cant speak it cause i never grow up speaking it but i can understand it. Quite a pity because i like the way it sounds lol. I do wanna learn Cantonese also for the sounds. I feel that dialect is abit disappering as people mostly speak English and the generations after wont follow up with it.

[@josephang2520]

A lot hokkien in Singapore so similar to Johor, Melaka, Kl, Selangor

[@Nerubiru]

Pray is WA MENG TI I CHOKED 🤣

[@MrNamesNoMore]

Future generation still can speak their mother tongue already not bad liao lor

[@tanshinying6439]

sew amanda speaking in hokkien pls!

[@emeraldinwonderland789]

Joe’s is literally me when I speak Mondrian or any language my brain cannot think

[@wks2291]

Cantonese is the easiest because a lot of people around us speak it (Malaysia, HK) and we have good access to these countries. I'm not even Cantonese by ethnic group but my Cantonese is easily the best among the dialects. My hokkien and teochew is super rojak (mix with english, malay and others). 25 years ago my distant relative from swatow came and no one can communicate with him in teochew except my grandparents. When I go Taiwan, my hokkien doesn't even come close and I can only understand 20-25% of what they say. Even my "ah beng" colleague which is considered damn good by Singapore standard also struggle and can he say he only understand about 80% when they speak fast and got to guess the rest. Got some words he never even hear before.

[@aaocs7042]

Hokkien in taiwan is quite different from hokkien in malaysia and singapore. Many of the hokkien words are not the same, excluding the malay words used in our hokkien

[@lamkw6329]

Many words in Hokkien in Malaysia are different in Penang and Johor, and people always fight about it 🤣

[@tankeankiat6785]

It's not hard to mix hokkien and Teochew together since both are similar imo

[@_itzel_]

know i wanna properly learn canto and hokkien HAHA. and yea i agree that the younger generation will most likely not be able to speak their dialects.

[@fay117]

Goodbye in Hokkien is zai gian.

[@olzenkhaw]

direct translate to dialect really fun..hahaha

[@dalisken]

I’m sorry, this is kinda out of topic but I can’t get over Manson

[@seangaun]

In Penang we pronounced as Bei Sai not Boey Sai

[@anselhsh3867]

please don't say "fen cheong" when you wanna order chee cheong fun lol it means asshole, CCF in short is "Cheong fun" 🤣

[@Dragoondaniel]

sadly no teochew representation 😔 part 2 maybe? hahaha

[@zehahaha603]

The one in taiwan so cute, keep mixing up hokkien & cantonese

[@jytan740]

make more videos of dialects, sure very funny

[@lucylee3743]

Wow mandden you win 🏆

[@jackoliver0107]

Cantonese actually not bad eh it’s really hard to speak Cantonese

[@jameslee9742]

Come Challenge me, pc of cake lei. Wow Lou sad to see the younger gen of Spore losing touch

[@LoverZSouL]

I am hokkien but my cantonese is better, thanks to watching many tvb dramas 😅😅😅😅

[@GamingForSpeed]

No way bro playing Gunivere in mythic rank☠☠☠

[@TheSmartLocal]

Not sure what that means but 👍🏼😀👍🏼

[@GamingForSpeed]

@@TheSmartLocal Mandon's Game🤣

[@y.ello._.w]

i can understand what theyre speaking but i cannot reply 😭😭

[@Yingx2C-lp9tc]

Teochew plsss

[@chloelim7993]

Died at wa meng ti 😂

[@zhen86]

Try find someone to talk in hainanese. Canto and hokkien is too common

[@freakoutnoww]

good

[@adeafeningdistance8539]

You should go ask the bananas to speak their dialect too, see if they can do better than them haha

[@TheSmartLocal]

the entire vlog might be silent

[@adeafeningdistance8539]

@@TheSmartLocal That bad meh? I know some people who say they are banana (can't speak mandarin) but they at least know how to speak dialect(s)

[@silverchairsg]

I think Singaporeans' second language will eventually become Japanese or Korean.

[@bibibibibi7952]

no one asked the boy what kind of language he tried to learn....speak lah don't understand speak meaning meh?

[@bringbackmy90s]

Well its a shame that people forget their mother tongue

[@kokhuisd]

Pray= bobi

[@Day_Transportation]

Hi first

[@TheSmartLocal]

No we first 😩😩😩

[@Day_Transportation]

@@TheSmartLocal nah

[@Day_Transportation]

I ammone hour before u guys

[@kyrozuke1641]

am I tripping but did the gap between Jes's teeth became wider as compared to before 😶😶

[@moonstarsun633]

Jes will look gorgeous in lady wear and long hair. Hope she has a boyfriend. A real man boyfriend cos she's pretty yet handsome too 😁

[@wongyoonchark5050]

kopi O kosong

[@shawnleong3605]

The tragic consequence of the language policy pushed by our dear prime minister: a generation who lost their cutlure and roots.

[@valentinachin1920]

😅

[@viviankate7240]

Malaysian Chinese be like... Wait, is a challenge? Aren't you like ..force to be able to speak it? 🗿...damn, the same time i thought all Singaporeans speak malay too. Singaporeans have it easy... 😂

[@sart3735]

Malaysians speak subpar English, Mandarin and Chinese dialects. Your education ranked xxx. Malaysians definitely have it easy.

[@芋頭丸-z6c]

no cus that’s so real people speak better Koreans and jap 😭😭

[@yogitraderz7917]

Chibynese sure speaks