Singlish or English
My sister is in town.... so... I have my daily dosage of Singlish- a smattering blend of English, Malay, Mandarin, Dialects ........ in the past, I never had a problem, switching from Singlish to English and back, in a split second. From canadian accent to my singapore accent... Now i do.. my sister says I even speak Mandarin with an accent ! OPPS !
Nearly everyone in Singapore speaks more than one language, with many people speaking three or four. Most children grow up bilingual from infancy and learn more languages as they grow up. Naturally the presence of other languages (especially various varieties of Malay and of Chinese) has influenced the English of Singapore. The influence is especially apparent in the kind of English that is used informally, which is popularly called Singlish. Singlish is a unique blend of English and local (mostly) Hokkien, Malay and Tamil terms. Certain English words or phrases have also acquired local meanings which differ from their original meanings
Using Singlish was frowned upon because the standard of English was dropping. Kids that are going to school are spelling words wrongly and using Singlish words in essay writing. in 1999, the Singapore government introduced a official campaign to encourage Singaporeans to use Standard English rather than Singlish.
Many bloggers use a good deal of Singlish in their writing too. While I really dont agree with using Singlish, I can identify with the bloggers better and too many times, it almost seemed like I know the person. Singlish has become an identity for Singaporeans and especially while overseas, speaking to someone else in Singlish, is like being at home. ( Note, blogging in Singlish is totally different as compared to the short forms that a lot of Singaporeans use.
E.g
Aniwae, dis gurl cnnt make it lah, i tink e whole pt of e change is to show tt im nw gonna actualli hve to oso haf the additn work. tts sux. i tink tt iz soooooooo tt mebbe iz goin to coz less. aiya, btw, i koe onli i is e one tt koe enuf to finish e wrk. hw silli....
Translated into Singlish
Anyway, this girl cannot make it lah, I think the whole point of the change is to show that I'm now gonna actually have to also have the additional work. Thats sucks. I think that its soooooo that maybe its going to cost less. Aiya, by the way, I know only I is the one that knows enough to finish the work. How silly....
Translated into Real Standard English
This Girl can barely make it, I think the whole point of the change will show that I have to do the additional work. That will suck. Maybe the change will bring about less hiring cost. Oh. by the way, I know I am the only know that is capable of finishing the work. How silly....
I have no problems with reading Singlish and I understand every single word of it. BUT my brains simply refuse to read any 'shorten' singlish. I detest it. How hard can it be to spell out the extra ? does it really take more effort to type ONLY instead of ONLI ? or is the O in NOW really that far away on one's keyboard that NOW is spelt NW ?
Back to Singlish, for the adventurous, you can visit Talking Cock.Com Singapore's Premier Satirical Humour Website, visit the The Coxford Singlish Dictionary. Learn Singlish and come practise with me...
Nearly everyone in Singapore speaks more than one language, with many people speaking three or four. Most children grow up bilingual from infancy and learn more languages as they grow up. Naturally the presence of other languages (especially various varieties of Malay and of Chinese) has influenced the English of Singapore. The influence is especially apparent in the kind of English that is used informally, which is popularly called Singlish. Singlish is a unique blend of English and local (mostly) Hokkien, Malay and Tamil terms. Certain English words or phrases have also acquired local meanings which differ from their original meanings
Using Singlish was frowned upon because the standard of English was dropping. Kids that are going to school are spelling words wrongly and using Singlish words in essay writing. in 1999, the Singapore government introduced a official campaign to encourage Singaporeans to use Standard English rather than Singlish.
Many bloggers use a good deal of Singlish in their writing too. While I really dont agree with using Singlish, I can identify with the bloggers better and too many times, it almost seemed like I know the person. Singlish has become an identity for Singaporeans and especially while overseas, speaking to someone else in Singlish, is like being at home. ( Note, blogging in Singlish is totally different as compared to the short forms that a lot of Singaporeans use.
E.g
Aniwae, dis gurl cnnt make it lah, i tink e whole pt of e change is to show tt im nw gonna actualli hve to oso haf the additn work. tts sux. i tink tt iz soooooooo tt mebbe iz goin to coz less. aiya, btw, i koe onli i is e one tt koe enuf to finish e wrk. hw silli....
Translated into Singlish
Anyway, this girl cannot make it lah, I think the whole point of the change is to show that I'm now gonna actually have to also have the additional work. Thats sucks. I think that its soooooo that maybe its going to cost less. Aiya, by the way, I know only I is the one that knows enough to finish the work. How silly....
Translated into Real Standard English
This Girl can barely make it, I think the whole point of the change will show that I have to do the additional work. That will suck. Maybe the change will bring about less hiring cost. Oh. by the way, I know I am the only know that is capable of finishing the work. How silly....
I have no problems with reading Singlish and I understand every single word of it. BUT my brains simply refuse to read any 'shorten' singlish. I detest it. How hard can it be to spell out the extra ? does it really take more effort to type ONLY instead of ONLI ? or is the O in NOW really that far away on one's keyboard that NOW is spelt NW ?
Back to Singlish, for the adventurous, you can visit Talking Cock.Com Singapore's Premier Satirical Humour Website, visit the The Coxford Singlish Dictionary. Learn Singlish and come practise with me...
posted by Celine at
2:58 PM
1 Comments:
Language: The flavour of the culture. A young nation needs an identity... Singlish really shows the blend and mix of our main racial groups as you have aptly described it to be.
Sure. Singapore is getting very cosmopolitan and English is its first language but seriously even in metropolitan London, their English is hardly next to perfect. And oh did English actually come from there?
What better way to express yourself in the language if it is related to the context?
If i am writing a personal blog, i express my views to all Singaporeans to see. If it is to the world so be it. But this i write mainly for my friends to see. So if i write in short form, this new following because of an internet and mobile phone culture, my friends will understand, who cares if the rest don't.
Now in relation to your case, Miss Picky. Stop whinning because if you really love the homeliness of this 'language' Singlish then adapt....to this following which i personally found tough to swallow as well. Look at the bright side!
It really saves time and well gets the message the across doesn't it? Often in 160 letters. = ) Sometimes i realise i can't type in full because i have to go and must use things like btw and ttyl (talk to you later), these tinks wrk real well. ESp. when life's always busy for us S'poreans.
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