“How come talk like dat”
It was a pretty light hearted article for the morning feed..
An entertaining amusement.
"We go eat sell-men sashimi then go watch the tree o'clock flim."
Say all this aloud to a Singaporean and he will likely get your drift.
But try it on a non-Singaporean living here and he might think you are a cannibal who enjoys gazing at trees.
If you are still lost in translation, the words above mean: "Let's have salmon sashimi before we catch the three o'clock film."
-adapted from The Sunday Times 13 Sep 09
In fact those mistakes listed below are frequently and unwittingly committed in our daily lives.
Reminded me of the nostalgic times when the English teachers forgo a proper “textbook” lesson for a spontaneous lesson of pointing out common English mistakes.
“A free gift”
“Furnitures”, “Baggages”
"I am going to return back his money."
"Can you submit in your homework to the teacher?"
*Bold words should be removed*
All of us had a pretty good laugh after that..
Hit with a sudden realisation that I am positively guilty of the above =p
Perhaps,
These sprung from the local culture?
(Singapore + English = Singlish)
Or just like what was shown in the comic, the deficiency of the language was an influence from the elders?
It could even be attributed to the lack of good knowledge on that particular language,
hence replaced by another language which we are familiar with..
Or even perhaps the Asian tongues are biologically shorter and that we speak with our tongues’ inept ability to move in a more agile manner?
Even as I was typing, the word Singlish appeared as one underlined in red.
I wonder where have all the primary school English lessons gone to?
It sounds unbelievable, but I have to say the primary school English teaches the best fundamental of the language.
From Nouns to Verbs to Adjectives..
Sadly to say,
Not many people took them seriously.
The same applies to the other mother tongues.
It would be perfect if all of us can draw the lines clearly when it comes to languages.
Just like you cannot expect to speak good English if you directly translate the phrase from Mandarin and vice versa.
Of course,
I’m definitely not putting Singlish down.
It does bring people closer in some aspects by adding spice to expressions..
Languages are but tools of communication.
English critics would disapprove, and a true blue Singaporean would welcome it.
There is always two sides to the coin =)
*****
