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I personally don't consider most of the people in that video to be a "native" English speaker like Americans, British, Australians or the Irish. I can't even tell the difference between the Vietnamese students learning English, and most of the "native English-speaking Singaporeans". That has to say something if one cannot differentiate the most of the "native" speakers from those learning the language. If you follow the video, it becomes clear that the purpose of the video is to raise awareness for prospective English speakers that Singapore is not a place to go learn English.
Again, one person, in this video speaks like a native speaker. The one man is the gentleman at 1:25 appears to speak completely fluently and clearly. Of course he is a well educated leader in the "Speak Good English" movement.
Terry, the "typical working class Singaporean" in the video is very difficult to understand. He sounds similar to a Chinese immigrant in California who has picked English upon arrival. As a degree holding native English speaker, I can only understand sentences here and there.
Again, I clearly understand a minority of these kids' English words. Some sound fine, no doubt, most don't. notably the older woman sitting down, and the guy in the red shirt speak clearly. Notice the speech coach at the end explaining why Singaporeans speak English so poorly! In the ensuing scene that lacks subtitles, I don't understand any of the kids' words.
A common thread in all these videos is that those who are English instructors and those in positions of power or the media speak clear and fluent English. The common folk are all difficult to understand.
Why? Because the reality is that Singaporeans are an amalgamation of non-English speaking peoples who's government has adopted English to bridge the gap between the different group of people who make up the country''s population. If Singapore is a "native" English speaking country, why does the government need to force kids to go to school in English? Why is the government so invested in these children learning "good English"?
But why would native English speakers need foreigners to come and help improve the country's English? You never hear of Australians needing Britons to come teach them English - because Australians are already native speakers. You never hear of English Canadians needing American teachers to teach them English, because they are equally native English speakers. So why the need for foreign teachers? Because Singaporeans are natively non-English speakers who are being forced to learn English by the government and elites.
That all being said, Singapore is no different from say Nigeria, where the government also works and promotes English as the primary official language. Yet, one wouldn't call Nigerians "native" English speakers. Why? Because it is a country where English is imposed by the government, and the population is in the process of shedding languages in favor of English. Like Nigeria, a minority of a minority truly speak English "natively"; the rest have had English imposed upon them and are constantly trying to perfect learn and perfect their English.
Hobbesbj have you been to Singapore before ? Just curious..
Do you really mean as a first language?
Young Singaporeans and Malaysians speak Singlish and Manglish as their first spoken language.
Older people have their Chinese dialects, Malay and Tamil as their first spoken language, but their use are very low in the society nowadays.
Standard English is the most used language they use to read & write, but not commonly spoken among the locals.
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Postman
I'm considering Singapore basically part of the mainland since it's separated by a narrow strait that's more like a river from the mainland.
And I mean as a first language.
While many Northern Europeans can speak decent English, as a FIRST language, one has to go to Singapore and Malaysia, former British colonies in the far east, to see a large proportion of people speaking English as their mother tongue/main language. In Singapore it's about 40%, in Malaysia about 25% but declining. In Sweden or something of course very few would actually use it as their FIRST language, hardly any.
Do you really mean as a first language?
Young Singaporeans and Malaysians speak Singlish and Manglish as their first spoken language.
Older people have their Chinese dialects, Malay and Tamil as their first spoken language, but their use are very low in the society nowadays.
Standard English is the most used language they use to read & write, but not commonly spoken among the locals.
I used to think Singlish was just English with a Singaporean accent with a few 'lahs' but it's actually almost a creole in some cases, which I don't understand. Plenty learn 'standard English' with a Singaporean accent, my mother began speaking English as a young child (back in the 50s and 60s) even if her parents spoke Hokkien, since her sister, who was much older than her, was a school-teacher and predominantly spoke English as a young person. In fact her Hokkien and Mandarin weren't even that good.
Do you really mean as a first language?
Young Singaporeans and Malaysians speak Singlish and Manglish as their first spoken language.
Older people have their Chinese dialects, Malay and Tamil as their first spoken language, but their use are very low in the society nowadays.
Standard English is the most used language they use to read & write, but not commonly spoken among the locals.
Well, Singapore is not Britain, although our English is based on the British standard. You are bound to find some differences between the English used in Singapore and that in Britain
When Singaporeans go to the UK or the US , I don't think they face much difficulty in being understood by the Americans and the British..
After all, we listen to music in English and watch movies in English, too.
I guess our spoken English is somewhat a problem, though. ***but our written English is not an issue...***
I feel sad and don't understand why some British and Americans claim they don't understand the kind of English we speak... but i guess maybe they really don't .. I shall give them the benefit of the doubt, but it is depressing and saddening
I'm not being pedantic but I had to...just so you know.
Well, Singapore is not Britain, though our English is based on British standard.. You are bound to find some differences between English used in Singapore and Britain
When Singaporeans go UK, US , i dont think they have much difficulty become understood by the Americans and British..
After all, we listen and watch Amercian Movies and music..
I guess our spoken English is somewhat a problem, but our written English is not an issue...
I feel sad and dont understand why SOME Britains and Americans go out to the streets in Singapore and say they dont understand the kind of English we are speaking... But i guess maybe they really don't .. i give them the benefit of doubt, just that it is depressing and saddening
Sorry to say, but you have several grammar errors in this post alone that makes it obvious you are not a native or near native speaker
I'm not being pedantic but I had to...just so that you know.
I can spot an error in just a simple sentence from you too.. So let's just say Singaporean's English is not perfect and put ourselves down ..
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