Brilliant idea！ We are going to have another language campaign, to wit,speak better English.
Singlish started with the older generations but it seemed less complex during their time. But Singlish has developed into something arcane to foreigners.
Although Singlish is a sign of greater interaction among the ethnic as well as the Chinese dialect groups, its widespread use has been a bad influence on the young who are quick to master it instead of proper English.
Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong is, therefore, right： If you don't speak good English, foreigners would not be able to understand you. It applies not just to Singaporeans but to all members of the global community seeking to do business or make peace with one another.
I remember a group of locals and Malaysians, apparently competent English speakers, having a whale of a time laughing at a Japanese speaker's atrocious English at an international conference.
On another occasion, a cooking class in a hotel, an adult man interrupted the whole session by parroting the pastry chef's bad English, word for word. I still wonder whether the chef, who had kept his cool throughout, should have thrown his rolling pin at the man or flagellate himself.
Now that we are going to have a campaign to encourage people to speak proper English, what are the guidelines for speakers？ May I offer some suggestions？
First and foremost, you must get your spelling, grammar and sentence construction right when writing English. You must express it clearly and precisely. This will help you in your spoken English.
You must also get your phonetics right before you string your words nicely in sentences. I still hear people who have pre-university education pronouncing “zero” as “jeeloh” and“Singapore” as “Siah-ng-por”。
If you are more comfortable with home ground than British English, look to articulate English speakers here who are qualified to set the bench-mark for Singaporeans —Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew, Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
We also have good news readers on the radio who speak good international English despite their differing styles.
If you have a strong or strange accent, be it Teochew or Thatcher, drop it by all means. Unlearn your pronunciation if it's inscrutable. Heavily-accented English which is strangely musical or guttural is unlikely to cut through boundaries so neatly.
However, we should not blame those who cannot speak well because of a physical defect such as a natural lisp, stutter or dyslexia.
But to the majority of Singlish speakers, I urge you to hobnob with those who speak good English, whether they are locals or foreigners. Engage them in frequent conversations and express yourself courageously. It's all right to be a chatterbox when you are learning to master the art of vocal enunciation.（The writer is Assistant Manager, Corporate Relations, SPH.）
大家都講標(biāo)準(zhǔn)英語
好主意！又一項(xiàng)語言運(yùn)動(dòng)就要開始了,那便是“講標(biāo)準(zhǔn)英語運(yùn)動(dòng)”。
新加坡式英語（Singlish）起源于早先幾輩人,當(dāng)年似乎并不太復(fù)雜,但近來已演變成外國(guó)人聽來晦澀難解的語言了。
新加坡式英語是一種現(xiàn)象,表明不僅各華族方言群體之間,而且各種族之間,都有了更多的交往。盡管如此,它的廣泛流傳對(duì)年青人已起了不良影響,他們很快對(duì)新加坡式英語朗朗上口,卻不去掌握標(biāo)準(zhǔn)英語。
所以,吳作棟總理說得有理：你不講標(biāo)準(zhǔn)英語,外國(guó)人便聽不懂你的話。這不僅對(duì)新加坡人是如此,對(duì)彼此做生意、互相和平交往的世界各國(guó)的人們,也莫不如此。
我記得在一次國(guó)際會(huì)議上,有一名日本發(fā)言者的英語糟糕透頂,惹得一群看來英語說得不錯(cuò)的本地人和馬來西亞人笑得個(gè)不亦樂乎。
又有一次是在某酒店的烹飪班上,糕點(diǎn)大師傅的英語說得很差勁,有個(gè)男人逐字逐句跟著他鸚鵡學(xué)舌,不時(shí)打斷了講解。大師傅自始至終強(qiáng)忍著沒有發(fā)作,但至今我仍在揣想,當(dāng)時(shí)他應(yīng)當(dāng)是操起搟面杖朝那人劈面摔去呢,還是該把自己痛打一頓。
這下子我們要開展運(yùn)動(dòng)來鼓勵(lì)人們講“標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的”英語了,有什么規(guī)則可供遵循呢？且讓我來提幾個(gè)建議吧。
首先,寫英文時(shí),必須有正確的拼寫、文法、句子結(jié)構(gòu),表達(dá)必須明白、準(zhǔn)確。這對(duì)講好英語也有幫助。
要把一個(gè)個(gè)詞語美妙地串成句子,還必須先有正確的發(fā)音。我聽見有初院教育程度的人還把“zero”說成“jeeloh”,把“Singapore”說成“Siah-ng-por”。
若是說不慣英國(guó)式英語,那么可向本地的發(fā)音清晰堪當(dāng)新加坡人楷模的講英語者看齊,如李光耀資政、吳作棟總理、李顯龍副總理。
此外,廣播電臺(tái)也不乏優(yōu)秀的播音員,他們的風(fēng)格各異,但都講一口國(guó)際通用的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)英語。
假如你有濃重的怪腔調(diào)——不論是潮州腔,或是前英國(guó)首相撒切爾夫人般的超強(qiáng)英國(guó)腔——千萬要改掉。假如你的發(fā)音令人聽不懂,便須全盤改過。講一口腔調(diào)濃厚的英語,例如音調(diào)抑揚(yáng)夸張或喉音過重,都難以把意思向人表達(dá)清楚。
不過,因身體缺陷如天生口齒不清、結(jié)巴、誦讀困難等而不能講好英語者,我們不應(yīng)當(dāng)責(zé)怪。
至于大多數(shù)講新加坡式英語者,我奉勸諸位多同講標(biāo)準(zhǔn)英語的人士交往,不論其為本地人或外國(guó)人。要常跟他們攀談,大膽地表達(dá)自己；須知為了掌握言語表達(dá)的藝術(shù),多嘴多舌是沒什么不可的。
（作者為新加坡報(bào)業(yè)控股集團(tuán)公關(guān)部助理經(jīng)理）
Singlish started with the older generations but it seemed less complex during their time. But Singlish has developed into something arcane to foreigners.
Although Singlish is a sign of greater interaction among the ethnic as well as the Chinese dialect groups, its widespread use has been a bad influence on the young who are quick to master it instead of proper English.
Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong is, therefore, right： If you don't speak good English, foreigners would not be able to understand you. It applies not just to Singaporeans but to all members of the global community seeking to do business or make peace with one another.
I remember a group of locals and Malaysians, apparently competent English speakers, having a whale of a time laughing at a Japanese speaker's atrocious English at an international conference.
On another occasion, a cooking class in a hotel, an adult man interrupted the whole session by parroting the pastry chef's bad English, word for word. I still wonder whether the chef, who had kept his cool throughout, should have thrown his rolling pin at the man or flagellate himself.
Now that we are going to have a campaign to encourage people to speak proper English, what are the guidelines for speakers？ May I offer some suggestions？
First and foremost, you must get your spelling, grammar and sentence construction right when writing English. You must express it clearly and precisely. This will help you in your spoken English.
You must also get your phonetics right before you string your words nicely in sentences. I still hear people who have pre-university education pronouncing “zero” as “jeeloh” and“Singapore” as “Siah-ng-por”。
If you are more comfortable with home ground than British English, look to articulate English speakers here who are qualified to set the bench-mark for Singaporeans —Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew, Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
We also have good news readers on the radio who speak good international English despite their differing styles.
If you have a strong or strange accent, be it Teochew or Thatcher, drop it by all means. Unlearn your pronunciation if it's inscrutable. Heavily-accented English which is strangely musical or guttural is unlikely to cut through boundaries so neatly.
However, we should not blame those who cannot speak well because of a physical defect such as a natural lisp, stutter or dyslexia.
But to the majority of Singlish speakers, I urge you to hobnob with those who speak good English, whether they are locals or foreigners. Engage them in frequent conversations and express yourself courageously. It's all right to be a chatterbox when you are learning to master the art of vocal enunciation.（The writer is Assistant Manager, Corporate Relations, SPH.）
大家都講標(biāo)準(zhǔn)英語
好主意！又一項(xiàng)語言運(yùn)動(dòng)就要開始了,那便是“講標(biāo)準(zhǔn)英語運(yùn)動(dòng)”。
新加坡式英語（Singlish）起源于早先幾輩人,當(dāng)年似乎并不太復(fù)雜,但近來已演變成外國(guó)人聽來晦澀難解的語言了。
新加坡式英語是一種現(xiàn)象,表明不僅各華族方言群體之間,而且各種族之間,都有了更多的交往。盡管如此,它的廣泛流傳對(duì)年青人已起了不良影響,他們很快對(duì)新加坡式英語朗朗上口,卻不去掌握標(biāo)準(zhǔn)英語。
所以,吳作棟總理說得有理：你不講標(biāo)準(zhǔn)英語,外國(guó)人便聽不懂你的話。這不僅對(duì)新加坡人是如此,對(duì)彼此做生意、互相和平交往的世界各國(guó)的人們,也莫不如此。
我記得在一次國(guó)際會(huì)議上,有一名日本發(fā)言者的英語糟糕透頂,惹得一群看來英語說得不錯(cuò)的本地人和馬來西亞人笑得個(gè)不亦樂乎。
又有一次是在某酒店的烹飪班上,糕點(diǎn)大師傅的英語說得很差勁,有個(gè)男人逐字逐句跟著他鸚鵡學(xué)舌,不時(shí)打斷了講解。大師傅自始至終強(qiáng)忍著沒有發(fā)作,但至今我仍在揣想,當(dāng)時(shí)他應(yīng)當(dāng)是操起搟面杖朝那人劈面摔去呢,還是該把自己痛打一頓。
這下子我們要開展運(yùn)動(dòng)來鼓勵(lì)人們講“標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的”英語了,有什么規(guī)則可供遵循呢？且讓我來提幾個(gè)建議吧。
首先,寫英文時(shí),必須有正確的拼寫、文法、句子結(jié)構(gòu),表達(dá)必須明白、準(zhǔn)確。這對(duì)講好英語也有幫助。
要把一個(gè)個(gè)詞語美妙地串成句子,還必須先有正確的發(fā)音。我聽見有初院教育程度的人還把“zero”說成“jeeloh”,把“Singapore”說成“Siah-ng-por”。
若是說不慣英國(guó)式英語,那么可向本地的發(fā)音清晰堪當(dāng)新加坡人楷模的講英語者看齊,如李光耀資政、吳作棟總理、李顯龍副總理。
此外,廣播電臺(tái)也不乏優(yōu)秀的播音員,他們的風(fēng)格各異,但都講一口國(guó)際通用的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)英語。
假如你有濃重的怪腔調(diào)——不論是潮州腔,或是前英國(guó)首相撒切爾夫人般的超強(qiáng)英國(guó)腔——千萬要改掉。假如你的發(fā)音令人聽不懂,便須全盤改過。講一口腔調(diào)濃厚的英語,例如音調(diào)抑揚(yáng)夸張或喉音過重,都難以把意思向人表達(dá)清楚。
不過,因身體缺陷如天生口齒不清、結(jié)巴、誦讀困難等而不能講好英語者,我們不應(yīng)當(dāng)責(zé)怪。
至于大多數(shù)講新加坡式英語者,我奉勸諸位多同講標(biāo)準(zhǔn)英語的人士交往,不論其為本地人或外國(guó)人。要常跟他們攀談,大膽地表達(dá)自己；須知為了掌握言語表達(dá)的藝術(shù),多嘴多舌是沒什么不可的。
（作者為新加坡報(bào)業(yè)控股集團(tuán)公關(guān)部助理經(jīng)理）