Do you all speak proper Eng or proper Chin to your child? Or Singlish/baby lang?

meiteoh

meiteoh

Well-Known Member
I had no idea what this drama revolving around the Miss Universe pageant was about so I went online and checked it out.

Needless to say, I got a shock. Listening to Ris Low brought back many memories of me sitting in front of the telly condemning numerous Malaysian beauties during beauty pageant shows like Miss Universe and Miss World. These girls are representing the country, going up to people and saying things like how English is widely spoken in our country and/or is one of the official languages but they can't string a grammatically correct sentence together.

To be honest, I hadn't expected this from a Singaporean. And I'm not complaining about the accent - that is a given. But saying things like "studying steel" when she actually means that she is still studying, heh? And the diction...omg.

Your government push for the English language to be incorporated into many facets of life from politically, legally to even socially and academically. You don't have to bear with language issues like in M'sia where ministers talk about switching from Malay to English for a few years and then back to Malay again, AND on top of that, you guys (I presume) study in English compared to us Malaysians who do everything in Malay.

What happened, folks? :/
 
november

november

Member
To my 4 mths old boy,

I'm speaking - English
Hubby Speaks - Mandarin mixed English
Mil speaks - Broken Slang English
Fil speaks - Full Mandarin
My Mum speaks - Baby Cantonese
My Dad speaks - Hokkien

Will it be very confusing for my little one? So many diff languages!
 
jasobias

jasobias

Well-Known Member
I speak proper english to my kids.Kids tend to write the way they speak so if they r not using proper english u can imagine their compositions when they r older or sentence structure.It used to give me a rude shock when i marked the work of sec school students.They would write exactly as they spoke.
I do speak singlish fr time to time but have warned my kids that they can only do so after they have mastered proper english..hahhaha
Sometimes I play a game with my kids where we try to think of sentences or phrases tht r in broken english.If they r aware of tht then it shows their language ability.
I also correct grammer.My kids dont have the lahs n lors even though their frens use them.Its just a matter of coaching them to speak the right way.
 
diymummy

diymummy

Moderator
I feel relieved when I read your account with your kids, Jasobas.

I've read some of the compositions written by some students of a friend... They're horrible. Not just the grammar... But also the spellings.. They're so used to texting that they import all their short forms into their composition!

"Whr haf? She din tok lidat when I c her lst wk"

OMG!!
 
autumn82

autumn82

Well-Known Member
diymummy said:
I feel relieved when I read your account with your kids, Jasobas.

I've read some of the compositions written by some students of a friend... They're horrible. Not just the grammar... But also the spellings.. They're so used to texting that they import all their short forms into their composition!

"Whr have? She did not tok lidat when I c her lst wk"

OMG!!
Click to expand...
:eek::eek::eek::eek: Tat's bad... :tlaugh:
 
Daddy D

Daddy D

Alpha Male
What do we get when we dun speak proper English/Mandarin/Malay to our kids?

The next Ris Low.... Beauty Queen...
The next Taufik Batista... for the record... he sang a wrong word for our National Anthem during the F1 ceremony...
 
choiceessentials

choiceessentials

Member
jasobias said:
I speak proper english to my kids.Kids tend to write the way they speak so if they are not using proper english you can imagine their compositions when they are older or sentence structure.It used to give me a rude shock when i marked the work of sec school students.They would write exactly as they spoke.
I do speak singlish fr time to time but have warned my kids that they can only do so after they have mastered proper english..hahhaha
Sometimes I play a game with my kids where we try to think of sentences or phrases tht are in broken english.If they are aware of tht then it shows their language ability.
I also correct grammer.My kids dont have the lahs and lors even though their friends use them.Its just a matter of coaching them to speak the right way.
Click to expand...
Fully agree to the approach to ensuring they are speaking and writing properly.

When they were little, they were intrigued to try using the lahs and lors, I actually put up a fine (displaying a chart). They can redeem themselves in ways like able to pick up grammar mistakes by others..etc.

As always, do it right the first time. Just like no goo-goo.. ga.. ga with babies. Teach them right at the start. Less corrections to be made along the way.
 
meiteoh

meiteoh

Well-Known Member
I remember when I was growing up, my parents would scold me whenever I spoke Manglish - "There is no such thing as 'i wan one oso'. You should say 'I would like one as well'". My parents, especially Mum, still speaks Manglish but they never encourage me to do the same.
 
choiceessentials

choiceessentials

Member
Today's ST, there is a lady foreigner wrote in the Forum re this matter.

She is right. We can't be pointing fingers at Teachers..or any one else coz we, the parents must take on the responsibility to put them on the right track, if that is what we want for our kids.

Otherwise, just accept Singlish as the way of life for all.
 
S

snowbear

Well-Known Member
choiceessentials said:
Today's ST, there is a lady foreigner wrote in the Forum re this matter.

She is right. We can't be pointing fingers at Teachers..or any one else coz we, the parents must take on the responsibility to put them on the right track, if that is what we want for our kids.

Otherwise, just accept Singlish as the way of life for all.
Click to expand...
Yes, I agree with her. You can't expect teachers to be the grammar police. Once students are out of class, you can't control how or what they speak. It's already difficult as it is to control that during class.

Anyway, the problem with worsening English standards though there's a reported increase in the number of people who speak 'English' is really due to the people who pick up the language inadequately and try to speak to/teach the next generation that language which they picked up. It's either due to pride or sheer ignorance that they think they are speaking it right. That's what I gathered from looking at the 1990 census while tracing the problem of Singlish when I was in studying in nus... of coz that probably isn't the only problem but you can see the impact on children who have parents who try to teach them English but it's actually Singlish. Actually by the time they reach Primary School, it's already hard for teachers to correct them...
 
V

v_ni

Member
meiteoh, i think the whole nation is also shocked....thus the big hoo-ha :err:


meiteoh said:
I had no idea what this drama revolving around the Miss Universe pageant was about so I went online and checked it out.

Needless to say, I got a shock. Listening to Ris Low brought back many memories of me sitting in front of the telly condemning numerous Malaysian beauties during beauty pageant shows like Miss Universe and Miss World. These girls are representing the country, going up to people and saying things like how English is widely spoken in our country and/or is one of the official languages but they can't string a grammatically correct sentence together.

To be honest, I hadn't expected this from a Singaporean. And I'm not complaining about the accent - that is a given. But saying things like "studying steel" when she actually means that she is still studying, heh? And the diction...omg.

Your government push for the English language to be incorporated into many facets of life from politically, legally to even socially and academically. You dont't have to bear with language issues like in M'sia where ministers talk about switching from Malay to English for a few years and then back to Malay again, AND on top of that, you guys (I presume) study in English compared to us Malaysians who do everything in Malay.

What happened, folks? :/
Click to expand...
 
F

Funz

Member
Shower time? I will say

Go
Shower
NOW

heheh. My kids are no longer babies.

I remember when I was still in school, we will be fined if we are caught speaking other language aside from English outside of 2nd Language classes or if we use 'lah' or 'lor'. There will be prefects floating around handing out yellow cards.

Frankly speaking, I do use a fair bit of Singlish in my conversation. My kids too. But I have observed that theh seem to be able to switch pretty easily between full blown Singlish and decent English, depending on whether they are speaking to my maid or to our ang moh neighbour.

And if they are guilty of misbehaviour, that is when their English is almost perfect.
 
C

Cheyenne

Member
For me, I speak mainly English. I try my best to speak proper English, but sometimes also end up a little Singlish. Occassionally, also Mandarin and Baby language with the 2 little ones.

Hubby will focus in Mandarin, since he is better at it too.

I read somewhere that actually it is more difficult for them to pick up Mandarin than English, hence should speak more Mandarin first. They can pick up English when they go to school.
 
CanCanMum

CanCanMum

Moderator
tokkin about Chinese

I diink theres some problem wif Baber's Chinese Teacher

coz Baber cannot remember a single thing learnt in Chinese lesson....lols~~~

and i personally met up with the Chinese teacher before......and she likes to mumble....and she skips the syllabus if she finds it hard for the kids to absorb.......or is it difficult to teach chinese???? I m not sure oso......
 
CanCanMum

CanCanMum

Moderator
i wonx really mind a lot since we speak chinese to each other most of the time......so for the time being still ok.
 
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