Why are Sinkie standard of English so atrocious?

[GoldenDragon]

I opine what is more pertinent is not whether our "England' power or not. So what if all of us speak and write like Rajaratnam, Francis Seow or MM?

What is many times more important than speaking pefect "England' is what lies in our hearts. The heart to do good. There is a very eloquent chap in our Parliament. Even MM praised his 'England' and debating skills. But, when asked to cater more to the poor, what did he utter to Lily Neo?

 

[SIFU]

Most foreigners don't have a clue. It sounds like gibberish.

Cheebye samleong,

your are beginning to get dumber and dumber by the minute. :oIo::oIo:

 

[silverfox@]

I opine what is more pertinent is not whether our "England' power or not. So what if all of us speak and write like Rajaratnam, Francis Seow or MM?

What is many times more important than speaking pefect "England' is what lies in our hearts. The heart to do good. There is a very eloquent chap in our Parliament. Even MM praised his 'England' and debating skills. But, when asked to cater more to the poor, what did he utter to Lily Neo?

Seriously we are not politicians, not journalists, not spokesmen for any companies. Some people think that by pointing out the inadequacies of others, they can show their superior side. But honestly its just inferior complexity on their part, that's why they have the need to prove to others. :p

 

[Leongsam]

Seriously we are not politicians, not journalists, not spokesmen for any companies. Some people think that by pointing out the inadequacies of others,

While that may be the case for some, I am driven by nothing more than the desire to help sinkies prepare for life beyond Singapore's shores when the country self destructs in the not too distant future.

Learning to speak English well is an asset that can utilised in almost every corner of the globe. On the other hand, Singlish is a joke understood by less than 3 million people stuck in one tiny little insignificant Island.

Global competition for jobs is fierce. Singaporeans have experienced this first hand since the flood gates have been open to foreigners. Imagine what will happen to your job application if you construct sentences like "I was involved in numerous projects to provide ADVISE....". It'll go straight to the rubbish bin for sure.

Sinkies need to learn that it is not a loss of face for someone to point out the mistakes they make. It should be treated as a positive learning experience! In fact, you should express your gratitude towards the people who actually bother to make the effort.

 

[kukubird58]

Global competition for jobs is fierce. Singaporeans have experienced this first hand since the flood gates have been open to foreigners. Imagine what will happen to your job application if you construct sentences like "I was involved in numerous projects to provide ADVISE....". It'll go straight to the rubbish bin for sure.

Sinkies need to learn that it is not a loss of face for someone to point out the mistakes they make. It should be treated as a positive learning experience! In fact, you should express your gratitude that there is someone out there who actually bothers.

sam kor....I will listen to your advice and be proactive to advise people to lose weight and tighten their belts so that their pants will not be loose.

 

[soIsee]

As though it has not gotten worse with Sinkie speaking English, when the younger Sinkie bitches or err..women, now speaks Singlish with a fake accent!

Maybe this was done, so that they thought they will attract the Ang Mos!

Pathetic!

 

[silverfox@]

Sinkies need to learn that it is not a loss of face for someone to point out the mistakes they make. It should be treated as a positive learning experience! In fact, you should express your gratitude towards the people who actually bother to make the effort.

Correction is good and should be taken in a positive manner. But not to the point of discrimination. The latter should be viewed in a different light. :p

 

[jw5]

I opine what is more pertinent is not whether our "England' power or not. So what if all of us speak and write like Rajaratnam, Francis Seow or MM?

What is many times more important than speaking pefect "England' is what lies in our hearts. The heart to do good. There is a very eloquent chap in our Parliament. Even MM praised his 'England' and debating skills. But, when asked to cater more to the poor, what did he utter to Lily Neo?

Agree 100% with your post.

People are usually judged by how they look, how rich they are or how famous or powerful they are. In this thread, we are told that people should also be judged by how good their English is.

As long as you are not an English professor or journalist, your standard of written and spoken English only needs to be adequate for you to be understood by others. Even a little Singlish now and again does not matter.

The main factors for judging a person should be his intentions, actions and how much he helps people unrelated to him for no personal benefit.

 

[Muthukali]

Sounds like poetry...

Long is the waiting time
True is this heart of mine
Bright are the stars that shine
Dark is the sky
I know this love of mine
Will never die

Enid Blyton Im not
So I cant write alot
Just a few words
Forget me not

 

[Ramseth]

Enid Blyton Im not
So I cant write alot
Just a few words
Forget me not

Enid Blyton I'm not
Words I write not a lot
Few words I wrote
Forget me not

 

[Leongsam]

In this thread, we are told that people should also be judged by how good their English is.

Many things in life aren't fair. People shouldn't be judged by how they look but it's an undeniable fact that grooming and appearance can make all the difference when it comes making a good first impression.

The same applies when it comes to writing. A person who writes well has a much better chance of getting ahead in life and I've experienced this first hand in my own career advancement.

My first job was with an American multinational and I was promoted within 6 months of joining the company.

I wasn't promoted by my immediate boss. He was a typical insecure sinkie who considered me a threat and treated me badly. I was promoted because instructions came from head office 7000km away that I deserved a promotion. The people who issued these instructions had never met me. They initiated the process because they were extremely impressed by the written engineering reports that I was providing on a weekly basis regarding a product transfer.

My English is average at best. However, I was up against very weak opposition as most Engineering graduates at the time were very talented engineers but they didn't have a clue when it came to presenting their excellent work in the written form. I guess they also felt that as long as they were top notch engineers and experts in their own fields, the ability to present their work in writing was secondary as I never saw any of them making attempts to improve their English. As a result, a half baked engineer newbie like myself was promoted ahead of those who had been there for years.

I truly believe to this very day that if it had not been for the effort I put in to learn English grammar, I'd still be languishing in sinkieland in some dead end job.

 

[ashjaw]

You are making this assumption because of your experience and your experience is 'unique' to you because you happened to be working in an American MNC. So your assumption is not wrong but that does not mean it is the only way to advance in one's career. At least I know some bosses who do not know a word of English and yet they are running a listed company - obviously not an American MNC.

Many things in life aren't fair. People shouldn't be judged by how they look but it's an undeniable fact that grooming and appearance can make all the difference when it comes making a good first impression.

The same applies when it comes to writing. A person who writes well has a much better chance of getting ahead in life and I've experienced this first hand in my own career advancement.

My first job was with an American multinational and I was promoted within 6 months of joining the company.

I wasn't promoted by my immediate boss. He was a typical insecure sinkie who considered me a threat and treated me badly. I was promoted because instructions came from head office 7000km away that I deserved a promotion. The people who issued these instructions had never met me. They initiated the process because they were extremely impressed by the written engineering reports that I was providing on a weekly basis regarding a product transfer.

My English is average at best. However, I was up against very weak opposition as most Engineering graduates at the time were very talented engineers but they didn't have a clue when it came to presenting their excellent work in the written form. I guess they also felt that as long as they were top notch engineers and experts in their own fields, the ability to present their work in writing was secondary as I never saw any of them making attempts to improve their English. As a result, a half baked engineer newbie like myself was promoted ahead of those who had been there for years.

I truly believe to this very day that if it had not been for the effort I put in to learn English grammar, I'd still be languishing in sinkieland in some dead end job.

 

[GoldenDragon]

Many things in life aren't fair. People shouldn't be judged by how they look but it's an undeniable fact that grooming and appearance can make all the difference when it comes making a good first impression.

The same applies when it comes to writing. A person who writes well has a much better chance of getting ahead in life and I've experienced this first hand in my own career advancement.

My first job was with an American multinational and I was promoted within 6 months of joining the company.

I wasn't promoted by my immediate boss. He was a typical insecure sinkie who considered me a threat and treated me badly. I was promoted because instructions came from head office 7000km away that I deserved a promotion. The people who issued these instructions had never met me. They initiated the process because they were extremely impressed by the written engineering reports that I was providing on a weekly basis regarding a product transfer.

My English is average at best. However, I was up against very weak opposition as most Engineering graduates at the time were very talented engineers but they didn't have a clue when it came to presenting their excellent work in the written form. I guess they also felt that as long as they were top notch engineers and experts in their own fields, the ability to present their work in writing was secondary as I never saw any of them making attempts to improve their English. As a result, a half baked engineer newbie like myself was promoted ahead of those who had been there for years.

I truly believe to this very day that if it had not been for the effort I put in to learn English grammar, I'd still be languishing in sinkieland in some dead end job.

Thank you. You have adequately summarised why some chaps progress much faster than their colleagues. I am all for people who write and speak well.

Unfortunately, there are many out there, both in the private and public sectors, who just speak and write well to impress their bosses. Once the meeting is over, they continue to slag.

This happens more in the civil service when results are not measured by dollars and cents. If the boss is 'light ears', this further exacerbates the situation whereby competent chaps are ignored or neglected simply because they don't write and speak well or look 'inferior'.

I am more cautious when a person speaks and writes well. Coz that could well camouflage other intentions. My point is, do not be misled by people who speak and write well. There are other qualities worth much more than perfect English.

 

[potato29]

The title should be "Why IS the Sinkie standard of English so atrocious?".

good one.

 

[singveld]

singapore should have a new campaign, speak good english campaign for the young. please do it quick. I can't stand it when i hear singlish.

 

[Leongsam]

You are making this assumption because of your experience and your experience is 'unique' to you because you happened to be working in an American MNC. So your assumption is not wrong but that does not mean it is the only way to advance in one's career. At least I know some bosses who do not know a word of English and yet they are running a listed company - obviously not an American MNC.

Nowhere did I say that it was the ONLY way. All I'm saying is that striving to communicate well is an asset that can give you an edge over others.

I know a multimillionaire who never got past O levels but we aren't about to tell the next generation that a quality tertiary education is a waste of time are we.

 

[Papsmearer]

Seriously, i am no English professor but i find the English proficiency of my colleagues and subordinates atrocious!

When they submit a report, i have to edit and correct so many things - grammar, past / present tenses and vocabulary!

Example: Long is the waiting time (what the fuck?!)

The older generation Sinkees are worse! They are like semi-illiterate! :oIo:

What I find atrocious is why u perpetrate this yourself? If your subordinate submits a report to you that is filled with erros, why do you have to edit and correct it? That is not your responsibility. That is theirs. They need to edit and correct their own reports to make sure its grammatically correct. Just give the report back to them, tell them u don't understand what they are saying due to the poor english, and ASK THEM THEY TO REDO AND CORRECT THE REPORT. I tell u after they burn a few hours fixing the errors, they will get it right or fine some sucker to get it right for them. And when they finally submit an acceptable report, and if its after the deadline, u penalise them in their perfromance report.

 

[Papsmearer]

There's no paradox. There are a handful of sinkies who have mastered the English language just as there are Blacks who are astro physicists. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_deGrasse_Tyson

This hardly alters the fact that sinkies can't speak English to save their lives and most blacks have a much better chance of becoming drug dealers than they have of earning a doctorate in Physics.

That is true, what is scary is that u see sinkies still speaking in singlish to their white colleagues. That tells me that they are not able to clean up their singlish, and use decent english when communicating with native english speakers. The PAP has been perpetuating a lie for years. They tell the whole world that we are an english speaking society, so its easier to do international business here, but we aren't.

 

[Forvendet]

That is true, what is scary is that u see sinkies still speaking in singlish to their white colleagues. That tells me that they are not able to clean up their singlish, and use decent english when communicating with native english speakers. The PAP has been perpetuating a lie for years. They tell the whole world that we are an english speaking society, so its easier to do international business here, but we aren't.

That's a Catch-22. When one speaks "proper" English to native English speakers, one's under peer pressure of being mocked for faking accent.

 

[patrickv]

I wasn't promoted by my immediate boss. He was a typical insecure sinkie who considered me a threat and treated me badly. I was promoted because instructions came from head office 7000km away that I deserved a promotion. The people who issued these instructions had never met me. They initiated the process because they were extremely impressed by the written engineering reports that I was providing on a weekly basis regarding a product transfer.I truly believe to this very day that if it had not been for the effort I put in to learn English grammar, I'd still be languishing in sinkieland in some dead end job.

in this forum, self-praise is becoming the norm.