You Don't Wanna Speak Mandarin?

[Blissfull]

We were taught the English Language from young (at least for my generation) so as to cope with the rising West. It does succeed to a certain extent that Singapore is probably one of the more recognised English speaking country in Asia now. (Of course not forgetting India and Philippines).

It's only a couple of years back that the government predict the rise of China that they begin to shift the language focus from English to Chinese. Our English Language culture is already well set in place and we can afford to do so. However, it might be the fact that the English-speaking culture is so strong and influenced. (Much like the Stop-At-Two policy) that many Singaporeans forgo their Mother Tongue and begin to only speak English.

In this current society, where the West is still reigning, being fixated in the English Language is not exactly too much of a problem apart from, perhaps, cultural loss, which is inevitable in this fast-pace society.

It's undeniable that we want things fast - food, gadgets, money and even changes. Cultural loss is already a culture if one choose to dip oneself in the modern society, which in many forms of manner inevitable, branched out from industrialisation and mass production.

Before I stray too far from the topic. I believe it is not that people do not want to speak Chinese but the lack of event to use. Being drowned in classes that are majority taught in English, it becomes difficult to switch languages around according to the surrounding. You cannot expect everyone to speak English during class and switches to their Mother Tongue during their free time.

Speaking mandarin isn't mandatory for work (if not our other races would be jobless) but a bonus with the rise of China. I cannot deny the fact that being well-equipped with both languages benefits me greatly in my area of work. And I do encourage the learning of Chinese.

TL;DR

Language is a culture and is subjected to cultural loss, only those that see the benefits in each languages stand out from the rest. Those that does not, we should respect their decisions.

[charvo87]

If people wanna be particular about culture, tell me, now in this modern globalise world, how many are still very traditional??? Even those that love chinese are not very traditonally cultured. Do u shake hands now with people or do u still 拱手？Do u still maintain the habits of seating by seniority at the dining table and in the living room? to speak or not, depends on the environment and society. If u grew up in america or great britain, i dont think u will learn chinese and speak chinese unless u got that interest in language. If u living in china and want just to speak english then u are crazy.

[Chronicle]

Not quite sure about what this thread is about anymore, just adding my two cents worth.

My parents can barely speak Mandarin because of how they were raised and consequently, I never really learnt to appreciate it and still don't. I have a noticeable accent that, despite the early jabs in school, is genuine because of how I was brought up.

I'm thankful I learnt enough Mandarin to carry a conversation. Do I wish that I'm better at it? Not really. It might be upbringing, it might be that bitch of a Chinese tutor but I can honestly say that I won't bother to improve my Mandarin any further. It's beneficial to know more than one language but for me, this is enough.

[Behrhunter]

Similarly with Chronicle I am not sure what's the purpose of where this thread is going.

I am pure Chinese born and bred. Unfortunately due to various alignment in the stars of globalisation/migration and all. I don't read and speak Mandarin until I came to Singapore. I have been brought up with my dialect group and I speak it with my relatives especially the older generation. To answer another question about whether dialects can be represented in writing. Yes it can, I have seen my aunt's Holy Bibles written to every single word of my dialect and have witness religious ceremonies in my dialect.

But I really find it interesting that someone, who speaks Mandarin is trying to define someone who doesn't know what went into the past 30 years in the making of me (even closest of friends do not necessarily know every single details of one another), and give me a label to why I can't speak Mandarin.

When I came to Singapore, I decided to pick it up and today I speak decently for conversations and sometimes for my professional life although I still can't read. Seriously, language is a tool, a skill to allow beings of a species to understand each other. Today I speak at least 3 languages and 3 chinese dialects and if you choose to see me as a snob.. that's just too bad.. because one day if you do have the opportunity to come out of your hermit hole and reside for a relatively decent period of time in another location with locals expects you to speak their native language or even if you speak their language .. expected to be able to comprehend their lingo... I hope you do not get labelled

Edited August 23, 2012 by Behrhunter

[Guest Guest]

A Chinese who can't speak Mandarin is like a Jamaican who can't rap.

[gstc82]

Jamaican rap?

[Guest Guest]

[subarucap]

oh gawd for a moment there i thought that was china wine...

[fitcubsg]

I think that everyone can speak chinese but it varies in your fluency. I grew up in a peranakan family and schooled in catholic schools, the famous one where a chinese teacher who got posted there did not think of maintaining their KPI because it was about passing all of us then getting us to get As at o and a levels. My paternal grand parents were from Indonesia before they move to KL and from my dad's side, we are typically "baba" and guess my linage is totally mix as our features are less "Chinese" per say, meaning wavy hair, sharper features and the lack of learning chinese language or dialects from young. I do feel a little embarrassed when I forget some intrinsic things which makes me Chinese still. But I can muster a conversation in chinese if needed. That doesn't mean I have forgotten my roots. I feel that his topic is making a sweeping statement across the board to swipe at people like myself, a group of people who typify the nature of "overseas chinese". Why don't you take a trip to the peranakan museum to familiarize yourself with us?

[Sticky&Sweet]

我会讲,会读华语,不过我就偏要选择用英语交谈。这是因为英语是商场上所常用的交际语言。如果要在事业上成功,就必需讲英文。

到最后, 生活中的压力,或对自己的尊严,哪一个重要? 做人要现实.

[Guest Guest]

[zwei]

I prefer speaking Mandarin over English haha feels closer to the person ure speaking to

[wahwahboi]

It seems that a lot of the forumers have extreme views on speaking Mandarin and English, but I guess these two conversational languages can complement each other and is useful in our everyday life.

English, no doubt, is an international language, which is ubiquitously spoken in Singapore. No matter where you go, you'll need to use English to communicate and write, especially in official documents. Thus this further emphasises its importance. And also, due to the cultural and racial diversity in Singapore, English serves as a common conversational tool between these cultural groups.

However, there are instances where Mandarin is important as well. As a matter of fact, Singapore is dominated by Chinese, thus by right, most of the population can be assumed to be Mandarin-speaking, and this is especially so for the middle-aged and older generation. Thus if one's job has to deal with these groups of people frequently, I guess the mastery of communicating in Mandarin will definitely be more beneficial. And yes, I agree with @zwei that Mandarin is actually an intimate conversational language.

In all, I guess it's important to know how to speak in and understand both languages as they can be used in different situations. However, my stand is that as long as you are understood, it doesn't matter if your conversational English or Mandarin is not fluent, or you choose to speak just in one language. I am studying in Australia now and most of my classmates (Australian born Chinese) know nothing about Mandarin, but we can still communicate effectively using English.

Edited October 8, 2012 by wahwahboi

[Guest eBayUrChild]

English>>>>>>>>>>Mandarin

Simple.

[abang]

I should consider myself lucky as I was born in the era where we spoke many different languages and dialects.

There was no distinction which one was more 'atas' than the other as each serves its function(s) well.

The ability to speak good English was essential as it was (and still is) the language of instruction in school.

I remind myself constantly to do well in school because the "gay" boy must be "clever".

Otherwise, he may end up in Johore Road (as a prostitute)!

I remembered the good old days where I used to read in traditional Chinese before we switched over to

Simplified Chinese in 1972. Those born during the era are still able to read "gossip" columns from HK and Taiwan

effortlessly,

It was in 1978 when the government campaigned "Speak Mandarin, not dialect"... It was rather sad to have our

names "Hanyupinyin".. it lost the original slur.... you could not differentiate a Chan, Tan, Teh, Tay, Cheng.. gone

were the names like "Chee Keong" and "Kok Seng"..

Now the younger generation rarely speaks dialect... so please dont lose our heritage.

Please know and use your mother tongue, Cantonese or Chinese, Malay or Tamil alongside with the English language.

Be a master of many languages and dialects.

[Guest Teoh]

Now the younger generation rarely speaks dialect... so please dont lose our heritage.

Please know and use your mother tongue, Cantonese or Chinese, Malay or Tamil alongside with the English language.

Be a master of many languages and dialects.

Too late, Sporeans already lost it.

This is a country where the people cannot display humanity as there has been an absence of culture, linguistically, socially or even food-wise.

For the chinese, except looking like a Chinese elsewhere in the region, Sporean chinese cannot display any abilities which share the common denominator as other chinese people. Sporean chinese are proud not to be able to converse in mandarin, poor in writing chinese, loves pizza and spaggetti, etc.

And soon, the malays are following the similar path.

Standing beside an angmo, Sporeans sound queer with Singlish; standing beside a Taiwanese or a Chinese, Sporeans' chinese sound worse than a primary kid, where words do not come, and the fluency compromised. (Some will secretly feel proud here to be able to be compared negatively with a PRC).

猪八戒照镜子,里外不是人.

[Guest Guest]

Too late, Sporeans already lost it.

This is a country where the people cannot display humanity as there has been an absence of culture, linguistically, socially or even food-wise.

For the chinese, except looking like a Chinese elsewhere in the region, Sporean chinese cannot display any abilities which share the common denominator as other chinese people. Sporean chinese are proud not to be able to converse in mandarin, poor in writing chinese, loves pizza and spaggetti, etc.

And soon, the malays are following the similar path.

Standing beside an angmo, Sporeans sound queer with Singlish; standing beside a Taiwanese or a Chinese, Sporeans' chinese sound worse than a primary kid, where words do not come, and the fluency compromised. (Some will secretly feel proud here to be able to be compared negatively with a PRC).

猪八戒照镜子,里外不是人.

I was chinese educated but my english sucked. While studying overseas, I got to improve on my English & while mixing with students from China & Taiwan, my mandarin pronunciation was corrected. I guess watching news form china/taiwan on cable would help one get used to the accent of the language & speak with the proper accent, too.

My nieces & nephews are fluent in English could not speak proper Mandarin & dialect. Sigh.......

[Guest Guest]

we have to learn from the Filipinos in this case. You see, they are very proud of their own native Tagalog language and very fluent in it, and at the same time, their command of English is better than that of most Singaporeans. We can't deny that our accents are weird and most ang mohs would prefer hearing Filipino accents than Singlish accent.

According to this recent survey, Philippines' English is the best in the world, ahead of Malaysia and Singapore

http://sgentrepreneu...not-far-behind/

[qedcwc]

we have to learn from the Filipinos in this case. You see, they are very proud of their own native Tagalog language and very fluent in it, and at the same time, their command of English is better than that of most Singaporeans. We can't deny that our accents are weird and most ang mohs would prefer hearing Filipino accents than Singlish accent.

According to this recent survey, Philippines' English is the best in the world, ahead of Malaysia and Singapore

http://sgentrepreneu...not-far-behind/

Business English, to be accurate.

It may mean that they may not necessarily articulate well when it comes to academic English.

[monochrome]

To that person who called Chinese who can't speak mandarin traitors, what abt peranakan Chinese? Many can't speak mandarin but Malay and they observe Chinese customs and traditions much more than I do. Are these people traitors?

This is a good discussion. First of all, I am peranakan, full peranakan, 4th generation Singaporean, 10th generation Southeast Asian. I trace my roots to the oldest Peranakan families from Malacca who arrived in the 1400s. None of my parents speak Mandarin (well) they only know a smattering, both of them took Malay in school and speak English at home. That goes without saying that my grandparents, great grandparents etc spoke only Malay with Hokkien words thrown in at home. I grew up eating Peranakan/Malay food. Sambal belachan, achar, babi pongteh, rendang etc.

My siblings, cousins and I were the first generation to learn Mandarin. My father didn't like it, he was strongly against learning Mandarin and wanted us to learn Malay like our forefathers did. But my mother insisted even though it meant we had to hire a tutor.

Needless to say, all of us were hopeless at it - we feel no cultural inclination to learn Mandarin nor any emotional attachments to how the language sounds. Mandarin was never part of my heritage and no one in my family intends on making it so.

[ctr77]

My maternal grandparents were both born in Indonesia and my father is peranakan. All of them spoke English at home with the occasional Malay, none knew a word of Mandarin. Like monochrome, my mother insisted that my siblings and I learn Mandarin and even sent us to a Chinese school.

For a person who picks up languages relatively easily, I've always had trouble with Oriental languages, which came partially from not being able to remember the characters, from a disinterest in Chinese culture and heritage, and also from the mindset that I could survive in the real world without having to speak Mandarin. Needless to say, I was also hopeless at it and failed year after year after year, despite getting help from tutors of all sorts.

My willingness to learn a language is directly related to the culture and society that I am integrating into. My inability to speak Mandarin has not been a hindrance to me so far. I have no intention of improving my Mandarin and I don't consider myself to be a traitor because I see myself as inherently Singaporean and not Chinese. Speaking Mandarin is not one of the pre-requisites to being a Singaporean and it is not essential for survival in Singapore.

[Guest Neh Neh]

Last time when i was a boi in kampong. I had to speak malay, mandarin, tamil, hokkien, teo chew,hakka and cantonese and english. Now aday younger generation language pickup skill so poor. Cant help but to wonder how they can survive in future when they step out SG.

[EasleyLim]

Last time when i was a boi in kampong. I had to speak malay, mandarin, tamil, hokkien, teo chew,hakka and cantonese and english. Now aday younger generation language pickup skill so poor. Cant help but to wonder how they can survive in future when they step out SG.

Because the depth and breath of the things we have to learn now is the same as what you studied back then right, assuming you are in school for close to 7 hours and have 8 subjects to study.

For fuck sakes, every era has its own difficulties. Way before your time, staying out of the elements was hard too. I wonder what a caveman would think of you, hiding behind wooden structures and not hunting your own food.

Apply a bit of logic before you speak, yeah?

[Guest 柳岩]

无论是狮城华侨或中国人，大家都是华人，华人应该懂得讲华语。

[darkflame]

This is a good discussion. First of all, I am peranakan, full peranakan, 4th generation Singaporean, 10th generation Southeast Asian. I trace my roots to the oldest Peranakan families from Malacca who arrived in the 1400s. None of my parents speak Mandarin (well) they only know a smattering, both of them took Malay in school and speak English at home. That goes without saying that my grandparents, great grandparents etc spoke only Malay with Hokkien words thrown in at home. I grew up eating Peranakan/Malay food. Sambal belachan, achar, babi pongteh, rendang etc. My siblings, cousins and I were the first generation to learn Mandarin. My father didn't like it, he was strongly against learning Mandarin and wanted us to learn Malay like our forefathers did. But my mother insisted even though it meant we had to hire a tutor. Needless to say, all of us were hopeless at it - we feel no cultural inclination to learn Mandarin nor any emotional attachments to how the language sounds. Mandarin was never part of my heritage and no one in my family intends on making it so.

My maternal grandparents were both born in Indonesia and my father is peranakan. All of them spoke English at home with the occasional Malay, none knew a word of Mandarin. Like monochrome, my mother insisted that my siblings and I learn Mandarin and even sent us to a Chinese school. For a person who picks up languages relatively easily, I've always had trouble with Oriental languages, which came partially from not being able to remember the characters, from a disinterest in Chinese culture and heritage, and also from the mindset that I could survive in the real world without having to speak Mandarin. Needless to say, I was also hopeless at it and failed year after year after year, despite getting help from tutors of all sorts. My willingness to learn a language is directly related to the culture and society that I am integrating into. My inability to speak Mandarin has not been a hindrance to me so far. I have no intention of improving my Mandarin and I don't consider myself to be a traitor because I see myself as inherently Singaporean and not Chinese. Speaking Mandarin is not one of the pre-requisites to being a Singaporean and it is not essential for survival in Singapore.

My situation is similar to yours. However, I was instructed to learn Mandarin because my father is Chinese (roots in Kinmen Islands) but my mother is Peranakan. The situation turned a bit when my father realised I failed to learn Hokkien fluently, effectively causing a communication barrier between my grandparents & I. Now I'm getting condemned for not being able to learn any Hokkien properly. lol

Edited February 16, 2013 by darkflame

[ctr77]

Cant help but to wonder how they can survive in future when they step out SG.

I did.

I lived in Australia for 9 years and I survived well.

I was far from being a good student in school so if I can, anyone else can too.

[Jak09]

I prefer speaking mandarin than english. It gives me a much closer personal relation to the person i am speaking with.

And, i have better vocab in chinese, therefore giving me a better way to expressing myself..

[SeannyShortcake]

I wouldn't go as far to say as it would be disgraceful for a Chinese-born to not know how to speak Mandarin or other Chinese dialects due to the factors such as location,

education and level of interest.

It is however a valuable skill to pick up

[abang]

There are 2 main factors here:

a. Absence of a conducive environment to use the language

b. Reluctance to use the language

The first factor is understandable.. just like trying to speak proper English in non-English speaking countries.

The latter may be boiled down to self-discipline, less preference to use the English or a fear to use the language.

I had a classmate who did well in every academic subject but failed Chinese (F9) year after year in RI.

He could not continue his studies here and had to study overseas.

That was a very unfortunate true incident.. that's why the Ministry introduced Chinese 'B' as an alternative.

(but CB, sorry the pun, is not counted as a subject in the application for admission in Polytechnics)..

Dont bash me..

Fortunately during my time (back in the late 60s and through 70s), I had both the environment (parents) and discipline. It was not a mean feat for boys from my school to score distinctions in both languages..

Edited February 16, 2013 by abang

[slackerj]

It all boils down to self-identification. If you recgonise yourself has a chinese or part-chinese, then you should at least make some effort to pick up mandarin or your own dialect. That's what i think lah, but no point forcing/ slaming people over it.

Just like there are asian that like the western culture, there are westerners that like asian culture as well. As long as each of us are comfortable and can get our point across is good enough already.

Ps. I use English in work and school but the moment I knock off, I use mandarin.

[Guest GUST]

In fact, most of second generations of immigrants are no longer speaking their parents’ native language. Such as Indonesian Chinese only speak Bahasa Indonesia, American Vietnamese only speak English, or Japanese Koreans only speak Japanese. It’s actually unusual that Singaporean Chinese are still speaking Chinese today.

America is a very good example, there are 18% of Americans are originally from Germany, but now less than 1% of the German decedents can speak German today. The situation can be observed on American Dutch, American Italians, or even many of American Chinese.

English brings up the international status of Singapore, integrates citizens from all different ethnic groups, and most importantly, differentiates Singaporeans from Chinese nationals, Indians, or even Malaysians. Therefore, Singaporeans need to speak Chinese just because their ancestors came from south China few hundred years ago?? Then all Chinese should speak Mongolian or African language since that’s the real origin of their people.

[Guest Guest]

'It is ok to speak English but DON'T SLANT and acted like you were borned in western place or ABC.

Isn't it this "ching chye" attitude pervading Southeast Asian society that produces not only poor language skills but also prevents the countries from advancing? It's like saying don't even try to be better. Forget about quality control or following correct models. If something is perfect, reject it.

[monochrome]

My maternal grandparents were both born in Indonesia and my father is peranakan. All of them spoke English at home with the occasional Malay, none knew a word of Mandarin. Like monochrome, my mother insisted that my siblings and I learn Mandarin and even sent us to a Chinese school.

For a person who picks up languages relatively easily, I've always had trouble with Oriental languages, which came partially from not being able to remember the characters, from a disinterest in Chinese culture and heritage, and also from the mindset that I could survive in the real world without having to speak Mandarin. Needless to say, I was also hopeless at it and failed year after year after year, despite getting help from tutors of all sorts.

My willingness to learn a language is directly related to the culture and society that I am integrating into. My inability to speak Mandarin has not been a hindrance to me so far. I have no intention of improving my Mandarin and I don't consider myself to be a traitor because I see myself as inherently Singaporean and not Chinese. Speaking Mandarin is not one of the pre-requisites to being a Singaporean and it is not essential for survival in Singapore.

Glad to know I'm not the only one. Hmmm to be honest, memorising how to write Chinese characters was the easy bit for me but I completely lack the confidence to speak it - the only time I spoke Mandarin (or tried to) was to in class, otherwise I avoided it like the plague. Slowly, I began to resent it. And then I met some Peranakans from Malaysia who were studying abroad and they gave me a thorough dressing down for being complicit in the disappearance of Peranakan culture. They have managed to preserve the culture in a way we didn't get to in Singapore and were equally fluent in formal Malay, Baba Malay and Hokkien.

Learning Mandarin is all good and fine, but it shouldn't have to erase our diversity and dialects. It's part of who we are Here's an excellent short skit by poet/playwright Ng Yi-Sheng.

[media=]

Edited February 16, 2013 by monochrome

[ctr77]

I actually can't speak Malay, Baba, Hokkien, or any other dialect. I can hold a basic conversation in Mandarin but no more than that. I also have reading skills in Chinese similar to that of a Primary 1 child and can't write at all, which is probably due to the fact that I have absolutely no interest in Asian culture whatsoever. I took German classes when I was 21 and achieved a standard of German higher than my standard of Mandarin in less than 1/10th of the time, which I think was attributed to my long-standing fascination with European languages and culture. So I think that a person's ability to speak Mandarin or any other language is directly influenced by how much interest he has in the culture or society that the language originates in.

I can empathise with students in school who are/were considered failures due to not being able to pass Chinese because I was one such person. I scored F9 in Chinese year after year in one of the top Chinese schools and finally achieved an unprecedented score of U for my GCE O-Level exam. In my era (late 1990s) there was no such thing as "Chinese B", and in fact I think I still would have scored a U. I could not continue my studies in Singapore because of that but it hasn't stopped me from establishing myself in the workforce and advancing my career.

Due to my experience I am convinced that the ability to speak Mandarin in Singapore is a bonus, but not a requirement. In fact, I think unless you are in certain fields (ie. customer service, telemarketing, dealing in cross-border issues with native Chinese speaking countries, etc...), fluency in Mandarin is completely irrelevant to work performance.

[qedcwc]

Multilingual talents are being sought by major big corporations nowadays. The fact that ctr77 managed to survive without Mandarin in Australia is because it is not the dominant language there. The situation could have been different if he was in Beijing.

Tionghoa Indonesians mostly speak Bahasa Indonesia bcos Suharto made it a law banning all sorts of Chinese-related practices, including language and culture, down to their names as well. It was only after he was thrown off the seat of power that the law was abolished and they are picking up in establishing a Chinese education system with the support of Chinese educationists from Malaysia.

To identify with a culture, learning the language of the culture itself is most effective in understanding it.

[Guest Guest]

The threadstarter was talking about jia kantang upper middle-class Singaporean Chinese refusing to speak Mandarin and acknowledge their cultural ethnic roots.

Instead, we have people successfully waylaying the entire thread, converting it into a discussion on dialect origins.

You really think those jia kantangs from ACS or SJI look down on Mandarin or the Chinese language because of dialect pride? LOL!

Are you kidding or deluded or both?

If you only want to speak English, by all means, but don't frown when people call you jia kantang, because it's true.

And please don't hide behind dialect pride or other such lame excuses.

Wanna be a fake ang moh, then be a fake ang moh lor.

What you said is very politically incorrect, but also very true.

Those jia kantangs giving all sorts of excuses for not mastering Mandarin (eg Peranakan, dialect pride, no use in business/corporate environment etc) are just giving lame excuses.

[Guest Guest]

Perhaps the greatest irony of all was that the OP was written in English.

With the way it's spoken utterlyfxxkingbutchered in Singapore, it's not a big loss anyway.

Shut the fuck up.

Who are you, a fucking snobbish Malaysian, to pass snide remarks on how Singaporeans speak Mandarin?

Your countrymen's command of Mandarin is 几不够力一下的咯

Fuck back to your Malaysian gay forum, you are not welcome here.

[monochrome]

What you said is very politically incorrect, but also very true.

Those jia kantangs giving all sorts of excuses for not mastering Mandarin (eg Peranakan, dialect pride, no use in business/corporate environment etc) are just giving lame excuses.

Lame excuses? No one in my family has ever learnt or spoken Mandarin until it was my generation. You have your right to learn your languages and I have mine. Looking down on people who don't speak Mandarin well is the same as the jia kantangs looking down on people who don't speak English well. You are no different from them.

[harakirri]

lemme yaya abit. language for me is natural, so I could not really offer tips on how to really pick up mandarin, or any language in particular, unless you really have the motivation to master the language (due to work matters etc).

but while I was teaching Eng in a sec school a few years back, I realized that my students (I taught classes on both ends of the spectrum, the 'A' and the 'F' classes) were actually better in Chi than Eng. Their sentence structures were way better than they did in Eng, though they were equally bad in writing in both lang. I attribute that to the culture of sms/texting, where ppl just type according to 'conversation styles' rather than formal writing.

I also observed that the Chi teachers were stricter in their marking of Chi papers than Eng teachers were. The marking system for Eng compo were grey, focus on 'good use of vocab' etc, while students could easily get faulted for writing a character wrongly etc. cos of the stricter marking, the students tend to dislike Chi more than Eng.

However, I did not like the idea that the Eng teachers were lenient in their marking. It contributed to a generation of ppl who thought they were good in Eng, but when you ask them to pen their arguments/thoughts down, very few could deliver a good writing. this is especially ironic, since our system wants us to focus on Eng, so we could write well to be competitive at work. and now, we have a problem with Chi too. double whammy!

[Guest Guest]

I had classmates in school who thought that it's 'cool' to only be proficient in English and look down on all things relating to China and the Chinese culture. I felt sorry for them that they only had the benefit of a pseudo-Anglo-Saxon world view despite the fact that they are Chinese. Not everyone has what it takes to be effectively bilingual but to adopt the mindset that it is superior to be a monolingual pseudo-Westerner is just pathetic.

[abang]

I had classmates in school who thought that it's 'cool' to only be proficient in English and look down on all things relating to China and the Chinese culture. I felt sorry for them that they only had the benefit of a pseudo-Anglo-Saxon world view despite the fact that they are Chinese. Not everyone has what it takes to be effectively bilingual but to adopt the mindset that it is superior to be a monolingual pseudo-Westerner is just pathetic.

That was what happened in the 70s where English was the preferred language.

That was what happened when you were in a missionary school, right?

Not in mine... academically excellence is expected!

[Guest Guest]

That was what happened in the 70s where English was the preferred language.

That was what happened when you were in a missionary school, right?

Not in mine... academically excellence is expected!

Nope, i was not from a missionary school - I was from Raffles Institution.

[Guest singapo人]

在国内, 当下倒是南腔北调吃香。。。总有人渣以*装腔*作势, 假扮洋鬼子,老外。。。 歪风邪气, 悲哀呀! 傻B就只能令人傻眼,囧!

[Guest Guest]

Raffles is one of those few schools whereby the students can score distinctions in both English and Chinese (and all other subjects), academic excellence is not just expected but actually achieved. 

[Guest Mammoth]

What is more important for Sporeans is the preservation of culture and heritage.

Culture and heritage cannot be delinked from proficiency in a certain language.

For instance, when one reads a menu in a Chinese restaurant, you will know the distinctive difference between 梅菜扣肉 and "pork with preserved vegetables'.  The flavour of the food culture (饮食文化) is gone when you read it in english.

 

Unfortunately, such appreciation of things around oneself (food, living and surroundings) has weakened substantially, as younger generations of Sporeans do not realise what they have been missing as compared to their counterparts in HK and Taiwan.

 

[Gray]

I went to Taiwan recently and let me tell you, having language barriers when you are chinese and the place is a land of native chinese speakers isn't fun at all. Embarrassing to the max.

As a child, I had always preferred english compared to mandarin. As I grew older, I realised that mandarin is actually a beautiful language. When I hear my friends from China speak such perfect mandarin, it just makes me feel inferior somehow.

People like to say that at least in Singapore we can speak english so we are better but please lah, the majority of singaporeans have such a poor grasp of english that it makes me embarrassed to even hear that.

Edited March 28, 2013 by Gray

[Guest Teoh]

I went to Taiwan recently and let me tell you, having language barriers when you are chinese and the place is a land of native chinese speakers isn't fun at all. Embarrassing to the max.

As a child, I had always preferred english compared to mandarin. As I grew older, I realised that mandarin is actually a beautiful language. When I hear my friends from China speak such perfect mandarin, it just makes me feel inferior somehow.

People like to say that at least in Singapore we can speak english so we are better but please lah, the majority of singaporeans have such a poor grasp of english that it makes me embarrassed to even hear that.

 

Sporeans do not speak beautiful mandarin, and the mandarin speaking surrounding in Spore is poor. But the Taiwanese in Taipei speaks very well.

If a Sporean is immersed in a surrounding where everyone speaks nicely and beautifully, he will be motivated to learn to speak in a similar fashion. Pity Sporeans do not.

 

Likewise English.

[gz69a]

I use more Mandarin now.  I learnt Mandarin myself and so I am still struggling.  It is great language but a tough language to master.  I am Chinese and has decided that it is not right to speak only English.  The great Chinese heritage of thousands of years is embodied in a language that is the oldest in the world. 

 

I enjoy the hardship of mastering Mandarin but it is good mental exercise and has become a hobby.

[abang]

Raffles is one of those few schools whereby the students can score distinctions in both English and Chinese (and all other subjects), academic excellence is not just expected but actually achieved. 

I agreed... not boasting but looking back, I wonder how I managed distinctions for so many subjects when I was there..

The school environment then was competitive (in a good way).

Just do what your classmates are doing, and you will be fine...

一起竞争， 一起学习， 一起成功。。

[Guest Guest]

I agreed... not boasting but looking back, I wonder how I managed distinctions for so many subjects when I was there..

The school environment then was competitive (in a good way).

Just do what your classmates are doing, and you will be fine...

一起竞争， 一起学习， 一起成功。。

 

I think you are a very lonely old man trying to create conversation.

Or just a typical Singaporean who likes to brag whenever there's an opportunity.