charles brough
Registered Senior Member
Singlish is commonly spoke in Singapore. Most of the Chinese there are descendents of people who migrated from SouthEast China early in the previous century when that region was being contested (China vs. IndoChina). Villages were fortified and the people were uneducated.
In Malaysia and Singapore, they settled and continued to speak Hoken Chinese. But English became the language of business and England ruled the land for perhaps a century. English stuck with the upper classes.
During the first half of the last century, the common Chinese people have been taught Mandarin besides the Hoken learned from their parents. But English was not adequatrely drifting down to the common people.
In 1993, my then wife was commissioned by the Singapore government to develop a prime time TV series for Singapore IN ENGLISH. This would be the first time that had happened. So, it centered around Chinese people who had learned English simply by speaking with English words based largely upon Chinese grammer and pronunciation!
That's Singlish!
Fortunately, the educational system of Singapore is excellent and they have, in recent years, largely replaced Singlish with English. Singaporeans still have a particular accent, but so do Chinese from China.
charles, http://humanpurpose.simplenet.com
In Malaysia and Singapore, they settled and continued to speak Hoken Chinese. But English became the language of business and England ruled the land for perhaps a century. English stuck with the upper classes.
During the first half of the last century, the common Chinese people have been taught Mandarin besides the Hoken learned from their parents. But English was not adequatrely drifting down to the common people.
In 1993, my then wife was commissioned by the Singapore government to develop a prime time TV series for Singapore IN ENGLISH. This would be the first time that had happened. So, it centered around Chinese people who had learned English simply by speaking with English words based largely upon Chinese grammer and pronunciation!
That's Singlish!
Fortunately, the educational system of Singapore is excellent and they have, in recent years, largely replaced Singlish with English. Singaporeans still have a particular accent, but so do Chinese from China.
charles, http://humanpurpose.simplenet.com
