Getting over the Singaporean accent!!!!

Singapore is not the only one. Check it out..

* Benglish (Bengali English)
* Chinglish (Chinese English)
* Czenglish (Czech English)
* Danglish (Danish English)
* Dunglish (Dutch English)
* Engrish (Japanese English)
* Finglish (Finnish English)
* Franglais (French English)
* Denglisch/Genglish/Ginglish/Germish/Pseudo-Anglicism (German English)
* Hebrish (Hebrew English)
* Hinglish (Hindi English)
* Hunglish (Hungarian English)
* Italish (Italian English)
* Japlish (Japanese English)
* Konglish (South Korean English)
* Manglish/Malaysian Colloquial English (Malaysian English)
* Poglish (Polish English)
* Rominglish/Romglish (Romanian English)
* Runglish (Russian English)
* Serblish (Serbian English)
* Singlish (Singaporean English)
* Spanglish (Spanish English)
* Swenglish (Swedish English)
* Taglish (Tagalog English)
* Tanglish (Tamil English)
* Tinglish/Thailish (Thai English)
* Vinish (Vietnamese English)
* Wenglish (Welsh English)
* Yeshivish (Yeshiva English)
* Yinglish (Yiddish English)
 
I don't think it affects our singing much what....I've never had people tell me that before and many local bands don't seem to have the problem as well....

I'm guessing its only a few people lah.....If the japs can sing good eng why we cannot?
 
I don't think local singers who sing and pronounce the words close to how the original Ang Moh singers do it, are so-called emulating them or are being pretentious.

Perhaps somebody should record an example by singing an English song but pronounce the words in the lazy, Singlish way. Abandoning the 'r's, the 't's and what not. I can imagine it will sound HORRIBLE.

I mean, some people can criticise Jay Chou or David Tao or whoever, for singing in 'improper Mandarin'. But for local singers who sing in properly enunciated English, they shout "Ang Moh wannabe!! Poseur!! Pretentious!!!".

What the fish?!

I mean, there is absolutely nothing negative about improving your standard of English, and making the effort to be clearly understood by everybody. So what if some Singaporeans chide you for speaking it properly and saying that you are what, white on the outside and yellow on the inside? I mean, these kind of labelling does not benefit anybody mah. It just makes those who say it feel better probably because they have very low self-esteem.

So, I guess it's just one of those things whereby a certain group of individuals who can't even differentiate between someone having an accent and someone actually making an effort to speak (or sing) proper English, and they will smirk and chide and act like they know it all. I know lots of ignoramuses like these and have to deal with them on a daily basis, unfortunately.

C'mon lah. When you live in such countries like our Singapore, with our diverse cultures and world-class economy and facilities and we need to deal or interact with a person of another race almost daily - the key is to adapt and react ya? You can't use Queen's English when you order from a Indian food stall if you are a Chinese. You need to speak Singlish when you order bak kut teh if you are an Indian. But there are so many other opportunities when you can speak clear and proper English when you interact with other races whom you know are fluent in English, more if they are Caucasians.

Everything has its time and its place what.

I personally just don't think it has any place at all in music.

Except in comical productions produced by the likes of Siva Choy, Jack Neo or whoever lah. These are intended to make the audience laugh more than they should listen to the quality of the English mah.
 
I don't really give a shit whether or not you speak precise english or not, the objective of ANY language is communication, as long as you can achieve it, I don't see why anyone should bother about incorrect grammar and such anal things that they stuff down your throats in school. As long as you maintain your speech in one language of course, and avoid sentences that are 50% mandarin or malay.
 
Well guys.. if they wanna speak singlish go ahead let them be.. its just shows that they are bad in English.. isn't that the matter of fact..? shesh ... u don't have to go all around the bush.. just say straight to the point.. LMAO..
 
This may be a 3 year old thread but I think it is one of those topics that has, is and will be discussed time and again. Might as well use this thread to invite opinions of those who have not been around three years ago.

I think many posters replying to this thread are taking things out of context. I do not think that the Singapore slang ie Singlish in normal everyday communication is something of a problem. Most of us tolerate it. Some (as you can see in some of the replies) embrace it. Heck, like it or not, it is one of the things that pretty much readily tags as a Made-In-Singapore thing.

In fact, every society and culture has its own form of slang. An American who listens to rock will have a different set of slang that he uses as compared to an American who listens to rap. That doesn't make either of them any less American than the other. He is still American. Same for a Singaporean who speak Singlish as compared to a Singaporean who doesn't. They are both Singaporean.

However, does anyone ever realise that the tolerance level for Singlish is significantly LOWER when in comes to music? To have Singlish in our music would be more appropriate if the song has an upbeat vibe or humorous connotation, but I have yet to hear a piece of local music that talks about real, serious issues that has Singlish in it.

I don't think we have much problem with the use of American slang or British slang in music from those countries. And most of the time, slangs can be found in lyrics of songs ranging from personal emotional rants to politi-social expression. Like I mentioned, every genre of music has its roots in a particular culture, and that culture has its own set of slang. So definitely the slang goes into the music to connect with the people who are within that culture.

But really... can we tolerate Singlish in a local song, if the song were to address a parallel issue as I mentioned about? If we are not ok with it, then does that mean that, in reality, we are not REALLY ok with our Singapore Slang?

Please note that I am talking about slang here ie Singlish; not accent... which can comprise of Chinese accent, Malay accent, Indian accent etc... which is ALSO another annoyance (in fact, a turn-off) for some, even when it is expressed in proper, good English.

Personally for me , in music, I would prefer to tolerate the accent more than the Singlish.
 
ok, the last person who has something to say, please end with the following.

"Allow me to let this be the last reply, before the thread drops to the bottom of the bottom and to be dug up 3 years later, in Decemeber 2010, then it shall be 6 years for this thread"

time capsule tick tick man
lights off
 
First you ask yourself..

Why you have to speak one language..

among the 6K++ available..

Well..

It's because..

some hundred years ago or so..

like many other Asian countries and people..

YOU GOT FSCKING PWNED!

Joy to the Merry lands..

AMEN
 
Being good in english and speaking accented english are two entirely different things la. You can talk in as polished a tongue as you wants but eventually, your grammar would gives you away and you would only be making the fools out of yourselves.

Heh.

My stand is that no matter the slang or accent, if you get the message across, you're just fine.
 
Last edited:
fake accent

I've seen S'poreans go study overseas for 1-3 years, and then come home with a thick ang-moh accent. Amazing.....how they do it siah? :D
 
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