Miss Sun saying Singlish and English

[drekt]

actually singlish is a language form by using parts of chinese / dialect simple grammar and vocabulary from chinese/dialect, malay, to describe scenario which english yet to have a vocab to express easily.

for example, kiasu (驚輸): made of two expression "scare " and “lose".this word in singlish express: afraid to lose out.

[psvision]

it shows she's from Singapore! love her always!

[shinjyusei]

singlish sounds like a empty pot falling down a flight of stairs hahahaha

[COOLGY08]

I am Taiwanese, but I love Singlish. I really enjoy listening English songs sung by Singaporean singers(like Stefanie Sun). I think most Taiwanese can appreciate the cultural differences between Taiwan and Singapore. I love Singapore, and I think your accent is charming and beautiful. So, please don't generalize all of us from personal remarks delivered by some people on TV. Their opinion cannot represents the truth.

[Lemurai]

Singlish sounds like tagalog. Makes me think i'm in the philipines.

[TheDingfish]

its so weird how singlishified her accent is when she went to rgs...

p.s. im not insulting the singlish accent, just commenting from my own experience!

[ianmann64]

Good to hear Stephanie Sun speak English, I like her Singaporean accent.

[afuwok6969]

english is english...i think proper english needs to be well protected as much as 'street' english...

[linkingal]

@afuwok6969 YEA. English is English. And Singlish is Singlish. It's not Street English for fucks sake.

[afuwok6969]

@linkingal ur point of view dont seems 2 make much sense...guess ur speakin singlish now..?

[linkingal]

@afuwok6969 i guess it doesn't make much sense to someone who assumes without thinking. well, it should have been pretty obvious to me when I replied to ur comment yet i still gave myself that little dim light that god would help yet .. oh wells!

[afuwok6969]

@linkingal errrrr...wats tat gotta do wit assuming ....ur 1st comment was short n didint even xplain nothin...by poitin tat out i guess ur da 1 who started assuming shit...get it ??

[linkingal]

@afuwok6969 Well this is fair trollolololololed.

[afuwok6969]

@linkingal but of coz...ur a bitch....

[linkingal]

@afuwok6969 trollolol

[aaron654lo]

@afuwok6969 like that also must scold people

[DAIGORO14]

我是加拿大人,我的第一語言是英語

I Could understand all of her English, The only English speaking country i find difficult to understand and it's not with everyone just some people are south Africans.

[rocketlauncher96]

wow.it's been so long since i last saw CHANNEL I. why did mediacorp have to discontinue its telecast?!?!

[dangelz00]

Each country has their own unique wayy of english.

And each country has their own unique accent. :)

[FingersSoAwesome]

LOL . Mchm Ris low hahas

[404sandmonkey]

Anyone trying to speak Singlish in an international formal or business situation only needs some lessons in business etiquette. Singlish is a colourful and historic/traditional part of Singapore, leave it alone meh!

[404sandmonkey]

They will only use Singlish if they feel that it is OK with the 'ang moh' they are talking with. The only 'growing up' that is needed must done by people who promote the 'banning' of local dialects ( this is a dialect, although at times it does appear to border on being a different language, containing as it does so many unaltered Hokkien and Malay words which have not been assimilated into Standard English).

[404sandmonkey]

So many comments here were either racist or just ignorant/stupid. The only Singlish she used was 'Ha! No lah, no lah!". Having a Singaporean accent is not speaking Singlish. Her English is actually fluent and correct. I can speak Cockney English (Cockney words, as well as accent) as well as (very good) Standard English, at will, as I am a Native Londoner. Most educated Singaporeans can speak Standard English as well as Singlish.

[c0desdr]

@404sandmonkey Glad to see that you understood Singaporeans well.lol. Singlish is just a slang that could include a few language in it. You have to be a singaporean or live there long enough to pickup Singlish. Singlish is not taught anywhere on earth except Owned by singaporean. lol. And you are right about the accent. We just don´t want to pretend who we are.

[davyoa]

come on la guys... not everyone can speak like the Queen.



[OLDMANBADGER]

if Singlish wants to be taken seriously , Singlish must be bannished. It is the staccato which makes it unitelligble and the pointess ahs lahs lors siaos and hors. eg " i dun tek pok lah. last time it pok can, but now oreddi cannot ah."

[BigBigDong]

She sounds indian.. Yikes.. better stick to Mandarin, Miss Sun. 

[c0desdr]

@BigBigDong Miss Sun is Owned by Singapore! She was doing the NDP for her own country! So mind your words!

[glglmifen]

OMG!! this is my 1st time listening to her english

[afertyu]

It's only an issue when one can't effectively codeswitch b/w standard english and singlish. I mean come on larh, we speak singlish all the time lor!

[aloozer]

1 thing i realise about singers. they can sing well right, then when they switch back to conversational-speak, they sound more flat. anyone shares my opinion? wonder what's the reason.

[RPGfiend]

It's good when people speak differently.Remember that one time,when we all spoke the same language,and we built that tower?Good times.

[jennwenwen]

i hate it when foreigners like to speak singlish, they juz put la behind every sentence... if you are not Singapore born than pls dont try it at all..... you will neevr get it......



[ninpohimiko]

i agree... but another reason why non natives of singapore should not try to speak it is that singlish sounds truly awful ;P

[08orville]

its common here in Philippines

[jurmongler]

Sounds like a mix between English, CHinese and Hindi accents all rolled into one! MASSIVE FAIL! North American English RULES!!

[majical2888]

hahaha that is cute , I love her Singlish : )

[highburycatherine]

I'm Chinese and I understand her just fine. My high school physics teacher was from Singapore, such a nice guy ^^. Wasn't used to his accent at first but found it extremely cute after a year or so.

[28hikaru90]

she spoke nicely what?

you havent heard the real singlish by singaporean here... sooo irritating...

and what's worse is when foreigner tries to speak proper english, they will look at him/her with a very irritating face.. something like " why are you speaking like that? that's irritating" (happened to me several times)

[TheYou7ube]

@28hikaru90

ya, i agree ..i m a foreigner living in SG. they r so proud of their singlish n make fun of others who dun speak SINGlish...so in singapore, better DUN speak ENGLISH, but SINGlish :(

[tubeyou5388]

@TheYou7ube You won't have to surrender to Singlish if you are strong enough and so proud of your English. No Singaporean will force you to commit it, its up to you. A lot of foreigners can influence others to speak English than Singlish, at least when with them. I don't think every Singaporean is proud of it. I am not ashame of it, just try not to use it with foreigners who most likely do not understand.

[tubeyou5388]

She is being understood and language is about to communicate. A lot of countries have their own commonly known 'special local language' does that mean they are all wrong just because we cant find some words in dictionary??!!

[xXiia0zhaborx]

Singlish.. Is like s short cut to english.

Singaporean usually rushes to place to place.. And sometimes they don't want to waste their time talking. Singlish can help them save time. Culture lar. Even if you try to talk singlish also sounds wierd.. So thats really something good about singlish.

[monicaninny]

yea she speaks singlish all the waaaaaay! when you thought she speaks english, i think she just speak less-singlish, but still, not english!

[sunnyboyz00]

singaporean accented english... the "lah" indicated traces of "singlish" :)

[tommyasia1]

theres not much difference between SINGLISH and ENGLISH...sounds very similar...沒有差別啦!

[cjp1222]

@tommyasia1 差多了!

[henrysinaga]

Are you out of your mind?

[tommyasia1]

if you are referring to me, im fine, tks!

well...for non-singlish/manglish speakers, her ENGLISH and SINGLISH sounds similar...ask american/british or aussie speakers...

[henrysinaga]

she didn't speak english, she spoke Singlish all the way through!! blaaaahhhh

[dorcas25sg]

ｓｈｅ　ｓｐｅａｋｓ　ｏｋ．

[henrysinaga]

n o  s h e d o e s n o t.

[earthstar]

singlish is chinglish (The non proper educated ones). Don't confuse with the rest of singapore please

[bhaihay]

OK lah Stefanie, how cum you still so Chinese wan?

[dearapple123]

i like her eg and songs ...every ocuntry has its specialty huh ...fighting!! we expect her new album...

[stynium]

Sun Yan Ziiiiii!! Channel i!!!!!! I FEEL SO OLD :P

[danthebilly]

I'm from the US, never been to Singapore and I understand her just fine.

[TheSpeaknoevil]

@danthebilly • Singaporeans pronounce flour as /flɑ:/ instead of /flaʊ-ə/. The dictionary says that both American and British pronunciation is /flaʊ-ə/.

Singaporean teachers pronounce and teach their pupils to pronounce flour as / flɑ:/. And at an oral examination, if this word appears in the reading passage, the pupils who pronounce it correctly are penalised.

I'd like native speakers from England, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand to reply to prove me right.

[rokkowoods]

I don't find it difficult to understand but then again I have relatives in Singapore so I am accustomed to listerning to it. I was born in Australia and English is my mother tongue.

[darkspiritprincess]

cant really understand much

[igusan]

people should just chill

[sisisze2007]

By the way,When Miss Sun saying English...I think her pronounciation like

Japanese~~'''

[sisisze2007]

Well done

As for me,When I spoke Englsih with my friend..We're often use Chinglish to chat

However,When I spoke English with my English teacher@@She is a native speaker..So I would change the channel

HAHA@@

[ErikWithBrain]

I've never heard singlish before and that first bit wasn't too difficult to understand, it's just that her pronunciation was really bad.

[japancute23]

malaysian n singaporean english! not bad.

[btan1994]

singapore's lah u noob

[japancute23]

@btan1994 Just the same.!

[Kelvinxiaozhu]

channel i!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sinomadfox]

thats classical Singapore English from Sun Yanzi

[singaporeassholes]

i agree with all your comments, kwisso.

[AngmohCaucasian]

though the second speech is not singlish,but still have a strong singaporean accent

[RotiBlata]

Even any person who speaks poor english can be better then any taiwan citizens :D

[everwhat2026]

Taiwan's english is so much better.

[DerickWongwt]

btw,sun speaks really good singlish~~~

[jemdude22]

To be honest, I think Sun's English is no longer as good as before after her years of language immersion and career development in Taiwan. Her speaking in the video sounds very *"cheena" to me and she has made some major pronounciation mistakes. I expect more from her because she is an English educated Singaporean.

*Cheena - a term used in Singapore to describe someone or something that appears to be very "Chinese" or "Old fashioned Chinese".

[neptunus]

Good grief, have self-respect much? "Cheena" is a derogatory term forced upon the less educated Chinese Singaporean from the self-proclaimed English-educated （read: "higher-class") Chinese Singaporean. It has the same negative connotation when the Japanese use the word "支那" when they look down on Chinese.

[8vin5]

What does this show? It shows that Singaporeans can speak good English in formal occasions and Singlish on informal occasions. Therefore, that Bastard Taiwanese celebrity who made the comment that Singapore English sucks can go kiss my ass.

[kwisso]

8vin5, I don't see how "no lah no lah" is considered good English...there's no such thing as "lah" in Native English. "lah" is a suffix in Cantonese that's mixed into the language you guys call Singlish. HENCE, please get your head out of the hole and realize that Singaporeans CAN't speak english properly...and Singlish is NOT PROPER ENGLISH

[lIlLLinIlI]

Yes you are right. But it is according to your views. Everyone has a different interpretation of "proper english". In Singapore, due to the fact that 'Singlish' is used virtually all the time, it is considered as proper english.

[jeffjeffpika]

Errmm.... I'm just wondering. Is "lah" from the Chinese character "啦" or the Malay prefix "-lah"? I'm kinda confused.

[plasterbearz]

personally, i feel it's more from the Malay "lah". But it should be a coincidence that "lah" in Malay and "啦" in Taiwanese Min or Chinese is used pretty much the same way.

Chinese from Mainland China don't use 啦 so much like we do in Singaporean-Chinese.

[jeffjeffpika]

I see. Thanks mate!

[armyboy24]

Whether Singaporeans speak English properly or not, would depend on the context. For informal occasions when hanging out with close friends, there is nothing wrong to say lah, no what, where got & other Singlish. It is just like Americans saying their slang, such as sup, wanna, gonna, fugly, watcha & so on. So if Americans say that during informal context, would you also say that Americans CAN'T speak English properly? It all depends on the context & your generalization is simply your own bias.

[djonutube]

@armyboy24

I think what most people are appalled by is the singlish accent more than anything else not so much just the type of lingo used.

[armyboy24]

@djonutube

Appalled by Singlish accent? Then the problem lies with those people and not so much on Singaporeans who speak Singlish. Because different people from different cultural backgrounds are bound to speak with their own accent. Wouldn't make much sense if these people expect another Indian, Chinese or Japanese guy to speak proper "English" accent just because these people are appalled by the Indianglish, Chinglish or Japanglish accent.

[eclecticist0]

it's easily understandable why some people have chinese, indian, french, spanish accents because it derives from their own native language, which is something spoken and understood by mostly everyone from their native countries. however, for singaporeans, especially chinese singaporeans, they can't speak any language "natively" in the sense that they could communicate flawlessly with other native speakers of chinese, english, etc.

[armyboy24]

@eclecticist0

I don't quite understand what you are trying 2 say. I lost you when you said they can't speak any language "natively"...then you say in the sense that they could communicate flawlessly with... Not sure about e rest, but when my friends & I were at Bangkok airport, we were able to identify fellow Singaporeans based on their native Singaporean accent. Thus to me, the term "native" in this sense, is not just ethnic-specific but can be culture-specific too. E.g. Singaporean culture

[Caimingchang]

Eh how come got channel I one?

[jererox]

long time ago. mediacorp bought over already.

[Caimingchang]

I mean I got see Channel i before. Buthow come after a while no more?

[jererox]

maybe because mediacorp didn't feel that channel i was profitable? lols, anw, they already have channel 5. So there's no point sustaining another English channel if they have no shows to show. And now there's some new kids channel, take over channel i.lols.

[vidoitaly]

please tell me when did she speak English?! From my listening.. she was spoke Singlish end of the interview.. by the way, I like the way she talk.. actually quite few Singaporean can speak Singlish as beautiful as she did..haha like her always..

[aysteria4love]

wow her singlish sounds better than many

[oOyifanOo]

kana sai

[freddyfu123]

OMG the first interview was...

[joe19870123]

I really had a hard time understanding Singlish.

It generates a gap between singaporeans and people who's not from south asia. Many of my friends speak singlish while thinking that they're speaking standard English. But that's what makes singaporeans different. Just like Astrualian English, same thing.

[vidoitaly]

mate, in my perception, aussie is just a different accent compare with british and american. but singlish is combine English words and Chinese grammer structure together.. really confused native English speakers sometimes.. but it's really funny..haha

[portner85]

me no speak english can?

[mathead123]

singlish rox

[peachsundressvlog]

lolx. you guys are making fun of yourselves :D

[HoSayLiaoLah]

Stephanie Sun is a chinese singer. How can we expect her to speak proper English. She can speak Singlish orredy very good.

[kwisso]

Learn to spell...it's already.....not orredy

[yonax]

it's intentional.. he's referring to singlish..

[kwisso]

Singaporeans should really learn to be more humble and quit being so prideful about Singlish and start to learn how to speak english properly so other people can understand them.

[danialRI]

anyway, it's about being PROUD, not prideful. There's no such thing as prideful. I guess when you say Singaporeans, i think you forgot to include yourself??

[783198]

hate to say this danialRI but there is such a thing as 'prideful'

go search it on the dictionary (:

[kwisso]

Uhh dude, I never said I was singaporean, I am CANADIAN! and yes I do think some Singaporeans are too prideful for their own good. Learn how to speak proper english please. Even your minister of education thinks so...best to take his advice

[angrybam]

That's hilarious because we Americans think you Canadians have the weirdest accents! Canada ay? The 51st state is telling how other nations should speak properly.

[kwisso]

Well, it's funny...cuz your ignorance (like what you've displayed here) clearly is a unique aspect of the american culture. I'm proud to be Canadian, at least the head of our government knows how to speak properly. Laugh all you want now, but given the economic state that your retarded president has left you in, within 10 years you hopeless americans will be begging for help from China, India, Oh and maybe even Canada...perhaps then we'll consider taking you in as our 14th province haha

[eugenechh88]

hello pls, i'm currently reading law at NUS and I know how bloody important good english is. I love Singapore dearly but I also deplore the use of singlish. At law school, articulating well is extremely important. Don;t shoot off w/o knowing anything.

[eugenechh88]

im a singaporean, and i have to say singlish SUCKS big time...

[armyboy24]

eugenechh88, then u dun be a Singaporean...go be a Malaysian...Singlish is a unique Singapore culture element...that is quite dear to many Singaporeans...

[wahahehohu]

Singlish sounds retarded and annoying.

Unique Singapore culture? What's that armyboy, please tell me what's that.

[armyboy24]

You may find Singlish sounds retarded and annoying, but not all think the same as you. I believe it is not up to me to say what unique Singapore culture must be. But for me, it encompasses the four major races of Singapore, Chinese, Malays, Indians and Caucasians, a fusion of Eastern and Western cultures. It also encompasses Singaporean's spirit within, its determination to overcome hardship, to achieve racial harmony, peace and progress for the nation.

[jemdude22]

Well said! =D Singlish did not emerge overnight! It slowly evolved to what it is today along with Singapore's development and history. Language is alive and it is still constantly being updated with new words, phrases. Even English language itself also has lots of borrow-words taken from other languages or cultures. For example,the Australians speak English with their own unique accent as well as slangs taken from oboriginal words that Americans or Brits may not understand.

[jonquilatan]

im glad a singaporean was humble and honest enough to admit this...english is an international language, if you cannot use it beyond singapore then the purpose is defeated. Believe me, native speakers are having a HARD time understanding singlish...

[kwisso]

RADM Lui Tuck Yew, Minister of State for Education in Singapore, says: "I think our neighbouring countries and other non-English speaking countries have also put in an emphasis on raising the standards of English amongst their students. So, it is important that we maintain our edge in our English language proficiency as well as this distinctiveness in bilingualism, in order to ensure that our position in this new competitive environment is not eroded."

[kwisso]

I TOTALLY AGREE!!!

[jemdude22]

In fact, I find the older generation (my mum's generation) in Singapore has a much better command of the English language as compared to the younger ones. The English standard in Singapore has indeed been gliding downhill over the years, and the continuous promotion of Mandarin Chinese to Singapore's Chinese community has made the situation worse. I wonder how Hong Kong government is tweaking with their language policies to ensure Hong Kong remains competitive in their standard of English.

[mwng3000hotmail]

You will be amazed to see that the "educated" generation in hong kong can't communicate in basic english. most can't speak Mandarin. I just went to hong kong and singapore and experienced the lack of language skill among the younger generations there.

in terms of language education, singapore beats hong kong. Singlish is better than nothing.

I am originally from hong kong and currently live in the US.

[jemdude22]

I agree. I just flew back from Hong Kong last night after a week's stay there. Just yesterday at the Fred Perry shop at the basement of Times Square in Causeway Bay area, I asked the young shop assistant whether the shirt I was looking at was of the latest design of the season, and he didn't understand the word "latest". I had to say the "newest" so that he could get it. I was shocked.

[snapsnap1]

It sounds singlish but she is being herself. I hate it when people try to speak singlish to try and appear local and those who try too hard to sound otherwise(American, British, etc).Speak to communicate.

[adpon]

always heard singlish on the bus here in aussieland.

[ninjaboy1984]

Nonsense...I studied in Australia and I used normal english (without any slang, but also not singlish) and the Aussies had no problem understanding. If anything, their reports were full of grammatical errors when I did group projects with them.

[BlessedEFont]

Singlish is unique for s'poreans (singaporeans). It's juz like Chinglish (for China), Japlish (for Japan), etc. It's not acceptable for INTERNATIONAL (or TRANSNATIONAL) communication. But for local, juz continue it lah.

[chris1612003]

But too bad some ignorant kids use singlish in online games

[icyblue06]

sorry for the spam.something's wrong with my computer.that was a reply to Ungulata.sorry for the spam once again.

[ABBIODISK]

I don't mind singlish... The ignorant will laugh but the wise will understand.

[rastamalaysia]

manglish lah wei

[Dovelike]

The majority of Singaporeans speak fluent English to Westerners with no sign of Singlish. Singlish is classed as a dialect at least and used when Singaporeans speak English to other Singaporeans. This must be clearly understood before making any judgement about the English ability of Singaporeans.

[Quynhtrinh]

r u sure abt that? iam NUS student n i guess most singaporean students @ NUS have a good command of English. But when they come to USA, Americans could not understand what they r saying even though they speak fluent english. This is my true experience.

[muenchenstrasse]

singlish is also not just about the words used. Singlish is also about the accent that we used. I have a very strong singlish accent, but i have to switch that accent to a british accent or an american accent if i want the americans or the british to understand me. We tend to put tones on parts of words in which we are accustomed with, which of course cannot be comprehend by the Caucasians.

[chris1612003]

That's just because they are not used to the accent. Heck, I couldn't understand African accent at the first time

[YaoYao7]

Yes, I did suffer and still suffering.My African-born football trainer said "zu-zu"(he means two-two)dribble training,Two-by-Two,and when i come Japan, My Japanese English taught me:"Itto Teku Oru Sotsu Tu Meku A Warudo(it take all sorts to make a world)...erm,should I listen to him?

[icyblue06]

u are so lame.what singlish?? she didnt even say anything thats singlish.singlish is what makes us singaporeans unique.its our country's language.please do not go around ruining this image.thank you very much.

[Ungulata]

it's ok if you feel proud of singlish. but it ain't cool at all to be so sulkingly defensive.

[icyblue06]

tell me in what way am i SULKINGLY defensive by just trying to protect my country's unique language.

[wahahehohu]

Unique language???

I don't know what to say... -.-'

Ah right.. so dodgy, that's the only thing I have to say about Singlish for now.

[wahahehohu]

I really do respect the way that you said it so shamelessly -'unique language' WTF!??

Above all, Singlish sounds undeniably annoying and retarded and nerdy.. argghh!! It's just too horrible to be described in 500 characters.

[armyboy24]

Singlish being a unique language, that incorporates words and phrases from different languages, and form its own grammatical rules, is not contradictory, in itself for being unique. Apparently, you don't truly understand the definition of the term unique.

[wahahehohu]

Is it true the way you people say, COKE becomes COCK???

Oh man...

[armyboy24]

Wow, good to see that you are acting like a totally retarded kid, drawing out silly examples such as "coke becomes cock" out of nowhere, just for your plain pleasure and amusement. And probably both coke and cock, is part of your everyday life, something u love it so much that u just gotta put inside ur mouth, and it makes u spread such childish things about Singlish.

[wahahehohu]

No lah, that's just what I saw from another vid making fun of Singlish...there's loads

[kwisso]

I AGREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[YoungGinTonic]

lalala. i'm singing!! this not singlish!! lol i very lame ~_~ SINGLISH ROCKS.

[forever2cool]

singlish is fun loh

[Ninenal]

lol, both singlish leh.

[jhlaurence364]

for influence of Malay?

[catisagirl]

singlish is quite easy to use

even though it is a mixture of many languages

[Ninenal]

It's easy if you understand Malay, Chinese or Hokkien.

Foreigners who attempt singlish often throw in unnecessary discourse particles(ie. lah leh la), or use them excessively.

i ask them, they say not easy... so yah lor :/ lol

[catisagirl]

yah lor, that it is, I think just regard singlish as a dialac, than it is easier for us to use that lo

otherwise may feel strange ~

[XinBiDe]

Singlish isn't quite just a dialect. It's a creole. that's what makes it so cool. It's considered by many to be it's own unique language borrowing words and grammar from many others.

[wahahehohu]

I really do respect the way that you said it so shamelessly -'unique language borrowing words and grammar from many others'???

That one sentence of yours quite clearly has a contradiction in itself.

Above all, Singlish sounds undeniably annoying and retarded and nerdy.. argghh!! It's just too horrible to be described in 500 characters.

[gymangos]

yeah girl! promote singlish! wahaha

[rx8neon]

yeah sounds like singlish to me

[cdover7890]

um, both sounded like singlish to me...

love her though.

[a1wei]

weird.. she's from a girl school how come she doesn't have the ascent?

[chosk80]

cock lar she is just like a singaporean like all of us

[rokeyge]

This is amazing!