Thargor 1st Gear September 14, 2009 Author Share September 14, 2009 Is this a happy thread or a complain thread? Neither...hehe this is a make fun of people thread ↡ Advertisement Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vextan 1st Gear September 14, 2009 Share September 14, 2009 one example being, i spoke to an englishman (from England of cos), he told me "... i will check out the lalabai... " . So I was confused and I asked him, sorry what is lalabai ? (cannot be lao chee bye right ?) , then he said, is "DATABASE" ! see ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rncw 5th Gear September 14, 2009 Share September 14, 2009 one example being, i spoke to an englishman (from England of cos), he told me "... i will check out the lalabai... " . So I was confused and I asked him, sorry what is lalabai ? (cannot be lao chee bye right ?) , then he said, is "DATABASE" ! see ? hmmm...how database be spoken as lalabai.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ahtong 1st Gear September 14, 2009 Share September 14, 2009 Actually everybody speaks English with an accent and just because it is coming out an angmo's mouth doesn't mean it is standard. Scots, Scouse and Geordie accents are incomprehensible. Cockney accent sounds like bengish. Every non-english European have their own particular weird slang. So no accent is superior imo. The key is to speak clearly and coherently. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jman888 Moderator September 14, 2009 Share September 14, 2009 Haha, reminds me of a certain friend among a particular group I used to hang out with often in my teens. This particular guy put on a fake accent and it was so strong and so fake. Actually there was nothing else wrong with him, he was quite a nice guy except for this (and that's why we knew him well enough to know he never studied or lived abroad). We tolerated out of politeness for quite some time, but one day one of my friends, a very straight-talking kind of guy, suddenly burst out "eh f* u, don't slang lah"! Thankfully this incident never caused any harm to our friendship and to my surprise he spoke with a completely Singaporean accent from then on! do not under-estimate the influence of tv program, movie and music where youngster can pick up easily without noticing, even more so if the surrounding friends are behaving the same way. this can happen even if they have not been abroad. to them they don't find it fake as the environment let them speak that way. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thargor 1st Gear September 14, 2009 Author Share September 14, 2009 Hehe one trick i learn...if the slang is too bad and i cant understand...and I happen to on be phonecall with that guy/girl.... I willl say..."Sorry I think the line is breaking up, do you mind repeating that?" If they still slang......"Sorry but the line is bad, do you mind sending me an email on your concerns instead?" Hehe dont wanna speak properly..nevermind...waste your time writing email loh... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ahtong 1st Gear September 14, 2009 Share September 14, 2009 (edited) Hehe one trick i learn...if the slang is too bad and i cant understand...and I happen to on be phonecall with that guy/girl.... I willl say..."Sorry I think the line is breaking up, do you mind repeating that?" If they still slang......"Sorry but the line is bad, do you mind sending me an email on your concerns instead?" Hehe dont wanna speak properly..nevermind...waste your time writing email loh... Haha! This is what I do also. Problem is mine are genuine non-English speakers so their e-mails can be incomprehensible too. But at least I can take my time to decipher it. Edited September 14, 2009 by Ahtong Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sammy_koh Neutral Newbie September 14, 2009 Share September 14, 2009 yeah. tong buai tiao man. my program manager wa piang eh. e moment ang mo e accent would auto on 1 sia. her vocals got sensor. singlish/english. got 2 modes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabian Turbocharged September 14, 2009 Share September 14, 2009 Sometimes, it is not that they want to fake an accent but more like subconsciously, they are trying to close a "perceived" gap and inadvertently come across as faking their accent but are actually more worried that the other party cannot understand their usual accent. I have got friends/ colleagues who are like this but they "let go" of the accent when they speak to non-Caucasians. This was explained to me by an acquaintance linguist. For me, it depends, I will do Singlish if they are arrogant. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yeshe Turbocharged September 14, 2009 Share September 14, 2009 I find it quite a turnoff actually. As I am working in a global MCS, I have more than my fair share of encountering Singaporeans that speaks normally to you...but the moment they speak with angmoh...goosh the accents become sooo fake. If they speak with a genuine accent, maybe I can still understand....but fake accents like that.... Hehe chatted with a few angmohs about this...they felt quite funny when they hear a singaporean trying to sound angmohish....the more playful ones will answer back with a singlish accents.... Gross out.... i m not sure about your colleagues who are "faking" angmo accent, but to me, i DO try to speak in their accent to make myself more understood. This is not just for europeans or americans, but also to my friends in Vietnam, in their local accent. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skunk Clutched September 14, 2009 Share September 14, 2009 Sometimes, it is not that they want to fake an accent but more like subconsciously, they are trying to close a "perceived" gap and inadvertently come across as faking their accent but are actually more worried that the other party cannot understand their usual accent. exactly what i was trying to explain, it's more for communication's sake. How come nobody lambasts those people who put on a fake malay accent when talking to malays or those who put on a fake indian accent when talking to indians, or those who put on a fake Beijing accent when talking to PRCs? There's obviously a serious colonial chip on the shoulder of many singaporeans. I put on an accent when i'm worried they don't understand me, this doesn't mean they're superior, it means i'm linguistically superior, i can understand their accent, but they can't understand mine LOL Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thargor 1st Gear September 14, 2009 Author Share September 14, 2009 Sometimes, it is not that they want to fake an accent but more like subconsciously, they are trying to close a "perceived" gap and inadvertently come across as faking their accent but are actually more worried that the other party cannot understand their usual accent. I have got friends/ colleagues who are like this but they "let go" of the accent when they speak to non-Caucasians. This was explained to me by an acquaintance linguist. For me, it depends, I will do Singlish if they are arrogant. The funny thing is you don't or hardly see angmoh doing the same thing to us, unless they are trying to be funny... So the conclusion is...angmoh dont care about closing a 'perceived' gap...OR some singaporeans are just too lack of confidence.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KapitanE 1st Gear September 14, 2009 Share September 14, 2009 for those who try to put on fake accent when speaking to ang moh...... it means you have not spoken to enough ang moh to know..... our singapore accent, minus the singlish, is actually quite clear and very understandable to most yanks, brits, aussie, kiwis etc..... stick to that and you will do no wrong... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bicolor 5th Gear September 14, 2009 Share September 14, 2009 How come nobody lambasts those people who put on a fake malay accent when talking to malays or those who put on a fake indian accent when talking to indians, or those who put on a fake Beijing accent when talking to PRCs? Now that you mention it, I had lots of Indian friends when living back in Singapore, and I've had people tell me I speak with a bit of an Indian accent, even till today! Especially when I try to speak grammatically correct English (not Singlish). Of course this is very slight and nowhere as obvious as a fake American accent. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Watwheels Supersonic September 14, 2009 Share September 14, 2009 It's funny when ang moh tries to speak mandarin, nobody will comment about the accent they have or how poorly they pronounced some characters or laugh at them. In fact ppl here applause when ang moh get it right. Talk about ang moh standards. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skunk Clutched September 14, 2009 Share September 14, 2009 So the conclusion is...angmoh dont care about closing a 'perceived' gap.. western society is like that, they're very self-centred. Subconsciously, they don't give a damm whether u understand them or not. It's just that as asians, we're very considerate (or at least on a subconscious level), so we even bother. It's our virtue, it's their loss. But i've met a rare few angmo living here who bother learning Singlish :) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drive_carcar Clutched September 14, 2009 Share September 14, 2009 It's one thing to have Singapore accent, but that's no excuse for poor English, poor pronunciation, and outright poor grammar. It's one thing that I really can't stand. I have heard more than my fair share of "Nows-a-days" as well as sentences that are literal direct translation from the Chinese language. It's one thing that hampers our compeitiveness. If you want to make it in life, one very important factor is being able to speak good English - without the fake "ang-moh" accent. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skunk Clutched September 14, 2009 Share September 14, 2009 our singapore accent, minus the singlish, is actually quite clear and very understandable to most yanks, brits, aussie, kiwis etc..... stick to that and you will do no wrong... hmmm....i would think Singaporeans actually speak too fast.... ↡ Advertisement Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In NowRelated Discussions
Related Discussions
Singaporean woman goes missing in Spain, family appeals for information
Singaporean woman goes missing in Spain, family appeals for information
Mother of all scams thread
Mother of all scams thread
Cars: More than Meets the Eye....
Cars: More than Meets the Eye....
Singaporean are unhappy and poor
Singaporean are unhappy and poor
Do You Want To Retire Before 60 ?
Do You Want To Retire Before 60 ?
This is why we can't have nice things
This is why we can't have nice things
Influencer Fakes His Own Kidnapping And Suffers The Consequences
Influencer Fakes His Own Kidnapping And Suffers The Consequences
About the new Hyundai Accent 1.4 litre
About the new Hyundai Accent 1.4 litre