[Voodoo Vince]

Speak Good English Movement - Campaign targets young
By Chia Yan Min

THIS year's Speak Good English Movement aims to reach out to young people by engaging them on their own terms - via social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and blogs.

The movement also has a new tagline - 'Impress. Inspire. Intoxicate.', with the key message that good communication skills transcend the use of correct grammar and vocabulary.

'We are targeting this age group in particular this year because many youths are not very motivated to improve their English,' said Mr Goh Eck Kheng, Chairman of the Speak Good English Movement on Monday. 'They think that they can get by on poor English as long as they are understood by their peers.'

Mr Goh added that this mentality was uncovered in a survey conducted in August last year by the movement. The survey of 1,243 Singaporeans aged 15 to 39 found that 41 per cent do not see any need to speak proper English.

This attitude was especially prevalent among those in their late 20s. Nearly half of those aged 25 to 29 said they felt their English was already up to scratch, and there was no need for improvement.

As part of the movement's initiative to target young people, a drama series, 'Six Lives', which follows six friends as they learn the importance of good communication while planning an event, will play out entirely online.

Other activities include a series of free English workshops to be conducted by the British Council in October at Woodlands Regional Library, as well as the Inspiring Teacher of English Award organised by The Straits Times and Ministry of Education, that recognises outstanding English teachers in schools.

The Speak Good English movement, launched in 2000, is now in its 10th year.

Mr Goh, who has been chairman of the movement for the past two years, said while the movement has done much to create awareness, much more needs to be done to improve the actual standards of English here.

'We hope the movement will go beyond the institutional, so that each Singaporeans can be a partner in it, and help those weaker in English to improve,' Mr Goh said.

More information about the movement can be found at www.goodenglish.org.sg.

http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking...ry_420733.html

[christmas_]

if brainwash kids to speak good English...then what will happen to the Speak Mandarin campaign sia...

like this if target young to speak English, their Chinese later CMI

[darkhonour]

mandarin this, english that

haiyoz...later all the young generation go bonkers la

[dzpliu]

Should start speak good english and mandarin campaign.

[shypineapple]

english is the way to go.
that been said. the government should make up their mind lah. they want to focus on chinese or english -.-

[~LosT_pROpHETs~]

Well, you should pick whats right for you... its not like they are fining you everytime you speak broken Chinese or English... i quitted Chinese and continue with English

[darkhonour]

Originally Posted by shypineapple

english is the way to go.
that been said. the government should make up their mind lah. they want to focus on chinese or english -.-

this is what u call by being fickle-minded

want to do business with a certain u-know-who by putting mandarin campaign

yet also want to attract the world by putting english campaign (but this one better cuz it really gives singapore a very big edge)

[spursfanatic]

I understand that it may be advantageous to go after mastery of two languages.
However, I don't think it should always be viewed in terms of limiting ourselves to 'one language or the other'.

The education system as far as languages is concerned leaves much to be desired imo, and one can quite easily 'get by' academically if one is good at one language. However, few progress to be truly conversant in either language, which can only mean severe challenges in the long term because globally, people are learning in-depth more than one language.

For the populace to be comfortable the way things are at the moment is rather dangerous to be honest. Soon our 'advantage' in terms of language (particularly English) will be eroded if we do not continue to emphasise its importance. There just seems to be far too much Singlish/Singnese lately, and I fear that economically we will stand to lose big time because of complacency in this aspect of education.

[BahKwa]

Bleh, Singlish is our culture, isn't it? Its not like we're blatantly spamming Singlish all over the place. IMO, as long as people can understand us, there is no need to act like an "ang moh", complete with all the accents and such.

[mandyxoxo]

This will work only if the teachers themselves stop using Singlish as well,and 'poreans are willing to use appropriate grammar when conversing with others.

[freezer_w]

what to do.... english neither here nor there
mandarin also half past six... how?

[Sith]

Want us to learn Mandarin. Now English.

[BahKwa]

Well, you notice almost every other country has an official "National Language", and ours is just a rip off from Britain. To me, Singlish represents our culture, and that it is something we have developed. It shows the diversity in our country, since Singlish is just a mixture of different languages, predominantly English.

To me, it doesn't matter how well we speak, or what language we use. Wasn't language developed for communication purposes? So if we can already converse properly in Singlish, why bother with this campaign? I'm not saying the campaign is redundant. Its useful alright, since the proper use of the English language is necessary and it is crucial to educate people from young. I just feel that there is no need to get youngsters to chat in perfect English.

[spursfanatic]

Originally Posted by BahKwa

Bleh, Singlish is our culture, isn't it? Its not like we're blatantly spamming Singlish all over the place. IMO, as long as people can understand us, there is no need to act like an "ang moh", complete with all the accents and such.

Perhaps you have not noticed the situation in schools recently.
There is a real problem in getting children to write in grammatically accurate language (English or Mother Tongue). Sample some essays or comprehension answers if you wish to verify this.

No one is saying that one should fake an accent. Having said that, Singlish has become increasingly pervasive, particularly on television and especially in places of commerce. In terms of comprehension, the abbreviation of phrases and sentence construction of spoken Singlish places the listener at a disadvantage, because one may not know the particular context of what is actually said, especially if one was not born on this island.

Additionally, there is the issue of combining a mixture of languages together. While this may appear quaint when locals engage in such multi-lingual discourse, the lack of attention and sensitivity on our part unintentionally creates a linguistic nightmare for those around us who may be unfamiliar with our peculiarities.

[mandyxoxo]

Originally Posted by BahKwa

Well, you notice almost every other country has an official "National Language", and ours is just a rip off from Britain. To me, Singlish represents our culture, and that it is something we have developed. It shows the diversity in our country, since Singlish is just a mixture of different languages, predominantly English.

To me, it doesn't matter how well we speak, or what language we use. Wasn't language developed for communication purposes? So if we can already converse properly in Singlish, why bother with this campaign? I'm not saying the campaign is redundant. Its useful alright, since the proper use of the English language is necessary and it is crucial to educate people from young. I just feel that there is no need to get youngsters to chat in perfect English.

Yes,we do have a common communication channel when we use Singlish,but what happens when we travel overseas,say the Western countries on business trips?Surely there would be communication problems cropping up,given that the Westerners do not understand Singlish.

[Lancelot]

To be proficient in many language is laudable, however if all else fails, bilingualism is the way to go.

[darkhonour]

Originally Posted by BahKwa

Well, you notice almost every other country has an official "National Language", and ours is just a rip off from Britain. To me, Singlish represents our culture, and that it is something we have developed. It shows the diversity in our country, since Singlish is just a mixture of different languages, predominantly English.

To me, it doesn't matter how well we speak, or what language we use. Wasn't language developed for communication purposes? So if we can already converse properly in Singlish, why bother with this campaign? I'm not saying the campaign is redundant. Its useful alright, since the proper use of the English language is necessary and it is crucial to educate people from young. I just feel that there is no need to get youngsters to chat in perfect English.

we do have a national language after all -- malay

singlish is a creole born from mainly (peranakan) english and hokkien and the other tiny bits

the main point here is that, the young generation seem to be unable to balance both their standard english & singlish which hence causes the govt to try and step in because they have concluded that if singlish is not eradicated, english will never be learnt properly by singaporeans

i wun want to eradicate singlish though; it has become part of the national identity

of course when overseas, there is a need for us to speak standard english...there's a reason why we're taught standard english after all

to me, singlish is the dialect, standard english is the language; it's the same for those who speak dialect at home and use mandarin outside and in formal context

[Terris]

I prefer to speak my chinese, haha...

[A C E]

It hard for Singaporean to speak proper english as singlish is part of our culture now.

[msRachel]

Watch more western shows on tv. It will definitely help. Actually there's no need to compare languages, we can learn to speak well in all languages, you know.