I left the UK in 2002. I’ve lived in Singapore ever since. And somewhere along the way, I stopped speaking the same English as the people I grew up with. Not because I picked up Singlish (though I did, a bit). But because English itself kept moving in two directions at once, and I was...
On 25 February, Singapore’s Education Minister Desmond Lee stood up in Parliament and used a phrase that stopped me mid-read. “Cognitive outsourcing.” He was answering a question about whether AI use is causing a decline in students’ cognitive skills. He said MOE does not yet have Singapore data on this, but that international research shows...
When I first moved to Singapore, I made the same mistake most newcomers make. Something felt abrupt or unfamiliar, so I assumed there was a problem. Not with me. With Singapore. It didn’t take long to figure out the truth. You are not going to change Singapore. If you stay long enough, Singapore changes you....
Prada and prata are only one consonant apart. One is a global luxury brand. The other is a flaky flatbread flipped in hawker stalls. Yet say them out loud in Singapore and the sound collision feels inevitable. That tiny shift from d to t captures something bigger: how language evolves when cultures overlap. Language Is...
There are many differences between the English used in Singapore and that found in Britain and the United States. Some of the features of Singapore English are similar to features in Mandarin Chinese. However other languages, such as Malay, also influence Singapore English. In many cases, it is likely that the influence for one feature...
Expand Your Creativity and Freedom It's interesting that the Danish have two words for the English verb "play". Normally translated as either “lege” or “spille". 1: Rules and regulations. Here we use “spille”: Jeg spiller fodbold (I play football); skal vi spille kort (do you want to play cards)? 2: No rules (or at least...
It is not every day you can hear someone swearing so eloquently in the Queen’s English. Below is a Facebook video posted by Wak Ali, showing a man confronting a woman at an ATM.
Speculative MRT Map from the National Library Board http://www.nlb.gov.sg/
As you have heard by now a newly announced junior college (JC) has caused much public interest online. ‘Eunoia Junior College’. But how do you pronounce it? 1. you-know-ah 2. you-noy-uh 3. you-noh-iea The firm favourite is number 2. you-noy-uh. Which can also be used on people when you find them annoying. Names can have different...
Prada = Prar-duh Prata = Prat-ah Try to keep the ‘d’ and ‘t’ consonants as two distinct sounds.
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