Yale-NUS profs ready!

The Straits Times, 28 April 2013, Singapore

I was so tickled when I read this article. The Yale-NUS partnership has been long in the planning. They will finally open their doors to students in August 2013, when the university academic year begins. Yale University is a global brand known for the best and brightest minds. NUS or the National University of Singapore, has made a name for itself in the Asian scene, and the world as well. Of course, for such a strategic partnership to take place, the best and brightest of Yale professors must be part of the faculty.

Their job is simply to bring out the best in each student. Language of instruction? English. Will these top minds then confine themselves to the ivory tower of learning and never venture out into the real Singapore? According to this article, a flat "no".

Why, they are preparing themselves for the complete cross-cultural experience! These professors are not just coming to impart knowledge, they want to be immersed in the total Singapore experience, local language and all. While they may never have a chance to use Singlish, they can at least understand the casual chatter of the local students. It will help when they go about the chores of daily life like going to the market, ordering a meal at the local hawker centre, etc. "Be prepared" like any good Scout will tell you. What can they expect? Take a look here.

While the professors are excited about moving to Singapore, the Singapore community in Yale is just as excited to showcase Singapore culture to them. The class was free of charge. Everyone was enthusiastic. Way to go! It takes both the local and the expat to make the cultural experience fun, smooth and a little easier.

Welcome to Singapore!

If you're going overseas very soon, be prepared! Read up on the new place. You will enjoy the cross-cultural experience so much more!

Have a wonderful time soaking in the language, culture, sights and sounds!

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3 countries, 1 piece of history

Piece of Berlin Wall on display in Singapore

This headline caught my eye when I saw it. Three countries were involved in this display: former East Germany, Singapore (where Bedok is located) and USA.

Former East Germany: piece of Berlin Wall that was on display.
Singapore: welcomed the piece of Berlin Wall to be displayed in Bedok, where the then-Member of Parliament (MP) was personal friends with the owners of the piece of Berlin Wall.
USA: where the owners of the piece of Berlin Wall are from and will be returning to shortly.

Is this multi-cultural? Certainly. Singaporeans living in Bedok (an everyday, ordinary neighbourhood) got to appreciate a piece of world history, plus the artwork that was painted on. Some of the elderly who have never been to school may not even know where Germany is, or that there once was an East and a West Germany, divided by a large wall. Yet, thanks to the generosity of the American owners and the innovative thinking of the MP and personal friend, ordinary folk were exposed to a piece of world history that would enrich their lives for a period of time.

Well, the display period has come to and end, but the people who have seen this piece of art will have their lives forever changed. One cannot walk past a piece of world history and not be affected by it. Similarly, one cannot come into contact with a person of another language and culture and not be affected by it.

Let's embrace another language and culture, instead of waiting for another language and culture to affect us. Our lives will be so much richer for that.

Let's celebrate each other's language and culture!

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Fluenz to get fluent

Fluenz Language Learning Software

Fluenz is considered one of the luxury brands of language learning software available in the market today. Six languages are currently available, with more being added at a slow pace. This move is deliberate as each language offered has been carefully researched and pulled apart before the curriculum is designed for the English speaker who is learning the new language.

The instructor for each language offered uses a different approach for each language. Fluenz does not assume that the way to learn every language is the same. Each instructor has put in great effort to learn the language himself/herself. They do not claim to be perfect, native speakers. The goal of Fluenz is simply to get you communicating orally with a native speaker as quickly as possible.

Here's an example of a Mandarin lesson: The lesson is about ordering a drink at a restaurant. The conversation begins with simple greetings and then Lisa orders coffee and water. As you listen to the spoken words, the Hanyu Pinyin or official pronunciation guide appears on the screen. No Chinese characters are used in the lessons, as the focus is on conversation, not reading and writing.

Go through teach short lesson at least three times or until you are comfortable with speaking each phrase. After that, the instructor comes on to break down each phrase word by word and translates each word into English. She also explains the sentence structure and grammar from an English standpoint. This way you can use the individual words in your own sentence later on.

Once that part of the lesson is learned, then comes the review. Here's a screenshot of the review section:


Repetition is the best way to learn a language well. Somehow the correct word order will automatically pop up in my head when the time comes to use it. So this is a tried and true method of learning to speak a language well.

Very soon, you will be able to order food and get around in China on your own. Once you are hooked, you can go for the Pimsleur Series and use it together with Fluenz to go full on in learning Mandarin.

Get started today with a package from Fun Language Tools!

Happy learning!

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Our childhood language

Japanese food ordered in English

My classmate from primary school was ordering dinner at a Japanese restaurant. Since she frequented the place, the rest of us classmates decided to leave the ordering to her. As she was talking to the waitress, my ethnically Indian, Singapore-born and raised, and educated in the UK, friend commented, "You can tell she's a convent girl because she's ordering (food) in English."

That set off a conversation about our transition from primary to secondary school. All seven of us at dinner have been classmates and schoolmates from primary to secondary school, spanning 10 years in all. In primary school, we spoke English all the time, even at home. We laughed at those who were good at Chinese, or who came from predominantly Chinese-speaking homes. We were the despair of our Chinese teachers of every class till we left school.

When we entered secondary school, we were placed in classes with girls from another convent school. As one of my classmates put it, "We were all wondering who these girls were. They were all speaking Chinese all the time. So 'cheena'." ('Cheena' is a derogatory term for Chinese-educated people who can't speak proper English.) In reality, these girls were more comfortable speaking Teochew 潮州话 to each other because that's what they spoke at home. Somehow England and China in the same school just don't mix well. To this day, we still have a bit of a divide between us, even though we may have been in school together for four years. When trying to trace former classmates, one of the questions we ask is, "Which school was she from?" Looks like the divide will continue to stay for a long time yet.

I think I've come a long way since then. Today, I am comfortable with English, Chinese, Indonesian, Cambodian, even Thai, though I may not be as fluent in it as with the other four languages. I love being around people of different cultures, who speak different languages. They enrich my life so much. I don't think I can go back to the days of being monolingual (speaking and understanding only English) again.

Do I fit in with my classmates? Of course I do! I spent many precious growing-up years with them. We share tons of good memories that still leave us in stitches today, as we recount the fun and carefree days of childhood and teenage years together. But my life has taken on a richer flavour for all the multi-cultural friends I have made since my childhood. I would not want to trade this for anything in the world. These friends are precious treasure of a lifetime.

Enrich your life today by learning a new language and opening up a whole new world!

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Be kind today

Kindness is a universal language

A smile. An act of kindness. A touch. These are universal and always welcome. No common spoken language of communication is needed. We all understand a friendly face.

While we set out to learn a new language, let us not forget that body language speaks so much louder than words ever can. So, give your best smile today! Go make someone happy!

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Just say it like you think it

Tamil language education still going strong

There are many ways to teach and learn a language. Some insist on 100% immersion into the language without the use of any other language to explain the words or grammar. The theory is that if you get thrown into the deep end of the pool, you will somehow learn to swim to survive.

Others say that you learn best when everything in the new language is explained using your native language, so you fully understand what is going on and how the new language works. Some disagree with this method, saying that you end up not learning anything because you rely entirely on your native language, using it as a crutch to fall back on too often.

The article above is a study of school children learning Tamil, a Southern Indian language. Both the theories I stated earlier are shown to be wrong. School children in Singapore are taught Tamil as a second language. They may get stuck on a word, but if they use English, Chinese or Malay to fill in the blank, they are not penalised. In reality, the children end up learning and speaking more Tamil this way than if they were forced to speak only Tamil. I think the children get excited if they are given a chance to express themselves without fear of being reprimanded if they make a mistake or use a foreign word in a sentence. After all, it is better for them to speak up than not at all.

I tell all my students who are learning any language that they need to have "thick skin" to learn. Go ahead and keep talking. Don't be afraid of saying the wrong thing. Someone will correct you along the way, and you learn something new very quickly. Say it in the way you think is right, mixed with other languages. You will learn very quickly.

Have fun learning languages!

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Need a seat. Any tissue pack handy?

MPs are not above everyone else

Trying to find a seat at a crowded food court during lunch hour is a common scene anywhere in the world. Singapore is no different. We seem to spend more time trying to find a seat than to buy our food and eat it. An hour lunch break is sometimes more stressful than the work day.

Enter the tissue packet. Everyone's got at least one pack of tissues with them. Serviettes or napkins are not provided by the food stall. You need to bring your own tissue to wipe your mouth after eating. They're also cheap enough to not cry over if lost or stolen.

So, some Singaporean started using the tissue pack to reserve seats during the busy lunch hour. And the trend went viral, way before "viral" was word used in this way. Empty tables with tissue packs evenly spread out on top are a common sight in any crowded food court. Tourists would be puzzled as to why there are so many people walking around trying to find a seat when there are so many empty tables and seats. Unwritten code? Maybe. Certainly a unique cultural quirk of the Singaporean!

So here came the coffee shop owner showing initiative when the Member of Parliament (MP) was scheduled to visit his food place. "The MP is an important person. I must make sure there are enough seats for his entourage when they come" is probably what was going on in his mind. So, he did what every true-blue Singaporean does: lay out the tissue packs on the tables, much to the chagrin of the customers!

In the end, the tissue packs were removed. The MP didn't need special treatment. If there were no seats when he arrived, then so be it. He is, after all, a public servant, which means he is not above everyone else, but at the same level to serve, not to lord over anyone.

Kudos to the MP for dismissing with all formalities. He wants to be treated just like anyone else. Don't we all? Shouldn't we all? If the MP is coming, then he needs to bring his own tissue packs to reserve seats like everyone else! I think that's a great idea.

What do you do in your country to reserve a seat at a crowded place?

Here's to celebrating everyone's unique culture!

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Cross the road? At your own risk!

Cross the road China-style

Roads in the big cities in China are filled to the brim with vehicles of every shape and size. Each main road is at least six lanes wide. If not for traffic lights, how do you cross the road? Chinese citizens have created an informal system that is labelled 中国式过马路, which is loosely translated as "crossing the road China-style".

How it works: gather at a traffic junction where you want to cross to the other side. When a large enough crowd gathers, cross the road as a big group, regardless of the traffic signal. The idea is that there is safety in numbers, so vehicles will slow down when they see so many people crossing the road as a group.

While it may have worked for sometime, police are now cracking down on this illegal and dangerous practice. If caught, you get fined RMB10, equivalent to five times the train fare. So far, it still hasn't deterred people from continuing this practice.

Cross the road in Hanoi if you can

Let's cross over to Hanoi, Vietnam, now. Traffic here is notoriously crazy. Even locals complain that people drive crazy in that city. So how do you cross the road here? Just step off the curb and inch your way across the road, keeping an eye out for motorcycles. Keep moving and vehicles will go around you. Nothing to fear. Before you know it, you'll be on the other side.

Well, tourists from countries that practice strict adherence to traffic rules are petrified when in Hanoi. It is so bad that guest house and hotel staff have maps complete with the easiest places to cross the road to get to a tourist destination.

Is it really that bad? Personally, I don't think so. I've been to Hanoi twice. Crossing the road there is no different from crossing the road down south in Ho Chi Minh City. Just step off the curb and go! The same goes for crossing the road in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

At the end of the day, it all boils down to observing common sense when crossing the road in any city or country. Don't import what you do at home to the new place. You will be frustrated. Embrace the new culture, warts and all. You'll enjoy yourself so much more that way!

Let's celebrate culture!

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Home cooking? Who's cooking?

Singapore is known for its good food. Singaporeans love to eat. But how many of us can still cook?

We can go to cooking school to learn western gourmet cooking, but few of us have bothered to learn from our mothers and grandmothers the dishes we have eaten all our lives. A few younger ladies have compiled their mother's/grandmother's recipes into cookbooks for sale. The older ladies are well-known personalities in their own right, also known for their cooking skills.

But what about the food eaten in our own home? Does it need to be "gourmet" in order to stir up fond memories of our childhood? My northern Vietnamese friends studying here, miss home cooking too. So, they go to the supermarket, buy some green, leafy vegetables and boil them in water. That's home cooking for them. You and I may find it bland, but to them, it reminds them of home.

Perhaps a good question to ask now is not "can you cook?" but rather "do you cook?" I can cook, but I find myself pressed for time to prepare anything other than the simplest of dishes. I'm happy to eat anything simple, just because I lack the time, or I am plain lazy. After all, the traditional dishes eaten in my childhood take weeks of preparation. Housewives are a prized commodity today. If they are stay-at-home moms, they are more likely to be taxi-driver for the children, rather than churning out sumptuous, wholesome meals for the family.

As our society turns more and more towards hiring foreign domestic help for cooking and cleaning, home cooking could end up being a completely different set of dishes. We may no longer yearn for "mum's cooking" but rather "Auntie's cooking" or however you address your domestic help. When her contract is over, there ends the yummy dishes she used to prepare; enter a new maid with different tastes.

The world is increasingly global. People movement is the norm now. Do we still hold fiercely to our traditions, or allow the winds of change to sweep over our culture and norms, home cooking included? Certainly some food for thought (pun fully intended).

Learn a language, learn to cook, don't neglect your own language and cooking!

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Women paid less?

Male/Female divide

My friend in Vietnam mentioned in a conversation that females in Vietnam, especially in the north, earn about 50% less than their male counterparts. This is especially true in these professions: school teacher, university professor and female trainer. He was rather taken aback at this startling revelation. He's lived in Europe for most of his life. Gender inequality is rather foreign to him.

So I went on a Google hunt and found an article to prove the statement. The statistics in the article show a smaller wage gap between males and females, but it does prove a point. The Vietnamese workforce comprises a high percentage of women, higher than any other country in the world. Yet, their efforts do not seem to be appreciated in monetary terms.

Culturally, Vietnam is very much Asian. In the past, Asian women were considered second class, compared to men. However, Communism in China changed all that. Men and women are equal. Although Vietnam adopted Chinese Communism and still runs under that system, it seems that the average family still follows the traditional mindset.

You can take a country boy to the city, but you cannot take the country out of the city boy.

This statement rings true anywhere in the world. Some people change and adapt. Others do not. I suppose Vietnamese mindset has not changed, despite Communism. Women throw equal weight in terms of contribution to the economy, yet they are paid less. Coming from a Western standpoint, this is unfair. Do Vietnamese women feel this way? Perhaps quietly they do but do not have an outlet to express themselves, unless they choose to work for the private sector.

Gender inequality cannot be changed overnight. It must take both external and internal forces working together to change generations of mindset. Can we do something about it? It is certainly worth a try.

Here's to change for the better!

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Noodles, truly Asian food

Asian noodles

How people eat rice and the difference between Chinese and Korean ways of eating got me thinking about noodles.

Noodles are a truly Asian food. Before there was spaghetti, Marco Polo visited China, saw noodles (and probably tasted them), then brought noodles back to Italy. Today, pasta is made by machine, but the Chinese still make noodles by hand. There are so many traditional ways to make noodles. Just to name a few: hand pulling, cutting the flat dough into strips with a knife, sitting on a long bunch of bamboo sticks and jumping up and down over the dough to cut it up.

Regardless of how it is made, noodles are long strings of dough that can be tricky to eat. Is there a correct way to eat noodles? It all depends on which country you are in. Can you use chopsticks? That would help a lot.

In general, noodles are fried or served in soup. Fried noodles that are dry may be easier to eat, since they will not splash gravy onto your clothes. When the fried noodles have gravy or noodle soup, you will need a spoon to help you. Many websites tell you to slurp up the soup noisily (the louder, the better) to compliment the host. However, that practice is outdated. We Asians have adopted the Western ways of eating quietly. The only noise we should hear is that of friendly chatter, not slurping. Even the Japanese today will frown on someone slurping up his soup. It just isn't the norm anymore.

So before you go anywhere new, do read up on the Do's and Don'ts of a culture, but don't take what you read as truth. It's best to observe the locals and ask as many questions as you like. What impresses your host most is not how much you know about their culture but how eager you are to learn about them.

Have fun! Learn the language in the process and impress your hosts even further!

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Same rice, different utensils

White Rice

Most people I have met think of rice as an Asian food. However, I found that rice really is a universal food. Africans eat rice. Americans eat rice, Asians eat rice. Maybe the difference is how we cook the rice and the utensils with whcih we use to eat it.

I had talked earlier about Koreans and Chinese using chopsticks to eat rice, but Koreans don't lift the bowl off the table, unlike the Chinese. In South-East Asia, we either use a fork and spoon to eat rice off a dinner plate, or use our hands, like the Indians. Westerners I know use a fork to eat rice. I have tried many times, but I can't get used to that. My American friend, who lived in Cambodia for many years, held up a dinner spoon and remarked, "This is a much better shovel!" I agree. Eating rice with a fork just doesn't do the job. The rice grains keep falling off the tines. A spoon keeps the rice together until it gets into my mouth.

For cultures that use their hands to eat, they are differences too. Indians use the whole hand, including the palm. The scoop up the rice with food and gravy, then squeeze the rice into a ball to get the gravy out. The lump then goes into the mouth. The hand is covered with gravy.

Malays use only the thumb and first two fingers of the right hand. The left hand is used for unclean things.

Sticky rice ball

Lao people eat sticky white rice, rather than normal white rice. They too use only the thumb and first two fingers of the right hand. The sticky rice is pinched off the large amount, then pressed together into a small ball. Dip the ball into the plate of food, picking up some food (meat, vegetables, fish, etc), then put it into your mouth.

However you choose to eat rice, it will still end up in your mouth. Just enjoy the local way of eating! And if you can speak a bit of their language, you will enjoy the meal even more!

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Computer - no match for human mind

Office Stuff aka Supplies

Office Stuff, Office Staff; Office Manage, Office Manager

Small difference in spelling, big difference in meaning. Two employees in my previous office had to complete forms. In the "Position" section, one wrote "Office Stuff". The other wrote "Office Manage". Both of them were advanced learners of English. Today, they are fluent. No one in the office (not even the foreign supervisor), noticed the errors in spelling. I did.

When I pointed it out, we all had a really good laugh. The "Office Stuff" had become part of the furniture and supplies in the office, since he didn't seem to think he was a "Staff", or human being working there. The other one wasn't as funny, but still, he wrote down a function, rather than a position.

Another friend recently wrote that he was going into the jungle to search for "staff". He was a learner of English and has now become a teacher. I told him I didn't think he was going to find "Staff" in the jungle. He got the drift. He was going to look for "stuff". He, too, had a laugh over his mistake.

In these cases mentioned, auto-correct had nothing to do with the errors. They were simply human oversight. While computers are a great asset to our working life, they cannot replace the human mind. After all, humans created computers, not the other way around.

My three friends have learned English well through hard work and much practice. I salute them! May we all follow their example and learn a new language today!

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