Please tell me where I went wrong

More on butchering the English language. This time it is pronunciation.

Japanese does not have distinct "r" and "l" sounds. The Japanese speaker of English is often confused with words containing "r" or "l". This is why Halloween ends up being pronounced "Harrowing"! I have to say it is quite appropriate in this case. Halloween is a harrowing experience for everyone, apart from being scary.

Mandarin Chinese pronunciation does have "r" and "l" sounds, but depending on which part of China you or your ancestors come from, you may or may not be able to distinguish between the two. This is why many Americans make fun of Chinese people trying to speak English. "Fly lice" instead of "fried rice" is a cliche now. For the Chinese learner of English, it is not funny. It's painful.

Yesterday, my Taiwanese friend was spelling out her Facebook name so I could add her as a friend. Taiwanese have a unique way of pronouncing certain letters of the English alphabet:
"H" is pronounced as "a-chy" or almost like "itchy"
"L" is pronounced as "el-lo"
"S" is pronounced as "es-see"

For that matter, Hong Kong friends who speak little English also pronounce words containing "s" in the same unique way. For example, "strawberries" is pronounced as "see-tor-berry-see".

Enough said.

Every learner of English has his own unique way of pronouncing English words. Some of them are hilarious to the native English speaker. Should we laugh out loud at them, and risk insulting them to the face? Or should we be polite and gently correct them? Personally, I do not mind being laughed at, but please, after you have stopped laughing, tell me what the correct pronunciation should be. I am trying my best to learn your language. The last thing I need is to be made fun of publicly and not know why. Language learning is painful enough without having to suffer public humiliation in the process.

Let's be kind to one another and help each other in our language learning journey. A little encouragement goes a long way.

Have fun in your language learning!

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Don't butcher the English language!

It seems that English proficiency in Malaysia is not up to standard. A long time ago, the standard of education in Singapore and Malaysia were on par with each other, and with the rest of the world. English proficiency was high and a given, if you went to school in either of these countries.

Then, the Malaysian government decided to change the medium of instruction in schools to Malay, the national language, instead of English. Malay proficiency soared. Malaysians of every race spoke Malay fluently, but at the expense of English. Somewhere along the line, policy change made teaching of Science and Mathematics go back to English. Now, the goal is to get all Malaysian students proficient in English by 2016. Ambitious. I salute them.

I am not here to comment on a nation's education policies. All I want to say is that English is a universal language that is necessary for survival. My South African friend always said this:

We all speak one language around the world: bad English.

Funny? Maybe. True? Yes, indeed!

Regardless of what language you are learning, I suggest that you try your best to learn it as well as you can. Let's not insult any language by butchering it to unrecognisable bits in the name of "I can communicate; isn't that enough?" I respect every culture, even though I may not like every part of their culture. Language is an integral part of a culture. Let's be respectful and learn it well. The same goes with English.

Have fun learning a language! Find a package to suit you here!

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Open your mouth and speak!

My business partner and I have a contract to teach local Vietnamese staff English. The German company has hired us for three levels of English: basic, intermediate and technical English for managers. Basic and Intermediate classes have just started.

Before we even started, the Human Resource (HR) Manager explained their company's needs and what the foreign bosses expected of the staff in terms of English language skills. She also told us that the staff do not want to attend class because they think their English is good enough. Why is management forcing them to get better at something they are already good at?

Having worked among Cambodians and Vietnamese for some years, I knew the root problem. No one wants to improve. They are satisfied with the status quo. They cannot accept what the bosses are saying. "I'm good enough already. Why bother?" Well, after telling my business partner what we needed to do to make the local staff improve, he sent my comments lock, stock and barrel to the HR Manager!

The HR Manager took the carrot and stick approach by telling the staff in no uncertain terms that they were all to attend class without question. Supervisors had to give staff time off to attend class. Those who did not attend class would have their annual benefits cut completely. It worked. All the staff attended class on Day 1.

Silence from the staff for the first 15 minutes. Suddenly, the barrier broke and it was noisy for the rest of the time. Even in the Basic class, everyone tried to speak English as best as they could, mistakes and all. Everyone was laughing and having a good time. They enjoy learning English! Even the Austrian boss asked the trainer, "What happened to the staff?" Clearly, our approach was correct and effective.

You will never know how much of a language you know until you are forced to speak. Too often Asians are afraid of using their newly acquired language for fear of making mistakes and thus, making a fool of themselves. You have to die to personal pride in order to learn. Once you have made a mistake and someone corrects you, you are not likely to make the same mistake again. Lesson learned for life.

I have an uphill task trying to learn Vietnamese. I know words and phrases. From a written text, I can sometimes guess the meaning but cannot pronounce the words correctly. I am determined to learn. I have wonderful friends who are going to help me in this journey. I will be able to speak fluently someday. In the meantime, I must try to speak as often as I can. The more I try, the faster I will learn. Speaking is key to learning a language. So, get out there and open your mouth!

Have fun learning a new language!

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Finish your food!

"Make sure you finish what is on your plate!" Every child around the world has heard this too many times from his mother. Apparently, we do not always listen.

Singapore schools have just started a campaign to ensure that school children do not waste food. They have to eat everything on their plate, which more or less forces children to take only what they can eat. More importantly, it teaches children not to waste food. Children are learning. They realise that not all children have enough to eat, so don't waste anything.

My mother always told me to eat up every grain of rice on my plate because each grain represents the sweat of a farmer somewhere. A book on life in China in the 1940s talks about a lady who eats up every grain of food on her plate because she experienced the hardship of farming in her younger days. She cannot bear to see anything being thrown away.

Food wastage in China is very real. "Operation Empty Plate" started to try to curb this bad habit. Is it working? I do not know. Only time will tell if cultural traits can be changed over a generation.

I have heard this statement many times:

There is enough food to feed everyone around the world, but why are some places having so much while others are starving?

Regardless of whether you are starving or in abundance, the point remains the same: do not waste food. My late grandmother used to say that wasting food is a sin. I don't know about that, but I agree that food should not be wasted. Eat what I can. Eat enough. Do not overeat. Everything in moderation. That's my philosophy in eating.

Culture takes generations to build. Culture will take generations to change. It begins with me.

Have fun learning a new culture!

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It's not easy being a language teacher

Six English teachers won awards for creative ways of teaching the language. These teachers teach different levels of students. Some teach primary school, some secondary school and others teach at junior college level. They all use creative ways to teach the English language.

This set me thinking about how we learn languages. I have learned several languages over the years. I have been subjected to weekly karaoke sessions in Thai, sentence drills in Khmer, copying letters of the alphabet in every language, ... creative ways to teach me the language. I didn't like karaoke at all!

Some people really enjoy learning foreign languages through singing pop songs in that language. I do not. I do not even enjoy karaoke! Give me old fashioned sentence drills and grammar explanations. Those methods work best for me.

So, I'm boring. But, I learn. Honestly, the method of teaching is very important. What works well for one person may not work at all for another. My Malaysian friend got so discouraged from learning Vietnamese from the start because the teacher kept berating him for his inability to remember previous lessons. He has lived in Vietnam for more than 10 years and still cannot speak the language. His wife, on the other hand, speaks it fluently. Same teacher. Same teaching method. Different students. Different learning styles.

I salute these teachers and so many more out there who have yet to win awards. They are doing their very best to impart knowledge to their young charges. May they always be appreciated by their students, whether they win any award or not. Teachers deserve an applause and all our love and appreciation.

Appreciate your language teacher today!

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Learn Chinese for better job prospects

Mr Wang is a Chinese Muslim from Yunnan, China. He went to Kelantan, northern Malaysia, to study Arabic. At the end of his course of studies, he landed himself a job in a local Muslim school in Kelantan, teaching Chinese and Arabic to school children.

Kelantan's population is mostly Malay, yet they have the highest number of Malay students learning Chinese, compared with any other state in Malaysia. Why the interest in Chinese and not English? Better job prospects. English is already taught in the school, even though the government is trying to raise the standard of English education across the country. Lao parents in the the countryside are sending their children to Chinese lessons. China is an economic power to be contended with. Everyone's attention is drawn to China today.

Approximately one-sixth of the world's population lives in China, not counting all the Chinese diaspora spread across the globe. Granted, many overseas Chinese no longer speak Chinese or adhere to Chinese traditions. Yet, we cannot deny that China is a huge market that must be taken seriously. What better way than to begin by learning the language at a young age? Kelantan Malay parents have foresight. Kelantan Malay children have Chinese friends. They chatter in Chinese, without thinking about what race they belong to. What better way to promote race relations than by learning the language?

Do you speak Chinese? Get started today! Learning a language is a lot of fun!

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"Cake" just doesn't describe it

My friend posted this link on Facebook showing drawings of all the different kinds of pastries that we eat here in Singapore. The drawings were so real that it made me want to eat some! Problem is, they're all full of carbohydrates and all the stuff that makes you fat.

Diet aside, what struck me was the choice of a title: "Kueh", which is the Hokkien (Fujian dialect of China) and Malay pronunciation for cake in English. Kueh can be savory or sweet, depending on what kind of kueh it is. "Kueh" is a generic term for a pastry or confection, which may or may not resemble a western cake. In fact, most kueh are not baked. They are either steamed or fried.

In Vietnamese, all "cakes" are called "banh". In Khmer, "cakes" are known as "num". In Thai, it is "khanom". Again, in all these languages, what is being described isn't really a cake in the western sense. It is a generic term for a pastry of some kind.

If you ask an Asian to describe in English what the pastry is like, he will probably start off by saying, "Well, it is some sort of cake." The problem is "cake" just doesn't describe the kind of food it really is. Lost in translation? Absolutely. Is there a better word? I can't think of any.

My solution? Either you learn the language or just enjoy eating the "cake". I opt to do both!

Have fun eating and learning!

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Brandy coffee anyone?

A Malaysian coffee lover shared this real conversation he had in Seoul.

Me: what coffee is this?

Mr Korean Cafe Owner: brandy

Me: whoa! That's cool. Never had that before. (takes a sip)

Me to Sung Kim (Korean friend): I don't taste brandy...

Sung: I think he said "blending".

Me to Cafe Owner: How's business?

Cafe Owner: Thank you.

=_= end of conversation

Have fun with languages over a cup of coffee!

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