The more time I spend in Singapore, the more interested I am in the language situation here. If you have read a little bit about this topic, you will know that there are four official languages – English, Malay, Mandarin Chinese, and Tamil – but that is only part of the picture. In each ethnic group, there might be several languages or dialects that are used instead of the official one.
Having studied Mandarin, I have been particularly interested in the different Chinese dialects that are spoken in Singapore. Although the use of dialects is on the decline, the issue still remains an issue for debate.
Learning Mandarin
In 1979, the Singporean Government launched the “Speak Mandarin Campaign” to promote the use of a common language among Chinese Singaporeans. In addition to the campaign, they required all Chinese media to use Mandarin, and made Mandarin a requirement for all Chinese students.
Dialect in Business and Life – Non-Lingual?
I came across and article in the Online Citizen, which argues that dialects can be used to build rapport better than Mandarin. The reason for this is because Mandarin varies so much from place to place. If you are interested, check out the article linked above.
I do not dispute this idea, but I don’t think it is very significant. In fact, the article does not really seem to make a strong point other than people from the same dialect group do business with each other.
The real interesting part of this article occurs at the end when the author quotes another article:
I agree with Ong Siew Chey’s letter on March 19, 2009 that “in spite of our claim of being bilingual, some of us are actually non-lingual, hovering between Singlish and substandard Mandarin.” The Speak Mandarin Campaign started 30 years ago. If Singaporeans, after 30 years of the Speak Mandarin Campaign, are still “non-lingual”, can anyone be certain that not speaking dialects is really the cure for “non-lingualism”?
After spending lots of time with some of my students that could fall under this definition of “non-lingual”, I would have to say that this is the real interesting language phenomenon in Singapore. I would not go so far as to say they are ‘non-lingual’ – they are still able to communicate in several languages – but they don’t seem to be totally fluent in one.
A lot of people speak a Chinese dialect at home (which is actually less common, as noted above), and learn English and Mandarin ( if they are Chinese) in school. Thus, some of them speak Hakka, Canto, or some other language for the first few years of their lives, and then have to learn the others from school.
If you spend enough time with the locals, you’re likely to get a taste of this. Just this afternoon I was listening to a student of mine complain about something, during which time she used at least 4 different languages, and it was almost impossible to follow! If you had no exposure, or did not have any background before she launched in to her story, you would have been lost.
The point here is that this student, and many others, are able to communicate, they just don’t do it strictly in one language. When I think about ‘building rapport’, I would have to say that it is true that Singaporeans tend to speak and act differently with other Singaporeans (they are code-switchers, which means they even speak differently to other Singaporeans then they do with me).
A lot of my colleagues often assume that I will be closer to my students because of my age, but I often feel that this is not the case. Time and time again I have felt that the biggest difference between me and other people is culture. For some things, age is a plus. However, when I see my colleagues interact with students, there seems to be a deeper connection. They speak Singlish, talk about Singaporean food, traditions, and interact in a way that is common to them.
I will just sit back and learn. I really enjoy trying to understand this language and how it works. In the mean time, I might try to learn some dialect (probably not…I have failed to remember one sentence in Canto, Teochew, Hakka, or Hokkien)!
By the way, the student mentioned above moved to Singapore from Malaysia when she was five. Before that time, she did not speak a word of English or Mandarin. When she went to school, she was really confused, and was not able to communicate with her teachers. This meant that she could not ask for permission to go to the toilet, and she was forced to hold it every day until she got home from school!
Now her English is very much ‘Singlish’, but she is a fast learner…
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Learning is always good! And I had to either hold my WC or raised my hand for permission if I couldn’t hold it anymore when I was in primary class…
Hello from Colorado! I came across your blog when I googled “What language do they speak in Singapore”. The reason for my question is that somehow, through the magic of EBAY- my daughter’s doll dress ended up in Singapore. Some very kind person in Singapore sent it on to us here in the States….. How it got from New Jersey to Singapore to Colorado is still a mystery. We would like to send a thank you note to our unknown Samaritan in Singapore but wouldn’t even know how to begin to say thank you. Sounds like that might not be an easy question. Could I send you the address on the envelope and perhaps you could tell me what region, etc. and help us say thank you?
Hello fellow Coloradan!
The short version – while many people speak Chinese in Singapore, the working language is English, so it should be easy!