Malaysian = Lousy English ?!

[SensualMassage_T]

Disclaimer: This Post is meant for open discussion, share of thoughts with personal experience, not in any means to stir up controversy. 

 

Back story: 

I’m Chinese education Malaysian, Currently work as Professional therapist ( Based in KL) Travel around osscaionaly. 

Upon last visit to S’pore, I had been notice that there’s a stigma of some locals thinks that M’sia doesn’t speak English well. 

 

In fact I still learning  improve my grammar and they Surprise with my English fluency. 

 

OK, back to my question, In general do you think M’sia English ? 

[Steve5380]

In my many visits to Malaysia I have not had a problem as a tourist with your English. 

On a personal note, to improve your English read, read, read in English as much as possible.

Also write a lot in the best English you can (not in a "cute" gibberish) with a spell checker enabled on your PC, browser.

[lonelyglobe]

Perhaps generally yes but there are exceptions too, dont worry, sporean are master of 2 language but jack of none.

Edited March 16, 2019 by lonelyglobe

[SensualMassage_T]

12 minutes ago, Steve5380 said:

In my many visits to Malaysia I have not had a problem as a tourist with your English. 

On a personal note, to improve your English read, read, read in English as much as possible.

Also write a lot in the best English you can (not in a "cute" gibberish) with a spell checker enabled on your PC, browser.

 

I find that speak to native speaker are the best way to improve ( any langague ) 

 

@lonelyglobe English and mandarin? 

[Steve5380]

3 minutes ago, SensualMassage_T said:

 

I find that speak to native speaker are the best way to improve ( any langague ) 

 

 

This depends.

A little child learning from his parents is the perfect way to improve the language (of his parents).

But as adults we want to learn the least corrupted language.

To learn the grammar and spelling, reading from reputable sources is best because professional writers write correctly.

To learn the accent we have to decide WHICH native speakers we should speak with, to avoid picking up an undesirable dialect. 

[Renault]

On the whole and based on experiences, yes. 

 

If you really want to master English, you have to read, write and speak more.

[Guest Try and see]

1 hour ago, SensualMassage_T said:

OK, back to my question, In general do you think M’sia English ? 

 

Yes, I have worked with quite a few M'sian Chinese (some of the guys are very cute!) and a lot of them are not good in English.

 

The fault lies in their M'sian government which emphasises a lot on Malay.

 

I remember as a kid, there was some M'sian minister who actually got angry that many Johor residents were speaking better English than their M'sian counterparts because they had more exposure to S'pore TV channels!

 

 

And I fully agree with the advice given by several people above: read from reputable sources; watch good English shows, and learn to write and speak proper English as much as you can, even in text messages.

 

Read, read, and read as much as you can, especially the classics like Charles Dickens, etc. Take note of any word that you don't understand and check a dictionary. Try to get a good printed dictionary like Merriam-Websters instead of using an online one.

 

People who can write very well are those who read a lot in their free time instead of constantly playing video games.

 

It might be tough at first but it will get easier after a while. And your command of the language will stay with you for life.

 

You'll be surprised how much people, esp. employers, will respect you when you are known for your good English.

 

Even in S'pore, a guy who speaks good English will stand out from the crowd and be noticed by girls more. 

[SensualMassage_T]

7 minutes ago, Guest Try and see said:

 

Yes, I have worked with quite a few M'sian Chinese (some of the guys are very cute!) and a lot of them are not good in English.

 

The fault lies in their M'sian government which emphasises a lot on Malay.

 

I remember as a kid, there was some M'sian minister who actually got angry that many Johor residents were speaking better English than their M'sian counterparts because they had more exposure to S'pore TV channels!

 

 

And I fully agree with the advice given by several people above: read from reputable sources; watch good English shows, and learn to write and speak proper English as much as you can, even in text messages.

 

Read, read, and read as much as you can, especially the classics like Charles Dickens, etc. Take note of any word that you don't understand and check a dictionary. Try to get a good printed dictionary like Merriam-Websters instead of using an online one.

 

People who can write very well are those who read a lot in their free time instead of constantly playing video games.

 

It might be tough at first but it will get easier after a while. And your command of the language will stay with you for life.

 

You'll be surprised how much people, esp. employers, will respect you when you are known for your good English.

 

Even in S'pore, a guy who speaks good English will stand out from the crowd and be noticed by girls more. 

 

Malaysia educaiton

1970’s - English Ed 

1980’s - Malay Ed 

1990’s - English Ed 

 

the Gov switch back forth 

[Guest Chiku]

1 hour ago, SensualMassage_T said:

 In general do you think M’sia English ? 

If they stay long in Singapore, their standard will be on par with Singaporeans.  Most Malaysian, when they are still new in Singapore, they tend to have certain discomfort blending in and thus appear a little "lack" in English fluency.  It is a matter of adaption.  In general, their English can easily be understood by many people and even better than many other countries such as philippine, HK, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand and many asian and asean countries.  So ya, Malaysian English is still very very good in that comparison.

[lovehandle]

1 hour ago, SensualMassage_T said:

Disclaimer: This Post is meant for open discussion, share of thoughts with personal experience, not in any means to stir up controversy. 

 

Back story: 

I’m Chinese education Malaysian, Currently work as Professional therapist ( Based in KL) Travel around osscaionaly. 

Upon last visit to S’pore, I had been notice that there’s a stigma of some locals thinks that M’sia doesn’t speak English well. 

 

In fact I still learning  improve my grammar and they Surprise with my English fluency. 

 

OK, back to my question, In general do you think M’sia English ? 

not to worry, we dont blame msians

Cos that might not be your first language
Is that stigma affecting u? u r not applying as a broadcaster/speaker role right?

Many chinese in sg cannot speak Mandarin at all
 

[Guest Try and see]

Generally, there is a bit of bias in many societies:

 

- guy speaks good English = he's intelligent and charming, and he probably takes care of the people around him very well.

 

- guy speaks bad English = he's not very smart, and probably doesn't earn a lot. 

 

 

So even though sometimes people may tell you that you can get by with bad English, don't settle for it. Set your personal standards higher, even if people around you don't. It's for your own image, self-improvement, and benefit.

 

For us guys especially, even though people don't say it, and even if they themselves may not speak well, but if you don't speak good English, people will subconsciously think less of you.

 

 

I know this is just a movie, but listen to the way Astrid speaks. Although I am gay, I would want to hang out with a girl like that and pay for her earrings!

 

 

[Guest Talking Point]

 

3 hours ago, SensualMassage_T said:

 

OK, back to my question, In general do you think M’sia English ? 

Don't worry about it, still better than some of our obscene salaried ministers and top cilvil servants.

[Guest cute sg guy]

2 hours ago, SensualMassage_T said:

Disclaimer: This Post is meant for open discussion, share of thoughts with personal experience, not in any means to stir up controversy. 

 

Back story: 

I’m Chinese education Malaysian, Currently work as Professional therapist ( Based in KL) Travel around osscaionaly. 

Upon last visit to S’pore, I had been notice that there’s a stigma of some locals thinks that M’sia doesn’t speak English well. 

 

In fact I still learning  improve my grammar and they Surprise with my English fluency. 

 

OK, back to my question, In general do you think M’sia English ? 

 

To be honest, in the gay world, even if you speak/write bad English but you are hot,

people will love you.

 

It's sad but true.

 

Your post does have some errors and mistakes but I can understand you perfectly.

[Guest John]

4 hours ago, SensualMassage_T said:

Disclaimer: This Post is meant for open discussion, share of thoughts with personal experience, not in any means to stir up controversy. 

 

Back story: 

I’m Chinese education Malaysian, Currently work as Professional therapist ( Based in KL) Travel around osscaionaly. 

Upon last visit to S’pore, I had been notice that there’s a stigma of some locals thinks that M’sia doesn’t speak English well. 

 

In fact I still learning  improve my grammar and they Surprise with my English fluency. 

 

OK, back to my question, In general do you think M’sia English ? 

The diff between Singaporean & M'sia in pronounciation are : 
 

Position = We pronounced "Per-sition".  The Malaysians pronounced as the spelling PO-sition 

 

Marina = We "Mer-rina"  The Malaysian, pronounced it as the spelling "Ma-rina"   

 

 

[SensualMassage_T]

38 minutes ago, Guest John said:

The diff between Singaporean & M'sia in pronounciation are : 
 

Position = We pronounced "Per-sition".  The Malaysians pronounced as the spelling PO-sition 

 

Marina = We "Mer-rina"  The Malaysian, pronounced it as the spelling "Ma-rina"   

 

 

 

It’s mostly due to Malay style pronouciation 

such as 

Paragon = Pa-Ra-Gone vs Pra-re-gon

[The.Intrv.]

No English is lousy so long as it's comprehensible. 

[Guest Singaporean]

Pls la, Singaporean language capabilities in general aren’t that good. We’re taught merely enough for mechanical expression, so we can spare the talking down to this nice Malaysian boy.

[upshot]

11 hours ago, SensualMassage_T said:

Disclaimer: This Post is meant for open discussion, share of thoughts with personal experience, not in any means to stir up controversy. 

 

Back story: 

I’m Chinese education Malaysian, Currently work as Professional therapist ( Based in KL) Travel around osscaionaly. 

Upon last visit to S’pore, I had been notice that there’s a stigma of some locals thinks that M’sia doesn’t speak English well. 

 

In fact I still learning  improve my grammar and they Surprise with my English fluency. 

 

OK, back to my question, In general do you think M’sia English ? 

Majority of my relative and cousins are in Malaysia... they speak good English with a slight tint of 'localized accent' or some terms used but other than that I see nothing that would stereotype them as being all bad at English. And I am speaking from someone with relative in smaller States.

 

At the end of the day, you notice that in Singapore, there are people in their 20s or younger, surprisingly, still using bad English or way too much singlish and bad pronunciation even in public speaking and are unaware. And on the other side of the swing, people who try  too hard to sound ghetto black. There is a time and place for everything I feel. I like to adjust the way I communication by the type of people I am with.

[Guest princess]

I quite like Malaysian boys. Some are cute in their own way.

 

I don't mind their English knowing that it's not their first language but I don't like their laid back attitude when it comes to upgrading themselves.

 

For most of them, they like to stay at home after work and even on off days to watch videos.

 

Getting them to travel a bit further beyond their neighborhood is like asking a princess out. A total turn off.

 

A common response is "I don't like to travel." Singapore is so small. I don't think that is a valid reason.

 

 

[Guest Ploppel English]

14 hours ago, SensualMassage_T said:

Disclaimer: This Post is meant for open discussion, share of thoughts with personal experience, not in any means to stir up controversy. 

 

Back story: 

I’m Chinese education Malaysian, Currently work as Professional therapist ( Based in KL) Travel around osscaionaly. 

Upon last visit to S’pore, I had been notice that there’s a stigma of some locals thinks that M’sia doesn’t speak English well. 

 

In fact I still learning  improve my grammar and they Surprise with my English fluency. 

 

OK, back to my question, In general do you think M’sia English ? 

 

Sorry lah

 

Disclaimer: This Post is meant for an open discussion, the share  sharing of thoughts mixed with personal experience, not in any means to stir up controversy. 

 

Background story: 

I’m a Chinese educationed Malaysian, Currently working as a Professional therapist ( Based in KL) Travel around osscaionaly occasionally. 

Upon my last visit to S’pore, I had been noticed that there’s a stigma of some locals thinksing that M’sia Malaysians doesn’t  don't speak English well. 

 

In fact I am still learning  improve my grammar and they Ssurprise me with my English fluency. 

 

OK, back to my question, In general what do you think about M’sia Malaysian English ? 

[lovehandle]

38 minutes ago, Guest princess said:

I quite like Malaysian boys. Some are cute in their own way.

 

I don't mind their English knowing that it's not their first language but I don't like their laid back attitude when it comes to upgrading themselves.

 

For most of them, they like to stay at home after work and even on off days to watch videos.

 

Getting them to travel a bit further beyond their neighborhood is like asking a princess out. A total turn off.

 

A common response is "I don't like to travel." Singapore is so small. I don't think that is a valid reason.

 

 

I dont think that is pertaining to msian:

anyone working in retail or f&b w just one off day is tiring

Also, as a Singaporean i dont like goin to the suburbs too and yes, even though sg is indeed is very small!

 

[Steve5380]

4 minutes ago, Guest Ploppel English said:

 

Disclaimer: This Post is meant for an open discussion, the share  sharing of thoughts mixed with personal experience, not in any means to stir up controversy. 

 

Background story: 

I’m a Chinese educationed Malaysian, Currently working as a Professional therapist ( Based in KL) Travel around osscaionaly occasionally. 

Upon my last visit to S’pore, I had been noticed that there’s a stigma of some locals thinksing that M’sia Malaysians doesn’t  don't speak English well. 

 

In fact I am still learning  TO improve my grammar and they Ssurprise me with my English fluency. 

 

OK, back to my question, In general what do you think about M’sia Malaysian English ? 

 

LOL!  You did a good job. To reach perfection is a never ending goal that is always one step ahead. 

[Guest Ploppel English]

1 hour ago, Steve5380 said:

 

LOL!  You did a good job. To reach perfection is a never ending goal that is always one step ahead. 

 

Yes Daddy!

 

To the Threadstarter: correction was well meant. never learn never improve. We all start in small steps...

[fab]

1 hour ago, Guest Ploppel English said:

 

Sorry lah

 

Disclaimer: This Post is meant for an open discussion, the share  sharing of thoughts mixed with personal experience, not in any means to stir up controversy. 

 

Background story: 

I’m a Chinese educationed Malaysian, Currently working as a Professional therapist ( Based in KL) Travel around osscaionaly occasionally. 

Upon my last visit to S’pore, I had been noticed that there’s a stigma of some locals thinksing that M’sia Malaysians doesn’t  don't speak English well. 

 

In fact I am still learning TO  improve my grammar and they ARE SsurpriseD with my English fluency. 

 

OK, back to my question, In general what do you think about M’sia Malaysian English ? 

 

[Guest ploppel English]

fab: can be both ways. = vers!

 

because we can't read his  (Threadstarters) mind!

[Guest ploppel English]

because we can't read his  (Threadstarter's) mind!

[SensualMassage_T]

10 hours ago, Guest Ploppel English said:

 

Sorry lah

 

Disclaimer: This Post is meant for an open discussion, the share  sharing of thoughts mixed with personal experience, not in any means to stir up controversy. 

 

Background story: 

I’m a Chinese educationed Malaysian, Currently working as a Professional therapist ( Based in KL) Travel around osscaionaly occasionally. 

Upon my last visit to S’pore, I had been noticed that there’s a stigma of some locals thinksing that M’sia Malaysians doesn’t  don't speak English well. 

 

In fact I am still learning  improve my grammar and they Ssurprise me with my English fluency. 

 

OK, back to my question, In general what do you think about M’sia Malaysian English ? 

 

Haha thanks for the correction 

[Nipoet]

On 3/16/2019 at 8:18 AM, SensualMassage_T said:

Disclaimer: This Post is meant for open discussion, share of thoughts with personal experience, not in any means to stir up controversy. 

 

Back story: 

I’m Chinese education Malaysian, Currently work as Professional therapist ( Based in KL) Travel around osscaionaly. 

Upon last visit to S’pore, I had been notice that there’s a stigma of some locals thinks that M’sia doesn’t speak English well. 

 

In fact I still learning  improve my grammar and they Surprise with my English fluency. 

 

OK, back to my question, In general do you think M’sia English ? 

Both my ex and curent SO are Malaysians. Ex has a diploma, so his English was slightly better.

Current SO understands very basic English, but cannot read and write sufficiently well to communicate properly.

I think it's due to their education system. Primary focus is on their native language, Malay, and not much other emphasis is placed on other languages. Some schools does not even have a mandarin teacher for the chinese students to learn their mother tongue. 

Without exposure and chance to learn, naturally their other languages not as good.

BUT! While Singaporeans are proficient in their Mother Tongue and English, Malaysians are usually fluent (speaking, at least) in three languages: Malay, Chinese and English. 

Some Singaporeans' Mandarin also half-bucket only. 

So, liddat how to compare?

[SensualMassage_T]

8 minutes ago, Nipoet said:

Both my ex and curent SO are Malaysians. Ex has a diploma, so his English was slightly better.

Current SO understands very basic English, but cannot read and write sufficiently well to communicate properly.

I think it's due to their education system. Primary focus is on their native language, Malay, and not much other emphasis is placed on other languages. Some schools does not even have a mandarin teacher for the chinese students to learn their mother tongue. 

Without exposure and chance to learn, naturally their other languages not as good.

BUT! While Singaporeans are proficient in their Mother Tongue and English, Malaysians are usually fluent (speaking, at least) in three languages: Malay, Chinese and English. 

Some Singaporeans' Mandarin also half-bucket only. 

So, liddat how to compare?

Make sense. The only diffferent is my Malay are terrible, I only able to speak Bahasa ‘Pasar Pagi’ 

 

@upshot American pop culture & Tumblr influence them with those ‘ street langague’ 

Edited March 17, 2019 by SensualMassage_T

[fab]

Based on my contacts, there are 2 broad categories.

 

First group is those who can speak fluently. These people learn Malay and English in school. Most can only speak one dialect but not Mandarin. Egs r the Penarakans and those from cities.

 

The second group is those who speak English less fluently. These people learn Malay and Mandarin in school. Can speak one dialect and limited English. Even a graduate from this group will have difficulty constructing a simple sentence eg, "do u can swim?". Usually from rural areas.

 

I personally know a few couples comprising one from each group. Their common communication language is , surprisingly, Malay. 

[Guest Guest Commonsense]

It is a sad and disgusting stereotype to think Malaysians have "bad" English. I know a lot of Malaysians. A handful of my close colleagues are Malaysians. There have all sorts of English proficiencies, all different, and all based on their backgrounds, culture, education and experience. Just go through social media platforms like youtube and instagram and you'll even come across Malaysians whose English diction and eloquence are on par or even surpass that of some Singaporeans.

 

Same thing for Singaporeans; not all locals here have the same level of English proficiency. Just scroll through these forums and you can easily see many grammatical errors, spelling mistakes and such from local forum members. 

 

All of us should should just learn to stop stereotyping people and making remarks like "why is your English so good if you're Malaysian?" Such remarks may sound like compliments to you but they are offensive and derogatory to the recipients. 

[upshot]

I guess it depends on where you are geographically in any country or neighborhood. Does not matter where you are. When I was in Europe or US, you can be walking about and if you walk extensive enough to various neighborhood, the kind of English and accent will change. But at a certain level of professional work, there is that need to be precise and clear with your communication and especially written. For example, you can be less accurate with spelling or phrasing or mix it in with localized terms like "shoiok" or " we went there to 'makan', which is like throwing in some local flavor terms to spice up the description especially if you are talking or writing toward a group of people who understand it.

 

But in a universal message or written or spoken platform, for the sake of clarity that it be understood by all, then proper use of English would be the way to go. I think for some, we get too uptight when we do not conform to a certain way someone writes or say something like some form of 'class' or typically it can be a bias like someone too "atas" (a Malay term we used to describe someone who thinks that are too classy for those among them - for the non-local boys here heheh) then I can only say, you have to know where you are, the group it is associated with and by what context someone is doing that.

 

How I write here is more casual and speedy. Only catching my errors if I see a typo prompt or if I need at time to check the right word is used for technical subject ... but when I write at work, I pay more attention to the spelling, grammar, context and tone. I can switch modes. I can see those that do that here too. But with some people they get into such a practiced state, they can only do and read in a certain manner. Too anal I feel. For them I say, it is fine. You have that right to do it one way. But if you can relax a little, let your hair down and read between the lines like in a casual forum thread on a certain topic, you find it more immersive and get more colors from the reading. Of course, it can swing too far the other way too where someone use terms or such bad construct of English that you get no head of tail to the point it is hard to follow the conversation. Ya it happens and it can be annoying but well... shit happens at times man. This forum is open to all kinds of individuals.

[Guest foreign linguist]

Highly skilled Malaysians are just as good. Don't let Singaporeans intimidate anybody with their English. Even most of their media presenters sound "good" but not like from native speaker countries. The average person on the street is not much better than Malaysians.

 

There is an opposite phenomenon, that locals in both countries make fun of people whose pronunciation is too posh when it is merely more native speaker like (compared to their bazaar speech).

[Guest Guest]

Malaysians are very forgetful or very unaware of whats happening. Example is their prime minister who keeps forgetting or is always unaware of what his minister is doing.

[Guest Ploppel English]

On 3/17/2019 at 9:22 AM, SensualMassage_T said:

Make sense. The only diffferent is my Malay are terrible, I only able to speak Bahasa ‘Pasar Pagi’ 

 

@upshot American pop culture & Tumblr influence them with those ‘ street langague’ 

 

This makes sense. The only diffferent  difference is my Malay are is terrible, I am only able to speak Bahasa ‘Pasar Pagi’ 

 

@upshot American pop culture & Tumblr influence them with those this  street langague’ language.

 

 

 

Hey, Bahasa Pasar Pagi apa? not every orang singapura boleh faham.

for those who don't : Pasar Pagi = Morning market...

 

Sensual Massage: You need a mat saleh/Ang Moh as bf. After 1 year can become English teacher at sekola!

But don't give him too many sensual massages, then you only learn "Oh and Ah" but not English. ha ha

 

 

[SensualMassage_T]

Just now, Guest Ploppel English said:

 

This makes sense. The only diffferent  difference is my Malay are is terrible, I am only able to speak Bahasa ‘Pasar Pagi’ 

 

@upshot American pop culture & Tumblr influence them with those this  street langague’ language.

 

 

 

Hey, Bahasa Pasar Pagi apa? not every orang singapura boleh faham.

for those who don't : Pasar Pagi = Morning market...

 

Sensual Massage: You need a mat saleh/Ang Moh as bf. After 1 year can become English teacher at sekola!

But don't give him too many sensual massages, then you only learn "Oh and Ah" but not English. ha ha

 

 

Thanks for your correction. 

[romeooug]

Please stop generalising! There are people with bad English even in UK, much less here. I know of Americans who can't spell to save their lives and Middle Easterns who speak with a British accent. Singaporeans do not all speak well. Their Singlish is no better than the Manglish. So please. Get down from your high horse!

[Guest bottom]

6 minutes ago, SensualMassage_T said:

Thanks for your correction. 

 

your english is lousy and so is your bahasa (as confirmed by you). Lets pray and hope your mandarin is at least top notch?

[Guest malaysian]

1 minute ago, romeooug said:

Please stop generalising! There are people with bad English even in UK, much less here. I know of Americans who can't spell to save their lives and Middle Easterns who speak with a British accent. Singaporeans do not all speak well. Their Singlish is no better than the Manglish. So please. Get down from your high horse!

 

hear hear. I for one have heard singaporeans speak like they just came from china! So enough of shaming malaysian's standard of english based on one or two examples. Generalising much!!

[SensualMassage_T]

4 minutes ago, Guest bottom said:

 

your english is lousy and so is your bahasa (as confirmed by you). Lets pray and hope your mandarin is at least top notch?

LOL !

[Guest disclosed yourself]

Must say, see it the same as some others. In Malaysia you can find everything, Malaysians who speak terrible English and others who are extremely fluent. The latter mostly studied in the UK and the English was not learnt in Malaysia later but through the overseas experience.

The main issue is: If English teachers already are so weak and have a bad pronunciation, how then can the students be better?

 

It can happen that Malaysian Chinese are only surrounded by Chinese speaking people. they go into a Chinese school, start working in a predominantly Chinese work place. For them, speaking halfway good English is a real problem. How to have good knowledge if you never needed it?

The same for Malays. You speak Malay the whole day, even at the university the Professors don't speak proper English.

My experience is that the standard of English with Malays (in Malaysia) is getting worse. you meet more and more younger Malay boys who can't properly converse in English.

More the mid generation in the 40s to 50s have some Malays with good English proficiency.

Since they have taken out English for many subjects at school, it only got worse the last years.

Nowadays, you must have been lucky to have had a good English teacher at school, someone who might go the extra mile to instill good English.

 

In Singapore there are some Malaysian Chinese who work in factories here. The standard of English is below par. But even in Singapore you can survive without speaking proper English. Same for mainland Chinese who come here, no need to take up English (which I don't support, but it is as that). It is only funny when a government officer faces those mainland Chinese and needs to call in another person to converse with them, because their own Chinese knowledge is bad too.

 

But let's be honest, not all Singaporeans are good in English. But it is obvious that the younger generation is more fluent with better grammar skills.

For the Malays, the problem is more that they started mixing Malay and English, which is not good for the children, because they will be confused from the start.

 

For me personally, I don't want that the whole world is only speaking English.

There are many languages which are very developed, nice in sound. If you ever learnt French or German, you would know how defined a language can be.

Language is language, sure in German or French there will be grammar, that nobody can understand and that doesn't follow logic. But that is how language is.

But compared to English, the vast variation to express things differently is in the English language not as developed as some other languages.

 

For a Malaysian who intends to work in Singapore on a higher paid job, he should invest to improve the usual standard of English spoken. there are British Councils and other schools to improve you language knowledge. it is more a matter of will to do so. Otherwise, it would always fall back on him. That would be my personal advice to him.

 

One of my clients from UK came from a meeting with his auditor in Singapore to our office and first thing he told was that he wasn't sure whether the junior audit manager, who was  a Malaysian, actually understood what the customer said and that the customer did not understand at all what the Malaysian tried to tell him.

 

But you know: If I write a little artistic piece of that discussion that presumably took place between that customer and the Malaysian audit junior, the Moderators will delete it out or someone will complain that it is not worth. So I stop here for today.

 

 

 

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ka mate kaainga tahi, ka ora kaainga rua.

[Guest disclosed yourself]

20 minutes ago, romeooug said:

Please stop generalising! There are people with bad English even in UK, much less here. I know of Americans who can't spell to save their lives and Middle Easterns who speak with a British accent. Singaporeans do not all speak well. Their Singlish is no better than the Manglish. So please. Get down from your high horse!

 

But you should infer, who should stop generalising? How can we guess who you try to tell that they should stop generalising.

 

those in the UK who don't speak English well are mostly immigrants who did not make any effort to integrate into the society. They live in their own society with people from their origin.

It takes an effort to learn English.

 

 

 

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ko te tokanga nui a Noho.

[Guest disclosed yourself]

22 minutes ago, Guest bottom said:

 

your english is lousy and so is your bahasa (as confirmed by you). Lets pray and hope your mandarin is at least top notch?

 

 

I prefer to motivate up people to take some effort (and learn proper English) instead of bashing them down and saying that the English is lousy.

We don't know the educational background of sensual massage and look, not all guys come from wealthy families who can afford sending their children onto good schools or giving them tuition.

I m sure, if he ever had the idea of coming to Singapore he would start to learn better English.

 

And don't forget, there are many programs on the internet.

Most important you need to read and converse in English every day. Read British newspapers online , write out every word you don't understand and translate.

In Singapore you have English channels, in Malaysia the local TV is in Bahasa Malaysia or Bahasa cina.

 

 

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He wha tawhara ki uta, he kiko tamure ki tai.

[LeanMature]

Most Singaporeans can write better than they speak.  Probably because very few dare to speak up. 

[kimlo777]

On 3/16/2019 at 9:02 AM, SensualMassage_T said:

 

I find that speak to native speaker are the best way to improve ( any langague ) 

 

@lonelyglobe English and mandarin? 

Don't mind me correcting your English but your sentence should correctly read as - I find that speaking to native speakers is the best way to improve any language.

[thorzguy]

On 3/16/2019 at 8:18 AM, SensualMassage_T said:

In fact I still learning  improve my grammar and they Surprise with my English fluency. 

 

OK, back to my question, In general do you think M’sia English ? 

 

Not true. I have many Malaysian friends who are very competent in their English language, if not better than some of us.

So long others are able to comprehend what you expressing - done deal. As per many things in life - practice practice and more practice - key to improvement.

[romeooug]

52 minutes ago, Guest disclosed yourself said:

 

But you should infer, who should stop generalising? How can we guess who you try to tell that they should stop generalising.

 

those in the UK who don't speak English well are mostly immigrants who did not make any effort to integrate into the society. They live in their own society with people from their origin.

It takes an effort to learn English.

 

 

 

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ko te tokanga nui a Noho.

Oh well, if you can't tell whom I'm referring to...then I guess you have problems comprehending.

[Guest bottom]

55 minutes ago, Guest disclosed yourself said:

 

But you should infer, who should stop generalising? How can we guess who you try to tell that they should stop generalising.

 

those in the UK who don't speak English well are mostly immigrants who did not make any effort to integrate into the society. They live in their own society with people from their origin.

It takes an effort to learn English.

 

 

 

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ko te tokanga nui a Noho.

 

again assuming that only immigrants in UK doesnt speak english well and that the supposedly native speakers can speak good english. 

[Guest disclosed yourself]

27 minutes ago, LeanMature said:

Most Singaporeans can write better than they speak.  Probably because very few dare to speak up. 

 

writing...you meant with all those funny abbreviations?

Ha ha ha

 

In my eyes in Singapore communication skills are declining. I have staff that would prefer sending me an email or whatsapp instead of approaching me and telling me the problem of something. With the focus on gadgets, they even take lesser chances to speak out.

It happened to me that I missed out something because didn't check my whatsapp and colleagues sent me something, just sitting outside my personal room behind a glass wall, being able to see me in my room from outside. 

 

I shifted the culture to inform my inferior staff: Stop sending me whatsapp or email, when I m just around in the office, confront me immediately or if I seem very busy at next best opportunity (like when I go to the pantry or come back from the pantry).

Now my staff will bug me instantly : Oh do you have a second! / are you busy? And I prefer it that way. Instead of sitting on the way home and reading whatsapp messages from 3 hours earlier highlighting an issue to me.

If they can't talk to me, how can they teach customers on issues when we meet up with them and discuss?

 

But I agree with Leanmature: From young people should be instilled to speak up at schools, universities and so on. How to improve communication skills if you don't give them the chance. I hope this will change.

 

And a working culture is always good, if there is a flow from down to up. How to improve processes if it never reaches the top level?

 

The competition between countries is growing and not declining. The whole school policy must be changed on such matters. The country does no longer need factory workers who just execute instructions from above.

When I scrolled about the working hours at the other thread: Germany is working on a 32 hours per week basis on the highest efficiency (and with lesser internet applications) compared to other countries. Singapore should look into those countries to improve efficiency at the work place.

 

Sorry for putting up a lot of points here, but the post from leanmature just tickled it out from me.  ha ha

 

 

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kai hanu, kai hanu, hoki mai ano koe ko to koiwi.

 

 

[Guest ploppel English]

23 minutes ago, Guest bottom said:

 

again assuming that only immigrants in UK doesnt speak english well and that the supposedly native speakers can speak good english. 

 

Again assuming that only immigrants in UK don't speak English well and that the supposedly native speakers can speak good English.