Learning dialects
I read this forum letter with dismay. In it, Mr Chee, Principal Private Secretary
to the Minister Mentor said that 'It would be stupid for any Singapore agency or NTU to advocate the learning of dialects, which must be at the expense of English and Mandarin.' Basically, Mr Chee disagree with the idea of Singaporeans learning dialects as it will probably lower our standards of English and Mandarin.
I beg to differ. I actually know quite a lot of people who speak in chinese dialects at home, speak mandarin to friends and English in school or the work place. I think the decision to learn dialects is up to the individual and certainly not up to anyone else to dictate what he should learn and what he should not. And it is the personal decision of any organisation to teach dialects and it is defintely not stupid to do so.
In fact, I actually think learning dialects may even increase one's interest in chinese culture and motivate one to read up more chinese texts, improving one Chinese standards in the process.
Learning languages should not just be based on economic decisions. Yes, English has helped Singapore alot economically, with it a major attraction point to MNCs. And now China rising as an economic power, our Chinese will be put in good use. Dialects are part of our roots, our culture. Different dialects group actually have a distinct culture of their own. And knowing of dialects will defintely deepen our understanding of our own dialect groups.
Despite me knowing some hokkien, I still cannot converse with my grandmother beyond the surface questions. This is indeed a sad fact. I am sure many grandparents in Singapore will have alot of interesting stories and lessons to share with their grandchildren, but sadly their grandchildren totally do not understand them.
Even with the government stamping out dialects. It is still often used in our daily lives, we often order food in dialects in the hawker centres, and sometimes we use certain dialect phrases in our conversation.
But then the usage of dialects is slowly dying out.
I guess dialects and some aspects of our traditional culture will probably die off the way dodo did.
les
to the Minister Mentor said that 'It would be stupid for any Singapore agency or NTU to advocate the learning of dialects, which must be at the expense of English and Mandarin.' Basically, Mr Chee disagree with the idea of Singaporeans learning dialects as it will probably lower our standards of English and Mandarin.
I beg to differ. I actually know quite a lot of people who speak in chinese dialects at home, speak mandarin to friends and English in school or the work place. I think the decision to learn dialects is up to the individual and certainly not up to anyone else to dictate what he should learn and what he should not. And it is the personal decision of any organisation to teach dialects and it is defintely not stupid to do so.
In fact, I actually think learning dialects may even increase one's interest in chinese culture and motivate one to read up more chinese texts, improving one Chinese standards in the process.
Learning languages should not just be based on economic decisions. Yes, English has helped Singapore alot economically, with it a major attraction point to MNCs. And now China rising as an economic power, our Chinese will be put in good use. Dialects are part of our roots, our culture. Different dialects group actually have a distinct culture of their own. And knowing of dialects will defintely deepen our understanding of our own dialect groups.
Despite me knowing some hokkien, I still cannot converse with my grandmother beyond the surface questions. This is indeed a sad fact. I am sure many grandparents in Singapore will have alot of interesting stories and lessons to share with their grandchildren, but sadly their grandchildren totally do not understand them.
Even with the government stamping out dialects. It is still often used in our daily lives, we often order food in dialects in the hawker centres, and sometimes we use certain dialect phrases in our conversation.
But then the usage of dialects is slowly dying out.
I guess dialects and some aspects of our traditional culture will probably die off the way dodo did.
les
posted by yaogui at
12:13 AM
