Singlish is a popular type of communication in Singapore. It can also be referred to as the atrocious grammar and lapses in constructing sentences.
When spoken, Singlish gets most people across communication barriers but when written, it becomes a glaring red flag alerting everyone to the fact that you have failed to communicate properly.
This blog is about the proper way of writing English composition and how to avoid those awful Singlish errors.
Top 5 Common Singlish Errors In English Composition
The first and most glaring error is the use of present continuous tense to describe everything in English composition even if it is the past.
For example, “I going now.”
This is common and it precludes ‘am’ which should be the proper grammar.
Singlish does away with auxiliary verbs and switches between the present and past tense when describing events.
All Singlish users flagrantly throw grammar rules to the wind and simply relate an entire story devoid of attention to the tense.
You must be wondering how anyone can write in such a way for English composition but that has happened especially when one is used to speaking that way.
The next glaring error is to use ‘myself’ first.
“Me and my friends” is a common phrase.
Though this is not entirely Singlish, it is a common mistake made in English composition by even O-level students.
The correct way is to write “my friends and I.”
The entire concept behind this is that one intends to be polite and refers to oneself last in any description because one’s friends are more important than oneself.
Why do people resort to Singlish at all and why is it used?
Singlish came about when native dialects and languages were spoken together with English.
It is also a weaker version of English especially for non-native speakers of English.
However, all Singaporeans speak English as it is the main language here and it is ingrained from the first day at school.
How then, did Singlish become such a common language?
It could be sheer laziness.
Many people are fully aware of the grammatical glitches in Singlish but would ascribe to it as it gives them a familiar sense of ease.
Speak Singlish and you speak with a common bond.
I know this sounds terrible but I have no idea why anyone who is able to speak English properly would want to speak Singlish as well.
As long as one has the main idea that it is not the correct way of speaking, then it should be alright, I suppose.
What if students were to follow this dreadful style and apply it in their English composition writing?
That of course, will be a confounded mess.
I will list out a few more common Singlish mistakes before I come to the end of this sorry exercise.
Ok. Another common way is to mention exclamations such as “Aiyah!” when writing English composition.
Though this may match a reflective essay about someone who kept mentioning ‘aiyah’ during the course of his work in the neighbourhood, it is not the best of descriptive words.
Another oft-repeated phrase is “I did it already” and “he already came.”
The word ‘already’ is used in place of doing something instantaneously or swiftly.
It refers to instant action but repeated use of this only detracts from the main flow.
“I did it already” is fine but “he already came” is not.
Unfortunately, the latter is used very often in most written exercises.
The last of the Singlish errors is to drag the words to avoid writing more.
This is a common way of speaking in Singlish.
Descriptions such as “I walked and walked and walked and walked until I came to his block” are common as well.
When I asked my students why they repeated it in this manner, they asked if they could reduce it to two. “I walked and walked…”
I have no idea why certain verbs have to be dragged out but I have noticed that it is a common way of describing an exercise that takes up a lot of time or if one is very keen about it.
If the person had to walk a long way before arriving at the block, then it should have its place in the English composition essay with repetitions.
Of course, such repetitions will cost you marks and I am sure you know that this style should be avoided.
I am just writing about this because you never know and I suppose one can learn from the mistakes of others.
Alright. Enough of Singlish.
We do not have to write in an inordinately sophisticated way either but writing in a clear and concise way is the best.
Always aim for simple, uncluttered sentences and your work will speak for itself.