October 5, 2005 [Wednesday] 12:40 pm Singapore's Attempt To Revamp The English Language I was checking out this stall at Suntec selling educational CD-ROMs for primary school students. It's some kind of tutoring programme to teach kids how to think creatively and work out solutions to Maths, Science and English problems. That sounded good. But then, this lady showed me a demo and I just wanted to die. Or kill her. Or both. In the CD-ROM, a question is asked and the answer given with a thorough explanation. There is a video of a teacher explaning the answer, and illustrations. The question I saw was this: "Why does wearing a pair of blue sunglasses made everything looks blue? (sic)" Oh - MY - gawd. The answer given was equally lame (in terms of grammar). I really worry for our children if this is the kind of language they're learning. Then again, I can't exactly say it's bad or anything. If enough people say something the "wrong" way, it gradually becomes "right". Like how slangs and dialects are created. Like how Shakespeare created words out of nothing. I hope I'll be dead and gone by the time Singaporean English evolves to a state where everything I've learnt is wrong and everything that is wrong now is right. They were selling the CD-ROMs for $135 for 150 questions. That's right. Pay only $135 to turn your kid into a Science whiz, but first, he/she has to fail English. What a great bargain! :: Permalink :: :: Previous :: Next ::

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