英语学习|魔性“坡式英语”走红

As an Asian country， Singapore has a reputation for being highly Westernized， with English among the countrys four official languages. But a couple of signs found on local buses that have recently gone viral online may say otherwise.

Quite different from the English we are familiar with， the signs read， for example， “Here cannot go in！” instead of “You cannot go in from here”， and “Here can charge phone！” instead of “You can charge your phone here”.

This language that resembles English is called Singaporean English， or “Singlish”.

The New York Times calls Singlish a “patchwork” because Singapore consists of migrants from a variety of countries， including China， India and Malaysia， and they all speak their own versions of “English”.

“Everyone who speaks it shapes it，” wrote the newspaper.

For example， in Singlish you can easily recognize influences from Chinese. It includes vocabulary such as “mee siam （rice noodle）” and “da bao （pack food to go）”. Sentence structures like “Toilet where？” instead of “Where is the toilet？” are also adapted from Chinese.

Interesting and diverse as it may seem， the trend for Singlish is worrying Singapores government. It is concerned that the dialect is lowering the countrys English standard and may affect its relationship with foreigners. It even launched the Speak Good English Movement.

But the movement didnt wipe out the problems as it aimed to. Instead， Singlish has thrived， especially among young people who think of it as a sign of being cool and a way to identify themselves as Singaporean.

But this doesnt mean that standard English is being abandoned by young people. In fact， they are much more capable than the government gives them credit for—many can speak both.

“We are a nation good at code-switching—we know that the way we speak to our friends or bus drivers （yes， often in Singlish） has to be different from how we present ourselves in the boardroom or at school，” wrote Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan， a Singaporean author， in Time magazine. “To actively urge us to give up a language that speaks to the very heart of who we are， that so beautifully represents the melting pot of Chinese， Indians， Malays and Eurasians that we are， is short-sighted， surely.”

新加坡作為一个亚洲国家，一直以来都以高度的西方化著称，并将英语作为该国的四种官方语言之一。但是最近网络爆红的当地公交车上的标识，或许表明事实并非如此。

这些标识读起来与我们所熟悉的英语有很大的不同，举个例子，（牌子上写着）“不可由此入内”的英文是“Here cannot go in！”而不是“You cannot go in from here”，以及“您可在此为手机充电”的英文写作“Here can charge phone！”而不是“You can charge your phone here”。

这种与英语相类似的语言被称为新加坡英语或者“坡式英语”。

《纽约时报》将“坡式英语”称为“拼凑品”，因为新加坡有很多来自中国、印度和马来西亚等多个国家的移民，他们都说着自己版本的英语。

“这一语言是由每一个讲它的人塑造的。”该报写道。

比如，你很容易发现中文对坡式英语的影响，包括“米线”和“打包”等词汇。句式结构如“Toilet where？”（厕所在哪）也来源于中文。

尽管“坡式英语”看起来有趣且多元，但新加坡政府正为这一趋势感到担忧。他们担心这种方言正在逐步降低国家的英语水平，而且或许会影响到和外国人的关系。新加坡政府甚至还发起了“讲纯正英语运动”。

但这一运动并没有奏效。相反，“坡式英语”繁荣发展，尤其是在年轻人当中。他们认为此举很酷，还能证明自己是新加坡人。

但这并不意味着标准英语正在被年轻人所抛弃。事实上，他们比政府认为的更有能力，很多人都会说两种英语。

“我们是一个擅长语码转换的国家——我们知道和朋友以及公交车司机说话的方式（没错，通常是‘坡式英语）有别于在会议室或学校表现自己的方式。”新加坡作者Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan在《时代周刊》杂志上这样写道，“急切地促使我们去放弃一门能表达内心，且美妙地代表着中国人、印度人、马来人以及欧亚人这个大熔炉的语言，肯定是鼠目寸光。”