Disclaimer: This is my little rant on those who like to pick on other people’s English. I used to act like this and sometimes still do. Perils of the job? However, I think that it is a nasty habit and one that I need to work on.

You know, being able to speak good English doesn’t make you a better / smarter person. In fact, it doesn’t say anything about you except that you have good linguistic ability.

I often get the impression that many Singaporeans who believe that they speak / use good English are very intolerant of those who are less competent with the language. This would explain the glee in which take when they point out mistakes they find in public signs, other people’s blog posts etc. It’s often never done in a I-want-to-help-you-improve sort of tone but more in a hey-look-how-much-better-I-am tone.

I may not be a fan of the whole SGE movement but I was still discomfited when I saw Yawning Bread’s blog post on their sign. Don’t feel like linking it but a Google search will probably be useful. Firstly, I felt that a big deal was made about the whole use vs usage error (while wrong, I didn’t think it was all that big a deal. I am now sure that someone will thus blame me for the deteriorating English language in Singapore because as an EL teacher, how could I say this mistake is no big deal?!) simply to mock the committee. Secondly, although it was not explicitly mentioned, I assumed the whole competition was about looking for the more egregious mistakes in signs and not to be overly nit-picky about grammar. Thirdly, the tone of the post was really condescending. It read like the author clearly sees himself as having superior language skills in comparison to the unwashed masses who reside in Singapore. It is from that vantage point that he points out all our short-comings and bemoans how we will never improve.

Despite our government’s best efforts, not all of us are going to have the same high level of English competency and I don’t see how it is useful to mock or humiliate these people. At work too, there are teachers who are just not as comfortable with the language as I am but that doesn’t mean I need to tear apart their emails to point out their “mistakes”. What would be the point of this? I suppose I could easily turn my blog into some sort of language police blog in which I go round correcting signs and other forms of communications in English and I could justify it by saying I’m just trying to help those who read my blog improve their language skills. But really, I would be doing it simply because I can, because my language skills is just that much better than yours.

I guess it was the last paragraph that annoyed me the most.

These examples show how much an uphill task it is to improve English in Singapore. The problem stems from the fact that very few here are native speakers. With assiduousness, we can learn the vocabulary and the grammatical rules, but the subtleties of idiomatic usage can only be acquired if one is immersed among people who use the language idiomatically. And we don’t have that environment in Singapore. The compensatory route is to read, but that might be too much to ask for in this day and age.

When we talk of using the language idiomatically, we need to realise that different speakers use the language differently. Idiomatic usage of language also varies. Thus, why do Singaporeans need to learn idiomatic usage of non-Singaporeans? We learn the idiomatic usage of the language as it is used in our society because that is most useful to us. When you live overseas, you too will naturally learn how idiomatically the English language is used in that country. Simply because we do not speak English the way the English do (and, really, what way is that?), doesn’t make our English bad. Our English just doesn’t command as much symbolic power as American English perhaps.

We all need to remember that language is always evolving and prescriptive grammar isn’t always the way to go. Idiomatic expressions come and go. What was unacceptable before can easily become acceptable today. Cambridge still sees the use of ‘but’, ‘and’ and ‘also’ in the beginning of sentences as being ungrammatical (and I know because they are constantly complaining about it in their markers’ report) but look around us and we see many authors using it in published fiction. Are they poor language users? Splitting the infinitive was once considered a horrendous grammar mistake. Ending your sentences with a preposition was also wrong.

However, things change. People, not machines, use the language and they bring with them their own cultures, experiences and idiosyncrasies and language changes to accommodate such things. Why is English so widespread today? Simply because it is malleable to change and thus is able to reflect the experiences and the culture of its speakers. This is how countries are able to embrace the English language. A language that is set in its rules and brooks no change will always be foreign to many who are unable to mould it to fit their lives, which would then make the language of no use or value to these people.