WoAiJolinTsai Posted June 11, 2006 at 03:20 AM Report Posted June 11, 2006 at 03:20 AM How bad is the Singaporean accent? I'm planning on going there Spring 2007 as I was accepted into NTU for study abroad. I have been learning Mandarin for about 6 months now. Will hearing Singaporean Mandarin kill my progress? Quote
gato Posted June 11, 2006 at 03:58 AM Report Posted June 11, 2006 at 03:58 AM It won't kill you, but most young Singaporeans are more comfortable speaking English than Mandarin. Quote
tanhql Posted June 11, 2006 at 08:14 AM Report Posted June 11, 2006 at 08:14 AM i live in singapore, and so i know the 'standards'. most young chinese speak chinese most of the times, like talking to friends(i'm one of them). the standard is not too bad. we don't exactly have a accent(our pronounciation is like that of taiwan), but we do mix singlish(lah, loh, mah, meh etc)with any languages. furthermore, you can watch the chinese shows on tv here(there are 2 chinese tv channels here, one of which is 24/7). this can improve your listening skills. i don't know if NTU offers chinese as a foreign language. if it does, you can sign up. Quote
got_no_jaffas Posted June 11, 2006 at 08:27 AM Report Posted June 11, 2006 at 08:27 AM the singapore mandarin accent is pretty ok but it sometimes can get diluted with south east asian colloqiual speak where chinese dialects, malay, indian & singlish get incorporated. formal mandarin like what you see on tv is absolutely fine, but conversing with local singaporean friends can lead you to some speech patterns that standard chinese people will not understand. Quote
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