While English is one of Singapore's official languages, Singlish is commonly regarded as having low prestige. The Singaporean government and some Singaporeans alike heavily discourage the use of Singlish in favour of Standard English.
Hinglish, a portmanteau of Hindi and English, is the macaronic hybrid use of English and South Asian languages, involving code-switching between these languages whereby they are freely interchanged within a sentence or between sentences.[1] While the name is based on the Hindi language, it does not refer exclusively to Hindi, but "is used in India, with English words blending with Punjabi, and Hindi, and also within British Asian families to enliven standard English.
FRENGLISH Frenglish is a Frenchportmanteau referring to the macaronic mixture of the French (français) and English (anglais) languages. Longtemps, pas voir. – Long time, no see Je suis tired. – I am tired. (Je suis fatigué) J'agree. – I agree. WENGLISH Welsh English refers to the dialects of English spoken in Wales by Welsh people. The dialects are significantly influenced by Welshgrammar and often include words derived from Welsh. In addition to the distinctive words and grammar, a variety of accents are found across Wales, including those of north Wales, the Cardiff dialect, the South Wales Valleys and west Wales.
Let’s face it my friends – nowadays the global economy is more consolidated than ever, large corporations have established themselves all over the world in almost every country and all stock, commodity and currency markets are so closely tied up that even the tiniest changes in an important stock price will have a immediate effect on other prices worldwide.
It is only common sense that in a situation like this a common language would be chosen to make the information flow as easy and effortless as possible, and whether you like it or not – English is the language serving this purpose!
2. Worldwide Domination of Hollywood Blockbusters
Yes, there are a lot of regional film markets in other languages such as Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Chinese, Russian – you name it!
Yes, all Hollywood films get dubbed in those languages for local consumption and also we can’t ignore the fact that nowadays your geographical location is irrelevant. Even if you’re a Russian speaker living in Brazil, I’m pretty sure there are ways of acquiring the latest Hollywood blockbusters dubbed in Russian for free online within a matter of milliseconds.
3. English is the Language of Travel!
English speaking countries are the most affluent regions on this planet, and the amount of people going abroad on overseas holidays have created the phenomenon of English being the common language people with different national backgrounds use to speak with each other.
Personally I’ve been to Greece, Spain and Portugal, and my experience backs up my claim by 100% – English is the language used when the local hotel, restaurant or retail staff members communicate with foreigners and visitors.
I can’t vouch for the entire world of course (I’ve never been outside Europe…), but I have a strong feeling that if you went backpacking across South-East Asia or scuba-diving in Egypt, you’ll always find someone who has at least broken English to give you directions and help you find your whereabouts.
Also, judging by what I’ve read, English speaking folks who learn other languages always have difficulties getting natives to speak in their native language with them and most of the time they’ll be spoken to in English, so it kind of goes without saying that English IS the unofficial world’s travel language
4. US and Other English-speaking Power-states
US is still the mightiest country on the planet Earth, and no matter what you think about its impending financial apocalypse, imminent peak oil disasters or Illuminati conspiracy theories, it’s still the most powerful country and a technological, financial and military force to be reckoned with.
English is the official language of the US and the former Commonwealth Countries – UK, Canada, Australia and others – and it’s also widely used across the European Union as the common language.
Those are important states, and it makes English an important language.
You think my logic is flawed? Well, you’re entitled to your opinion, but you won’t change mine, either!
5. Speaking Fluent English Denotes a Certain Social Status
We’ve all heard about business opportunities in China and other developing nations, and we all know for a fact that Californian Hispanic population has reached its all-time high figures in recent years.
German is the most commonly spoken language in Europe – if you believe a radio commercial I heard fifty times a day a while back (they were advertising job opportunities in Germany) – and if you speak in Arabic, you can travel pretty much the entire Middle-East and Northern Africa.
Despite all that, foreigners from all over the word are trying to master English, and the amount of people trying to learn the language is growing astronomically for the simple reason that English has become somewhat like Math or Geography in any school curriculum.
If you speak fluent English, your job opportunities are much better than those of your peers, and it’s inevitably leading to a certain social status being assigned to fluent English speakers
World Englishes are the localised varieties of English spoken in different
parts of the world. It should be noted that the terms World Englishes and
World English are not the same and cannot be used interchangeably. World
English or Global English is the variety of English that is used as a lingua
franca between people who do not share a first language.
Generally-speaking, World Englishes are utilised
in three distinct ways. Kachru's model (2001)
represents this categorisation with three
concentric circles (inner, outer and expanding): 1. Inner circle countries utilise English as the
predominant mother tongue, e.g. the UK and
New Zealand. 2. Outer circle countries utilise English as an
official language or language of education,
government and the legislature judiciary, e.g.
South Africa and India. 3.Expanding circle countries utilise English as a
lingua franca, e.g. Slovenia and China. The country with the most speakers of English is no longer an inner or outer circle
country – it is actually China (an expanding circle country) where English-language
learning is compulsory from the early years of primary school.
Accents in World Englishes
Accent is one factor which plays a critical role in determining whether
speakers of World Englishes are understood. Even amongst speakers of
the same World English, a difference in accents can cause
miscommunication.
The distribution of accents across different World Englishes is not
universal. For instance, Australian English has only four distinct accents,
yet American English has a plethora of accents. British English is also
rich with a wide range of accents; in some parts of the British Isles, neighbouring
villages communicate with different accents. Some of the well-known British English accents include:
Cockney (London),
Scouse (Liverpool),
Geordie (Newcastle),
Mancunian (Manchester),
Tyke (Yorkshire),
Scots (Scottish),
Brummie (Birmingham),
Received Pronunciation
For many non-native World Englishes speakers, their mother tongue can
affect their ability to speak with an authentic accent. In many cases, it is
not easy for them to reproduce certain sounds in a particular World English.
For instance, some common problematic sounds are:
