Murder of the English Tongue

When I watched "My Fair Lady" I could not quite fathom why Professor Higgins was so uptight about how English was being spoken. His particularity only hit me when I was visitng a friend, Richard Smith, at Harrogate, Yorkshire, England. I could barely understand the English that was spoken by Richard's father, and I was quite embarrassed when I kept saying, "Pardon me". At one point Richard's father was trying to tell me a joke and I could hardly make out his strong Yorkshire accent. Richard and his mother suddenly said, "Oh, that is not very funny, John, cut that out." Seeing how hurt and upset he was by his family's bluntness, I said, "Sir, it's ok. Carry on what you are saying. I can take jokes. I come from a crazy family". Perhaps my accent to Richard's father was just as bad for he blurted out, "I assure you, I'm not crazy!

I guess if Professor Higgins were to read the type of English spelling people are now using for their mobile sms, he would go berserk! For practicality, I feel, it is alright for mobile sms, but would such spelling be necessary for blog writing? After all there is so much space, yet so many writers are now using the short form of spelling and sentence structure. It takes a person at least six to eight years to read and write well. So do not waste the efort. Once a person gets into the habit of spelling indifferently, it will be difficult to rewrite. This is what many of us in Malaysia experienced, when more and more words in English, albeit spelt in a slightly different way, were used in Bahasa Malaysia. eg. doktor, disiplin, universiti, etc.

English is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. It is a language that has a rich influence from so many other languages, eg. Latin, Greek, French, German, etc. While it is not really easy to learn, it is just as hard to master!
Hence as a teacher of the English Language, I encourage my students to read and write extensively, so as to acquire fluency and fluidity in expression. Singapore is well known for her strength in her people's command of the English Language. Let us not allow Professor Higgins any opportunity to tell us what he had said of Eliza Do'Little:

"Look at her, a prisoner of the gutters,
Condemned by every syllable she utters,
By right she ought to be taken out and hung,
For the cold blooded murder of the English tongue!"

Gan Chau