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The standard of
English, both spoken and written, in Singapore has been steadily
deteriorating over the past twenty years. This is due, perhaps, to the
emphasis on the second language, which is the mother-tongue, at its
expense.
The true
English-speaking generation of students, which grew up in the seventies,
are now in their forties. Some of them are English teachers. Students who
have had the privilege of learning from them picked up good English
skills.
Many of those who grew
up after the seventies spoke the mother-tongue more often than English and
as a result, carried a less-than-sufficient command of English into
adulthood. Some became teachers. Without a good grounding in English,
these teachers could not possibly nurture good English students. So, as
the years went by, subsequent generations of students taught by the
students of such teachers moved into adulthood without acquiring
proficiency in English. Things turned from bad to worse because the standard
of English picked up by each graduating class from each graduating teacher
dropped steadily over the years.
Today, English Language
teachers are required to attend grammar courses. This confirms that the
Ministry of Education is indeed aware of the need to build up the English
Language among the ranks of its English teachers. Not many students take
up English Literature nowadays - a sure sign that all is not well.
On this website, we
wish to share some English skills with visitors to our website who are
studying in primary or secondary schools. We hope to be able to help them
to improve their standard of English. Our first step is to help them brush
up on their grammar. There are no boundaries to the learning of English.
So, we have merely grouped our lessons into primary and secondary levels.
If you wish to learn
English, just follow our lessons. Over time, your standard of English will
improve. There are no hard and fast rules here - if indeed your command of
English is better than others, then breeze through our current lessons and
take up the challenge in our subsequent lessons. Take our current lessons
as revision work. But, if you can't get yourself to do that, skip the
current lessons and come back when our lessons have progressed to your
level.
Our English tutor has
taught English to students from primary one to secondary five level, both
as a home tutor as well as a relief English teacher at school. He knows
the different needs of each level of students. However, as English is all
about acquiring a general proficiency in the language, there are no
boundaries - you learn as much as you can learn comfortably. So, if you
are taught something you feel is not ripe yet to be taught to you, don't
despair - just hang on in there and your English will improve in no time
at all.
Free English Lessons
are posted on our website as and when they are ready.
You may also wish to do
some of our worksheets below:
Click either of the
following to continue:
 Primary
School Level
Secondary
School Level
If you need more
practice, just click the following:
Extra
Exercises for primary & secondary levels
Bad
examples of English usage
Articles
Community Issues: Improving the teaching of English Language in
Singapore schools |
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"It has
been suggested that native speakers of English be
hired. Proceed with care: Natives have come and gone
in the past. Just now, there are hardly any in the
schools. |
| "What has been MOE's
experience? Clear speech is fundamental when
communicating with Singaporean students. |
| "Few native speakers
are BBC-perfect in diction, understood in any
cultural context. There are British teachers (more
so Scots, Irish and Welsh) whose speech would not be
intelligible to Singaporean ears..." |
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More..... |
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- Is
our English that bad?
- English usage: In the chair or on the
chair?
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