Gary and Jaya recount what they have learnt from the past 30 lessons.
Phone-in Lesson 30
Download Phone-in Lessons 2002 – Lesson 30 (ZIP, 3.2MB)
| The Travel Exhibition has just ended, Gary and Jaya can relax at last… |
| Public address announcer: |
We hope you’ve enjoyed this year’s Travel Exhibition at Suntec City. May we remind you that the doors close in five minutes. Please make your way to the exits. We look forward to seeing you again next year. |
| Jaya: |
I’m so glad that’s over, Gary. I’m absolutely exhausted! |
| Gary: |
Me too, Jaya. I didn’t realise how many people visit an exhibition stand. |
| Jaya: |
Thousands! And you’ve dealt with them all very well, Gary. Very professional, hardly a scrap of Singlish the whole time! |
| Gary: |
I’m sure Simon would be happy to hear that. Remember how I used to confuse him?… |
| Replay from Lesson 21… |
| Gary: |
She everyday complain or give me black face! How can like that?! Then now ah, my other friends all got girlfriends. Only me like lamp-post! |
| Simon: |
Lamp-post? |
| Jaya: |
No way of guessing that one! Singlish certainly confuses non-Singaporeans. And it’s not just adults who cause confusion. Remember when Simon first met Mahmood? |
| Replay from Lesson 3… |
| Mahmood: |
He want to save Little Red Riding Hoot, he go cut animal and take out Little Red Riding Hoot. She very Happy one, and after they get married. THE END. |
| Simon: |
Wow! I’ve never heard that story in a foreign language before. |
| Mahmood: |
What? Foreign language? |
| Simon: |
Yes. Was that Chinese or Malay? |
| Gary: |
Ah, young Mahmood! – that reminds me of the day he had the cheek to ‘test’ my pronunciation: |
| Replay from Lesson 24… |
| Mahmood: |
I was just at my class at the British Council. |
| Gary: |
So, what sort of things did you do today? |
| Mahmood: |
Ok, I test you! Can you say this? |
| Gary: |
Where? Here…? Read this on page 4? |
| Mahmood: |
Yeah! Go on. You try! |
| Gary: |
Ok. Wha a lo o du an bla di you go. |
| Mahmood: |
(laughs) |
| Jaya: |
Did Mahmood know how to say it? |
| Gary: |
Of course… |
| Second replay from Lesson 24… |
| Mahmood: |
What a lot of duck and black dip you’ve got. |
| Jaya: |
Pronunciation’s one thing – but the boss is very keen on correct grammar. She says it’s an image thing. Remember Molly from the agency? What a poor image she gave of herself with all that bad grammar: |
| Replay from Lesson 8… |
| Molly: |
So, we can’t say luggages? |
| Narrator: |
No, luggage. |
| Molly: |
Equipments? |
| Narrator: |
No, equipment. |
| Molly: |
Furnitures? |
| Narrator: |
No, furniture. |
| Gary: |
So much for other people! I wonder what’s been happening back at the office? |
| Jaya: |
Back at the office? Oh yes! I’m sure we’ll have lots of messages to deal with. |
| Gary: |
Why’s that? |
| Gary: |
Because of your recorded message. It’s simple and short… yet polite… You come across as very confident… It was clear, friendly, natural conversational… |
| Replay from Lesson 16… |
| Gary: |
Hello, you’re through to Gary at HotDotCom. I’m sorry I can’t take your call at the moment. Please leave your message and I’ll get back to you within one working day. Please speak after the tone, and thank you for calling! |
| Narrator: |
And thank you for calling the Speak Good English Hotline. Hope you’ve enjoyed learning to speak good English with us for the past month. Want to hear the episodes again? Check out the Speak Good English website later in the year. |
Written by Niamh O’ Leary, Laraine Bamrah, Harry Allen, Clare Williams, Shirley Lim and Alaisdair Raynham for The British Council, in association with the Speak Good English Movement.
© Ministry of Information and The Arts and British Council Singapore 2002.
