Speak Good English Movement

Highlights

Initiatives for this year’s Movement include:

• On 10 and 11 September, the Movement transformed the entire five levels of Jurong Regional Library into a “Speak Good English Carnival”. There will be lots of games and activities for children, parents and young people to show that they can have fun while still learning and using Standard English. The library will also be turned into a “Good English Zone” where the Movement’s partners, library staff and visitors will be encouraged to speak only in good English.
• Joining the Movement this year as part of the Carnival is Modern Montessori International. Children can look forward to an upbeat rap performance that teaches the importance of good pronunciation as well as a drama performance based on “Horton Hatches the Egg” by Dr Seuss. Parents are not left out too as Modern Montessori International will be holding two workshops for parents at the Carnival. “Teach English the Rap Way” shares with parents ways on how to teach their children English in an informal and fun way while “My Child Speaks Just Like Me!” raises awareness on the need for parents to speak good English with their children.
• NTUC First Campus will also be engaging children at the Carnival with their storytelling sessions on stage and fun games at their booth. Parents and teachers interested in picking up skills on storytelling can take part in the “Let’s Tell A Story” workshop that will also be conducted at the Carnival.
• The School Invasion Tour kicks off in January 2011. Homegrown bands, including West Grand Boulevard – who will perform later – will share how good English has helped them bring their songs to a wider audience.
• Recognising the importance of public speaking skills, Epiphany Education will be conducting two workshops on the topic – one for adults and one for children. Each workshop is specially tailored to provide simple tools and tips for the two different audiences and their needs. These tips include how to master your emotions, build confidence and think on the spot. Beyond the Carnival, Epiphany Education also plans to hold free workshops for the public at various public libraries in support of the Movement.
• Branching out from the School Invasion Tour, Invasion will be targeting youth at the Carnival with “The Acoustic Session” – a series of acoustic sessions by Singaporean indie bands. Audiences can expect an intimate session with the bands which include Vanessa Faith, Caracal, For This Cycle and Cove Red. Band members will also be sharing their personal experiences of how a good command of the English language is important in achieving success in the music industry.

2011/12 in a nutshell

The Speak Good English Movement is calling out to all Singaporeans to join the Movement by being good role models of English, especially to all children they interact with. By doing so, they will also help in expanding the environment where Standard English is spoken and heard, so that fellow Singaporeans who are weak in the language can be exposed to good English, be immersed in it and learn by example.

This year’s campaign tagline is “How You Speak Makes a Difference”. It is an important reminder that how we speak affects those who listen to us, especially young children who are curious learners and tend to mimic what they hear.

Mr Goh Eck Kheng, Chairman of the Speak Good English Movement explains, “The advantages of this message are two-fold. When we make the effort to speak well around young children, we not only help our children but also ourselves as we will be consciously making the effort to speak better.”