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Lessons & Tips Tips for Parents A Parent-Child Activity: Can You Spot The Mistakes?
Lessons & Tips Tips for Parents A Parent-Child Activity: Can You Spot The Mistakes? A Parent-Child Activity: Can You Spot The Mistakes?
Many Singaporeans have a tendency to lapse into non-Standard English in casual conversations. The dialogue between Hui Ling and Ahmad is a good example of this.
Role play the dialogue with your child and see if you can spot the mistakes and correct them. Remember, make it fun and do not use this as a test for your child.
Dialogue
| Hui Ling: | Hi Ahmad, how are you? |
| Ahmad: | I’m fine, and you how? |
| Hui Ling: | Good, thanks. Hey, you can help me collect some books from the library? |
| Ahmad: | Yes can. When? |
| Hui Ling: | Today. |
| Ahmad: | Tomorrow morning can or not? |
| Hui Ling: | All right. When you can come and give me? |
| Ahmad: | Tomorrow afternoon can? |
Spotting The Errors
Six common mistakes were made. Did you spot them?
Here’s the dialogue again, with the errors corrected in bold:
| Hui Ling: | Hi Ahmad, how are you? |
| Ahmad: | I’m fine, and how about you? |
| Hui Ling: | Good, thanks. Hey, can you help me collect some books from the library? |
| Ahmad: | Yes I can. When do you need me to do it? |
| Hui Ling: | Today. |
| Ahmad: | Can I do it tomorrow morning? |
| Hui Ling: | All right. And when will you be able to pass the books to me? |
| Ahmad: | Is tomorrow afternoon all right for you? |
Source: Edited from “Grammar Matters” a series of handbooks by RELC.