what a week! but i think it's been a very fulfilling one, cos i'm happy with the diaper cakes that were put together for this week - some of them were of pretty challenging themes! and i think "golf" is becoming quite a highly-requested theme, though it is also quite a task because we can hardly find any golf-themed baby stuff here, but that makes it all the more gratifying to accomplish! i love challenges and when my clients give me really "odd" themes to attempt. once i had a request to create a cake with a "pole dancing" theme! needless to say, it was fun to try!
this week i had two (separate) golf-themed diaper cake orders, and it's double the challenge, because it means i have to create two entirely different but similar-themed cakes, if you know what i mean! oh but it was fun.
today we went to check out possible party venues together with william, and i'm happy say that we've decided on the one. i like places with huge outdoor areas, so there'll be lots of space for the kids to play and run around, and the party is also not confined indoors. my heart was already set on venue A, but venue B looked promising online as well, and was at a much cheaper rate, so we decided it's best to have a look-see in person before we decide. in the end, we went with what my heart was set on initially.
so that's settled then.
you know, if you follow my tweets you probably would have heard me say this, but i think parents should learn and remember to speak good English with their children. if i had a dollar for everytime i cringe when i hear singaporean parents talk to their kids, i think by now i can afford to throw drayden's second birthday party at resort world singapore. seriously.
i'm not talking about the accent, or the vocab - no need to impress with your big words and distinct enunciation - its the tenses, and good god, be rid of that awful singlish, will you??
have you heard how children speak these days? we have the parents and their love-for-singlish to thank for! is grammar that hard to observe, and proper sentence construction so difficult to put into pratice? is it thaaaat much of a chore to let remain those one or two words in our speech that make or break a proper sentence? like, will it kill us if we say "where did you go?" instead of just "where you go?"
and if i hear one more person say "how come like that?" i will SCREAM!! i really don't think good English is difficult to employ. it's just a matter of not being lazy, that's all. and not literally translating the sentences as we speak it in our mother tongue.
talking about being lazy, do you know i hate and try my best not to sms with abbreviations? i can't stand it! i hate how people spell "then" as den, "also" as oso, and all those other abominable abbreviations people come up with. i don't even abbreviate the word "you"!! ok soooometimes i do, i get lazy and just key in "u", but as best as i can, i don't! i spell out my 'you's, my 'tomorrow's and even my 'thanks's. i can't stand all these shortforms! ok, in my defense, i think "u" is still forgivable because the spelling and the pronunciation is not lost or compromised, unlike the 'den's and the 'oso's!
if you ask me, it's one step on the highway towards bad english. not to mention what a headache it can sometimes be trying to figure out what on earth the other party is trying to communicate with a highly-abbreviated text message. irritating!
and and and, pEOplE wHo tYpE liKE tHiS should be chopped to pieces and fed to dogs! ok a bit extreme. maybe just have their fingers broken so they can no longer tYpE LiKE tHIs. isn't it so difficult to type?? i just spent like 30 seconds trying to type that last phrase! why would you want to subject yourself to that?? doesn't it make you feel retarded, like you don't know how to work a keyboard? not to mention, mentally draining, trying to figure out what to capitalise and what not to. geez!
ok enough ranting! call me the english police, if you want! lol. but this was supposed to be a happy post! i'm gonna get back into my party planning mode, because this morning i woke up and realised i have only about a month left to the party date! this time last year all was nearly settled! but this time round i'm not even close to being half-settled! it's almost time to panic!!
later, ya'll!
this week i had two (separate) golf-themed diaper cake orders, and it's double the challenge, because it means i have to create two entirely different but similar-themed cakes, if you know what i mean! oh but it was fun.
today we went to check out possible party venues together with william, and i'm happy say that we've decided on the one. i like places with huge outdoor areas, so there'll be lots of space for the kids to play and run around, and the party is also not confined indoors. my heart was already set on venue A, but venue B looked promising online as well, and was at a much cheaper rate, so we decided it's best to have a look-see in person before we decide. in the end, we went with what my heart was set on initially.
so that's settled then.
you know, if you follow my tweets you probably would have heard me say this, but i think parents should learn and remember to speak good English with their children. if i had a dollar for everytime i cringe when i hear singaporean parents talk to their kids, i think by now i can afford to throw drayden's second birthday party at resort world singapore. seriously.
i'm not talking about the accent, or the vocab - no need to impress with your big words and distinct enunciation - its the tenses, and good god, be rid of that awful singlish, will you??
have you heard how children speak these days? we have the parents and their love-for-singlish to thank for! is grammar that hard to observe, and proper sentence construction so difficult to put into pratice? is it thaaaat much of a chore to let remain those one or two words in our speech that make or break a proper sentence? like, will it kill us if we say "where did you go?" instead of just "where you go?"
and if i hear one more person say "how come like that?" i will SCREAM!! i really don't think good English is difficult to employ. it's just a matter of not being lazy, that's all. and not literally translating the sentences as we speak it in our mother tongue.
talking about being lazy, do you know i hate and try my best not to sms with abbreviations? i can't stand it! i hate how people spell "then" as den, "also" as oso, and all those other abominable abbreviations people come up with. i don't even abbreviate the word "you"!! ok soooometimes i do, i get lazy and just key in "u", but as best as i can, i don't! i spell out my 'you's, my 'tomorrow's and even my 'thanks's. i can't stand all these shortforms! ok, in my defense, i think "u" is still forgivable because the spelling and the pronunciation is not lost or compromised, unlike the 'den's and the 'oso's!
if you ask me, it's one step on the highway towards bad english. not to mention what a headache it can sometimes be trying to figure out what on earth the other party is trying to communicate with a highly-abbreviated text message. irritating!
and and and, pEOplE wHo tYpE liKE tHiS should be chopped to pieces and fed to dogs! ok a bit extreme. maybe just have their fingers broken so they can no longer tYpE LiKE tHIs. isn't it so difficult to type?? i just spent like 30 seconds trying to type that last phrase! why would you want to subject yourself to that?? doesn't it make you feel retarded, like you don't know how to work a keyboard? not to mention, mentally draining, trying to figure out what to capitalise and what not to. geez!
ok enough ranting! call me the english police, if you want! lol. but this was supposed to be a happy post! i'm gonna get back into my party planning mode, because this morning i woke up and realised i have only about a month left to the party date! this time last year all was nearly settled! but this time round i'm not even close to being half-settled! it's almost time to panic!!
later, ya'll!
11 readers penned their thoughts:
hi babe, i love reading ur blog but i think this post is abit too harsh. alot of grandparents don't speak perfect english and that is how they talk to their grandchildren, and they do make the effort to speak to the little ones in english! my parents speak to my boy in broken english and i don't think i will go about correcting them, cos that'll be quite rude i think.
and if u really do advocate use of perfect english, then maybe u should start writing with capitals at the beginning of every sentence.
I knew someone would pinpoint my not using capitals when I ended this post! :) I don't know, I guess I like how equal the letters look without the odd capitals here and there, lol.
I don't think I was being too harsh, but I totally agree with you abt the grandparents bit. My parents don't speak perfect English too! :) And it'd be rude to correct them, cos it may be belittling.
Which is why I said parents, because I think if we at least instil good English in them and encourage the use, it can somehow counter the poor English they are exposed to elsewhere (be it frm grandparents, friends, or other public settings) and prevent them from being influenced by the exposure.
At the end of the day, it really was a personal opinion, my personal pet peeves, and also hope for a better speaking young generation. :) It was not meant to offend or put anyone down. :) So my apologies to you.
But I still think parents should try to speak good English with their kids, (that said, I don't deny I'm not guilty of it sometimes), because we're all capable of it if we tried. Perhaps it came across a little arrogant, and I truly overlooked that, until you brought it up, so thank you for that. :) I shld try to be less opinionated in future! Lol!
(and also work on my caps! Heh.)
i, too, have the habit of writing blog entries and comments in full lower case because it encourages free flow of thought.
and i'm all with you on this one. i think speaking proper english to your kids is highly important. otherwise by the time their kid ends up in primary school, the teachers will have to clean up their "mess". best part, the parents will most likely complain about the poor english grades and the necessity for a tutor.
at the end of the day,u can speak all the good english u want but ur child is still living here,will still be mixing with fellow Singaporeans & thus will still be speaking singlish.lol!
what about people from malay/chinese & tamil speaking homes?maybe the parents who dont speak PROPER english to the kids DONT KNOW how to speak proper english? they shld all be given credit for speaking in english anyway.who ru to judge..
i think you are getting a little worked up and defensive here. :)
if you had read my post calmly, you would have seen i was merely stating a personal opinion. my post is generously peppered with the phrase "i think", therefore it is what i had meant it to be: a personal opinion.
i was NOT passing judgments, because i was not out-rightly proclaiming: "Parents speak badly to their kids".
THAT would be judging. :)
I said, i think parents should learn and remember to speak good English with their children, therefore it was an opinion, still not an outright and complete statement. meaning, there are some parents who do speak good English., but sometimes forget to (like me), and meaning, there are parents who don't, but make the effort to, therefore should keep at it (like many out there, perhaps).
AAAAAAND, i think you may have missed reading previous comments left (again, i used i think because it's an opinion, and there is the possibility i could be mistaken), if you had, you may have read the bit where i had explained myself and apologise if i was harsh or came across as arrogant.
at the end of the day, i hope people know i do not get upset or angry over comments left by people who do not see things my way. i welcome healthy arguments, because hey, not everyone thinks alike. =) i just hope i am able to state my personal opinions / gripe about my personal pet peeves on my blog, and be excused sometimes if i get too "passionate" about the matter and forget to be diplomatic. =)
Anonymous 2:
you make a good point! =)
which was why i said in the response to the first comment left above: "...I think if we at least instill good English in them and encourage the use, it can somehow counter the poor English they are exposed to elsewhere (be it frm grandparents, friends, or other public settings) and prevent them from being influenced by the exposure."
i do think it is possible. =) i have heard a good number of kids who speak good English, despite the exposure to and influence of Singlish around them. =)
Yes, it's definitely possible to speak good English - and it does start at home. My parents don't speak Singlish at all, and it was banned in our home. Our options were either Tamil or proper English. I thought it was archaic at the time, but thank them now! I love my singlish as much as the next girl, but I'm glad I can break out the Queen's English for meetings and the like.
=)
i must say, I AM guilty of Singlish and really bad English sometimes - the occasional lahs, leis, mehs, and just badly constructed sentences when i am not thinking straight! - but i have Noel who will highlight them, therefore making me aware of my 'mistakes' and remind me to make the conscious effort not to use such words next time.
and it helps. =)
it helps to have someone point these things out (in an encouraging positive manner, not in any way belittling or making-fun-of) and it goes a long way towards fostering the habit of speaking well.
babe, i'm the 1st anonymous.
i thought u will get all defensive after my comment. but u didn't, and i like how u handled it. thanks for that.
some parents are really not capable of speaking good english, having received only a minimal amount of english education, thus they hence converse to their children likewise. my sister is one of them. and hence i feel rather "unjust" for her when i saw this post.
that being said, u do write very well, and i like how thought-provoking most of them are. however, like how u have the freedom to write what u want on ur blog, i have my preferences over them. this post is one of them that i disagree to.
cheers.
yes! noel did mention, we do have friends who don't speak English that well, and in his words "we can't really blame them"...and i did feel bad after that! =) i'm sure they'd feel a little hurt if they read my rant! so i totally understand where you're coming from. =)
that said, i also feel overly-conscious now, like i have to watch my tenses and my grammar, lest i have my foot in my mouth! lol!
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