[lg policy] Singapore: Time to master Asian languages

[Harold Schiffman]

Time to master Asian languages
Published
Dec 22, 2016, 5:00 am SGT
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I have noticed that many students in Singapore converse only in English.

It causes me to wonder if our mother tongues have all been reduced to just
examination subjects.

This is of concern. In the light of Asia's resurgence, are we pitching our
sails right to catch the wind of change, vis-a-vis our language policies?

English has served us well as a language for commerce and technology, but
our grasp of the other languages seems less adequate in plugging us into
the new realities of the future.

Language is more than a code. It communicates customs and habits through
the nuances embedded in it. Speaking the same language helps to strike
instant rapport even between strangers, and enables people to understand
and be understood by each other quickly.

Asean's 625 million inhabitants speak a myriad of tongues. Together with
India and China, the region easily makes up half the world's population.
Its potential is beckoning and it is imperative that we prepare ourselves
to tap the Asian market.

While English has kept us ahead, this competitive advantage may be eroded
as our Asian counterparts focus on English to complement their already
strong mother tongues. They will be quicker in understanding contracts and
conducting negotiations outside the English domain.

Perhaps we can design a track that coaches students in the various
languages' official terms used in commerce, science and technology from an
early age.

The focus should be on enabling them to experience alternative cultures in
Asia through extended cultural immersion programmes abroad.

This would allow them to better grasp how others think, and network with
future leaders. They could form the backbone of leaders in different
disciplines, with Asian perspectives on geopolitics, the economy and
diplomacy.

A rethink of our language policy is timely, if not urgent.

We will have to bear the blame if we fail to prepare our young for their
future, which will be starkly different from ours.

*Lee Teck Chuan*


*http://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-in-print/time-to-master-asian-languages
<http://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-in-print/time-to-master-asian-languages>*




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