About the Site

What are the motives of this site?

1️⃣ To encourage young Chinese Singaporeans to pick up their actual mother tongues, Chinese dialects.

2️⃣ To make learning resources on Chinese dialects more accesible and understandable to non-speakers.

3️⃣ To preserve Singaporean Chinese dialects, and their unique traits that set them apart from their variants elsewhere.

4️⃣ To encourage dialect-speakers to pass on their knowledge to younger generations.

5️⃣ To protect Singaporean Chinese dialects from extinction or over-purification (embracing the rojak :D)

Reasons for these motives?

1️⃣ Singaporean varieties Chinese dialects emblematically reflect on our nation’s history and culture. They are distinct in terms of vocabulary, grammar and phonology from their counterparts elsewhere. They also borrow heavily from each other and even from English and Malay, forming a unique speech heard nowhere else.

2️⃣ Chinese Singaporeans are misled into believing that Mandarin is their mother tongue, which prevents them from understanding and immersing their own language, history and culture.

3️⃣ Singaporean Chinese dialects do not recieve institutional recognition, and are not passed down enough. Most institutions teach a more standardised or purified "correct" form, unlike how the language is mostly spoken in Singapore.

4️⃣ Resources for Chinese dialects are few and far between, and are difficult or insufficient for total beginners to understand and start learning. Furthermore, resources for Singaporean varieties are even harder to come across.

5️⃣ Broadcasting in Chinese dialects are restricted following the government's policy to have people speak Mandarin as a "mother tongue" instead. Dialects are negatively stereotyped and discouraged, creating a negative learning environment and lack of awareness.

6️⃣ Eliminating these languages is equivalent to destroying an important aspect of the history and culture of Singapore.

What are the deliverables? (for now 👀)

1️⃣ Romanisation system for Singaporean Hokkien and Teochew. It will be influenced by systems like Guangdong Peng'im, Peh-oe-ji, and Tai-lo, also taking into account local ad-hoc romanisation, with an inclination towards Hanyu Pinyin. This helps young people familar with Hanyu Pinyin to spell and read faster and easier, and clears any ambiguities that other systems may have for Singaporean users.

2️⃣ Recommended Chinese characters for Singaporean Hokkien and Teochew. Taking influence from Taiwanese MOE's Standard Characters and other established forms, the aim is to choose characters which are unambiguous in both Hokkien and Teochew, but are also historically attested. This helps to bring legitimise Hokkien and Teochew as languages, expanding their domains of usage, and breaks negative stereotypes that they cannot be written.

3️⃣ Grammar Guide for Singaporean Hokkien and Teochew. The guide will comprehensively explain local grammar, using Mandarin as a language of comparison. This helps to flatten the learning curve through familar concepts in Mandarin, helping people to absorb the languages and articulate with coherence and logic.

4️⃣ Hokkien-Teochew Dictionary. Following the romanisation and recommended characters, the dictionary aims to encapsulate local vocabulary and expressions essential and unique to Singaporean Hokkien and Teochew. Entries will include definitions in English and Mandarin, audio samples, variations in pronunciation, example sentences, synonyms, and antonyms (if applicable). Essnential vocabulary will be sorted by searchable tags and lists to aid users in learning. Note that this project is WIP, and is expected to be completed in 2023-2024.

5️⃣ Transcripted and Subtitled media. TV shows, broadcasts, interviews, and music are great gateways into understanding how the languages are actually used in conversations. By subtitling and transcripting them, learning from media is made more convenient and accessible, further helping people to associate and recognise grammar, vocabulary, characters and romanised forms used in conversation. 

6️⃣ Reddit page (and other social media sites) on Singaporean Chinese dialects. An effective platform for people to share, ask, and discuss about Chinese dialects online, forming a community of speakers and learners, especially younger people, interested in preserving, studying, passing down, and more importantly, using the languages.