SOS! I am hopeless here...

[jeffooi]

THE ECONOMISTS
Mar 6th 2003

nU fonetics
<FONT SIZE="+1">txt msgN</FONT>



duz txt msgN mAk U :-) o :-( ?

R U wurEd dat d eng lngwij wil bcum cor^ted & unrEdabl, dat kds wont no how 2 spL? olds got ^set rEsntlE wen a 13-yr-old :o)3 in w scotl& rOt a skul SA in txt. she sed it wz EZer thn writN all d borN lng wrds. it Bgan: “my smmr hols wr a CWOT. B4, we Usd 2go2 NY toC my bro, his GF & thr 3 :- kds FTF. ILNY, it iz a gr8 plc.” d Tcha sed he c% dnt BlEv it, it wz fulla hIrOglifs he c% dnt transl8

bt dnt fret. d sAm sorta shrt& n tLegrams o cAbls (remMbR dem?) didnt dstroi eng. kds txt (nOt d nu verb) Ech uthR cuz itz :) & chEp. 4ling mob fone chRjs & nu typz of mob fones mA mAk vox cmUnik8shn populR agN

txtN wil stil survIv, bt az a ritN dialect, jst az spOkn dialex survIvd Tchaz F4tz 2 frash dem outa :- kds. so cheer ^!

PS if U cant rEd dis go 2 www.transl8it.com or Rsk yr chldrn


SOURCE:
http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displayStory.cfm?story_id=1622385

[empress_julz]

i think it's a point of pride if you cannot read that.... there's only so much abbreviation i'm willing to put up with.

and i can't stand singlish/manglish that's toooo heavy either. especially when you hear some loud aunty screaming at the top of her lungs to her 7 year old in the worst possible contortion of english ever. at times like that i feel like disciplining the woman and sending her for english tuition class. (and letting the child off the hook.... an annoying mother like that will drive anyone off the rocker!)

if only tv personalities and radio djs in malaysia would make more of an effort to speak *proper english*, i think they can make a difference to the way the ppl converse.

yes or no ah?

[joker2107]

if only tv personalities and radio djs in malaysia would make more of an effort to speak *proper english*

empress, u got it all wrong - it should have been if only the stations made more effort to get djs who can speak proper english / malay / chinese / tamil / etc. results of a bm paper should be the last of criteria if at all it has to be one, just for the sake of patriotism. never know when uncle isa might kum a dropping by.

[lady-o-leisure]

Do kids really SMS/tsxt msg like that? I hv yet to receive msgs like those posted. We all use some kind of short form to send SMS esp when some cellphones hv limited number of characters allowed for each msg. Since i use SMS quite a lot to msg fml and friends in M'sia from here, i know who i can use those weird text with and whom i cannot. My dad once sat with his msg from me for quite a while trying to figure out what i was trying to say, and he finally called me instead to ask what is 'l8r' (later) hahaha.. So since then, i kinda keep it simple with him. He's slowly getting used to SMS but still frustrating for him at times. We'd msg back and forth for about 5 times.. then he'd just pick up the phone and call me, saying "Aiyaaaa.. all that SMS is driving me nuts" ahahha..
Good way of making him call me instead of me calling eh? LOL.

[empress_julz]

joker, i actually know quite a few djs in malaysia.... worked with them, spend time with them. i know what i'm talking about. off set, they speak brilliant english. on set, different story lah.

as for BM being a compulsory language, i am all for it. english is in malaysia too, don't forget. i don't think there's anything wrong in being proficient with the national language... call me patriotic in that sense.

in general i think malaysians are better off being bi-lingual/ more. learning an extra language is brilliant and it won't kill anyone. and i am very proud i can speak bahasa melayu.

english may be an international language, but at the end of the day it's not our language. the chinese may speak mandarin/ other dialects, the indians tamil/hindi/ etc, the malays malay, but what can we use to identify ourselves with each other? malay serves that purpose without having us borrow from someone else.

in switzerland it's english, french and german that's compulsory from primary school level. some regions of switzerland do italian too. in france it's english and french.in germany, it's german and english and a great proportion of them do french as well. fail any of those subjects, and you have to resit the entire year. and they have other compulsory subjects too, like philosophy for instance for both the arts and sciences.

compare switzerland, germany and france to let's say england or italy, where they're unilingual. they don't identify with anything or anybody else, or at least that easily. things in england may not be so bad because english is quite international, but italy for instance is falling backward in time. the great majority of italians cannot relate to other cultures, cannot accept and see the beauty in other things in life and consider themselves the centre of the universe. surely there's more to life than that!

i heard the UN is considering including BM as a language. it may take a few years, but considering the number of ppl who speak malay worldwide, it's likely.

i'm the sort of person who's never seen learning a new language as losing one's culture. i think it's even more beautiful when you get to learn something from someone else and appreciate it fully. it's not easy, but if you're sincere you'll fully appreciate things in time.

p.s....... and for the (almost) free education we get in malaysia... (mind you it costs billions) i think the government can afford to impose a few qualifying standards. an any dependable, respectable education system with quality has standards.

[kwchang]

Just to add to Empress_Julz's comments on the advantage of being multilingual...

One advantage of an exotic language is being able to communicate without being understood by others. It is rude to talk Chinese amongst our non-Chinese neighbours because it would be a deliberate intent to isolate your friends who don't understand. However, there was an occasion while I was Chinatown in London with my friends when I needed to comment on the goings-on in a Chinese barbershop where everyone (patrons and barbers) would understand Chinese as well as English. So I made my comments to my Chinese Malaysian friend by speaking Malay. We were poking fun at total strangers in their midst and language became our shield. However, we did notice one of the young barbers smirking at my comments - he was obviously another Malaysian because he understood Malay!

[empress_julz]

well, that is one advantage of being multilingual but i think it's more ancilliary than anything.

besides, these days it's impossible to judge a book by it's cover. i've been in numerous situations (esp. at imbi and low yatt) where chinese vendor's rat off in cantonese/hokkien/ rarely in mandarin thinking i don't have a clue what they're saying. sometimes it's nothing, other times it's critique, once or twice i've even experienced vendors trying to sell me things for more than what it's worth. then they get a telling off in chinese.

sure, i don't look chinese. i'm mixed sikh, and someone guessing would think i'm malay or eurasian, possibly even indian. but i do know a lot of ppl out there who don't have a drop of chinese blood who speak proficient mandarin, cantonese, hokkien and other languages.

which reminds me of a funny story a police friend of mind told me... and it's true btw. an australian tourist walked into a tourist police station on bukit bintang to report his wallet stolen. the malay police officer said to a colleague, "aiya, mat salleh ni buat kacau aje. baik kalau dia orang semua balik negara sendiri. buang masa kita orang."

the "mat salleh" responded... "encik, tolong jangan cakap macam itu, saya seorang profesor bahasa melayu. saya lebih fasih dalam bahasa melayu daripada kamu." i would pay money to see the look on the policeman's face!

there are a lot of foreigners who respect malay as a language. my bf is an example closest to me. he's been to malaysia for only four months and he can already order and have basic conversations in malay, and he's making a point to improve. i'm acquainted with a lot of expats who make the effort too - and it's not because they have to, but because they want to.

if all malaysians took half the initiave and had half the heart they did, bm (bahasa melayu and bangsa malaysia) will thrive.

[xweird]

I feel that if you are a citizen of malaysia, u should at least learn some BM so that if some foreigner comes up and says apa khabar to u, u don't go blank :D

Anyway, SMS is a trend, and it's hot here in malaysia. In places like korea & japan, they've already moved on to picture mesasging and video conferencing. As for the SMS language, I still prefer to type the whole word.. got predictive messaging mar...

Bangsa Malaysia is a long way to go, and personally I can't think of implementable strategies in our society. Will badawi have some major plans for us when he takes over the helm in october? We need more than vision now, we need action!