A double entry journal of "To Kill a Mockingbird"

From the book	My own reflections
Relationship: Atticus and Scout The relationship between Atticus and Scout "It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived."	I thought the relationship between Atticus and his daughter, Scout, was admirable and sweet. Many might get the impression that he’s a bit cold and stiff as a father, but he’s actually very kind and gets the respect he deserves from Scout. It seems to me like Atticus want's Scout to somehow be prepared for a world where there aren't always equal rights etc. I get this impression because he doesn't treat Scout like a normal ten year old. He talks to her in a way he would usually talk to other adults.  Atticus has worked hard for Scout to be able to stand up for herself. This succeeded of course, considering she always stands up for herself and her nearest family and friends.
Self realization: “Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough.”	When Scout was little, she was told by her father that she should never judge somebody before she had walked in their shoes. There was especially one person she wasn't supposed to judge, and that was Boo Radley. Scout never understood why she had been told this, but many years later she learned why her father never had judged Boo Radley. He had never judged him because he lived after the same rule as Atticus did; to never judge somebody.
Theme: "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... util you climb into his skin and walk around in it."	An important theme in this book is whether people are good or evil. I would also say that the importance of not judging people is a theme as well.

Picture: here

New Englishes

There are number of ”New Englishes” – mainly new spoken varieties – developing in today’s internationalised world. These have language features that do no exist in the written standards of British, North-American or Australian English. Below you will find some examples of non-standard grammar.

A) Rewrite the eight sentences above in standard written English. In cases where you think the original may have two alternatives, give both.

1.       “You didn’t see him, is it?”
This phrase misses the right verb. Instead of the phrase above, it shall be “You didn’t see him, did you?” The sentence is written in past tense, therefore “is it” (which is present tense) should not be used here.

2.       “When you would like to go?”

In this phrase you have to move the words around considering the pronoun in the sentence is not placed where it should be. Due to the fact that the pronoun should be placed after the verb “would”. The correct way to write this sentence/question would therefore be “When would you like to go?”

3.       “That man he is tall”

In this sentence two pronouns have been used; “The man” and “he”. One should use either one of them. There are two different ways to write this sentence correctly; “That man is tall” and “He is tall”.

4.       “Her jewelleries were stolen”

Jewelry is not supposed to be plural, the sentence is therefore not correct.


5. "I am understanding it now" - I understand it now


6. "They two are very good friensd" - They are very good friends


7. "Sushila is extremely a lazy girl" - Sushila is an extremely lazy girl


8. "When you leaving?" - When are you leaving?

English exam 2010

Singapore English

Singapore English refers to two main forms of English spoken in Singapore: Standard Singapore English and Singapore Colloquial English, also known as Singlish.  Singaporeans, even those of the same ethnic group, have many different first languages and cultures. Within the Singaporean Chinese group almost a third speaks English as their home language while nearly half speak Mandarin as their home language. The rest of the Singaporean Chinese group speaks various mutually intelligible Chinese dialects as their home language. As you may have figured out by now, the English fluency level of residents in Singapore varies from person to person. 

Languages most frequently spoken at home in Singapore

Standard Singapore English is not that different from standard British English. The people of Singapore doesn’t have the British accent though, they only use it grammatically. Unlike Standard Singapore English, Singlish includes conversation particles and loan words from Malay, Mandarin and Hokkien, and isn't used in formal communication. 

Example of what Singlish is like

I think Singlish is fun to listen to. For me Singlish isn't so hard to understand since I have friends in Singapore that talk Singlish sometimes, but for some it can be quite difficult. When people talk Singlish, certain words are shortened and they end their sentences with "lah" or "meh" or some other strange word, which might make it difficult to understand what they are talking about. When you talk Singlish you have to speak like you don't know how to pronounce words. I recommend you to watch the video I posted, it's really cute. Try to see how well you understand Singlish, maybe you will surprise yourself!

Source: here

Pictures: here and here