Our Spoken English and Exam English

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  • 8/12/2019 Our Spoken English and Exam English

    1/3

    2013 Joelson Tang

    Our spoken English and exam English: the difference

    Commonly, among our peers, we use Singlish or certain slangs in our sentences to communicate.Even if we use standard English, we prefer using simple vocabulary with a simple style in language.Unfortunately, using such ways to communicate ourselves during exams will lead to failure, if not, atbest a mere pass for English language. (We may have very good ideas, but unless we use the correctchoice(s) of words, we will not be able to express with clarity the ideas we have in mind.)

    S

    spoken/SMS language, E

    exam required

    Examples include:ExamsS: He crammed/mugged very hard for his exams that night.E: He burned the midnight oil, doing his very best to salvage some possible extra marks for his nextdays exam.

    S: He flunked his exams totally.E: He attempted his best for the exams to no avail, failing miserably.

    ClassesS: She went for a make-up class to catch up for her the lessons she skipped.

    E: She attended the remedial sessions and receive extra aid to compensate for the lessons missed.

    Working/StudyingS: He has been slacking around for one hour.E: He has remained indolent/idle for the past hour.

    MoneyS: This game I bought was really ex. It cost me sixty bucks!E: I paid an extravagant amount for this game, which was no less than a hefty sixty dollars.

    TransportS: I waved for a cab and told the cab to stop.E: I flagged at the approaching taxi and gave it a cue to stop for me.

    RelaxingS: We chilled out/hung out at the nearby caf after school.E: We took time off to relieve our minds from the hectic life at school at the nearby caf.

    TirednessS: The five-kilometre run made us all feel very shag.E: The five-kilometre marathon sapped us of nearly every ounce of energy, leaving us weary in mindand body.

    Interesting objectS: Your hand phone is damn cool man!E: The interesting features of your mobile phone really entices/captivates me!

    Unwelcomed visitS:They never confirm first, suddenly crash our barbeque celebration!E:Most unexpectedly, they appeared at our barbeque celebration without any prior notice!

    Useless speechS:That guy talk crap/cock only lah. Cannot trust what he say.E:His suggestions were rather absurd. They were unreliable at best.

    Bad conditionS:His life damn jia lat. No one want to friend him and people behind his back talk bad about him.E:His life is one of misery/wretchedness. He was a loner and was ill-spoken of by others.

    Displaying somethingS:That guy like to show off/hao lian/think his one very good.E:He ostentatiously flouted his new handphone, full of swagger in front of us.

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    2013 Joelson Tang

    BetrayS:In the end they all play him out/backstab/bao toh him. He really stupid man.E:Eventually, his friends revealed his crime to the police. He should have been more circumspect inhis choice of a company of friends.

    EnjoyableS:That chicken rice eat already damn shiok! Plus the chilli super nice!

    E:That stall served us a mouth watering/scrumptious/delectable serving of chicken rice. Moreover,the chilli enhanced its already glorious flavour!

    MadS:He very siao/crazy one. Everytime he go for recess will run behind people then drop ice-cubebehind to scare them.E:His becomes insane/deranged/lunatic during recess. I can not recall a time when he does notsneak up behind others to discomfort/distress a classmate by slipping an ice-cube through the rearpart of his classmates uniform.

    SadS:He after fail his exam go home cry and cry. His friend tell him its ok, not his fault still cant helphim.

    E:Melancholy weighed him down when he received his results. Even the perpetual consolation by hisfriend, convincing him that he was not at fault for the failure, could do little to all.

    Pain

    S:My knee suddenly feel very pain, I try very hard to get up and walk but cannot. Then I walk little bit by little

    bit home.

    E:The impact from the fall caused my knee to feel excruciatingly painful. With an arduous and determined

    push off the ground, I managed to stand on my feet and tried to walkI could not! Unwilling to surrender to thediscouragement from pain, I staggered courageously towards my block.

    SuccessfulS:He exam very smart/clever. Everytime win/trash us.E:He is a veteran in exams. He always triumphs over us.

    S:He damn tyco/lucky. Everytime escape/siam the DM (discipline master).E:He is always fortuitoushe never fails to elude the attention of the discipline master by being asinconspicuous as possible.

    In troubleS:He confirm/sure die already/really desperate. He whole holiday never do homework and todayteacher later going to check.E:He is in hot water/dire straits/a state of intense discomfort/discomfited by the disturbing thoughtsplaying in his mind. He would be facing the music/meeting his impending doom in no time before histeacher who would be scrutinizing their individual homework.

    Anger

    S:She today her face real scary. Very fierce. She scold Daniel until he cry and he very pai sei/no facein front of everyone.E:Her face was contorted with fury, with furrows visible over the forehead. We froze, rooted to ourseats with pale faces turning white. She reprimanded/chastised/berated Daniel until he began to sobincessantly. Daniel felt thoroughly mortified/humiliated/discountenanced in front of us.

    PrettyS:That girl very chio/look very nice/cute right? A lot of guys like her, cant stop looking at her.E:That girl stands out as distinctively gorgeous. Lots of guys are captivated by her external faade,totally mesmerized with an insatiable obsession.

    BehaviourS:She very rude to teacher. And also very daring. Scold four letter word then later cry.

    E:Her demeanour before her teacher was rather insolent. It was outrageous! She impulsively madeobscene remarks and ended up whimpering.

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    2013 Joelson Tang

    The best way to overcome the problem of using exam-required expressions is to amass a largeamount of English vocabulary to express that idea we have in mind. From the above examples, wecan see the two groups of students, separated by the dividing line of using exam-required vocabulary.