What horrible voice...

From: http://news.omy.sg/News/Local%2BNews/Story/OMYStory201004081545-142155/2.html

电玩人物口操新加坡式英语　外国人炮轰难听

电玩游戏人物讲得一口“新加坡式英语”，被外国人炮轰难听。

今年3月24日刚推出的电脑游戏《正当防卫2》（Just Cause 2），里头有一个叫“波洛”（Bolo Santosi）的人物，被玩家认为她讲得一口“新加坡式英语”。

“波洛”说英语的片段，被上载到youtube，目前已有超过10万人浏览，引起热烈的讨论。

这个电脑游戏的故事，是在一个叫“巴瑙岛”的地方展开的，口操“新加坡式英语”的“波洛”，是该岛屿的一名女叛军领袖。

虽然“波洛”不是“新加坡人”，她所讲的英语，语法也相当标准，但她的英语听起来，口音和新加坡人讲的英语十分接近。“波洛”在游戏中也穿了一套类似新航空姐的峇迪制服。

许多外国电玩用户对于“波洛”的“新加坡式英语”，提出诸多批评：

* “她的口音也许是电玩游戏历史上，最令人讨厌的。”
* “她的口音太难听了，让我很想把她的声带扯出来！”
* “她每次开口，我就想用砖块对付配这把声音的配音员。”

但是，本地网民却群起力挺“波洛”的“新加坡式英语”。

交友网站Facebook上的“波洛是新加坡女英雄”网页，成立不到半个月，就已有558人加入，成为“波洛”的支持者。

网民说，“波洛”能将新加坡口音发扬光大，让外国人渐渐接受这种口音。

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Is the Singaporean accent really that unbearable to the ears? Let's listen for ourselves:



I guess most of you will feel the same way now. We can't deny that there is no hint of Singaporean accent in the voice but somehow we feel frustrated listening to it haha.

I think the voice is grossly exaggerated. I've never seen any Singaporean who speaks to that extent. Perhaps because those with such voice will not speak with such pride and dignity.

Looks like apart from our grammatically and phonetically broken English, we need to work on our accent and way of speaking as well, in order to sound pleasant to others. (both foreigners and Singaporeans)

We know that Asians can hardly speak English in an accent similar to Caucasians, due to the influence by our Mother Tongue. However there are also quite a number who can speak English in pleasant and 'universally accepted' accent. I think it depends on the culture and environment in which English was taught and spoken. You would probably be outcasted to some extent if you speak with an American or British accent. If you're a pure Singaporean, it makes things worse as people would think that you're faking the accent. Within such an environment, everyone might end up speaking in a way which is deemed as a norm, ie. homogenization. Then the issue about uniqueness will start to come into play...

Returning to the topic, I think among Asians, Koreans can speak English pretty well. They sound pleasant in terms of accent as well, which does not contain peculiar rise and fall in tones. (typically present in Mandarin-influenced English) Forget about the Japanese haha. Their national language itself is killing their English accent. Learners of Japanese should understand what I mean haha.

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Some information:

With the new xinmsn.com, you can catch up on dramas and variety shows that you've missed, for free! No need for recording or Tudou anymore. (?) According to the site, it will be available for within 30 days of the actual broadcast.

Many more past shows available in the site as well. Apparently the entire online Mediacorp resource has joined up with MSN.