French woman teaches Internet how to speak Singlish, S’poreans question if she’s ‘corright’

French woman who’s lived in Singapore for 5 years teaches TikTokers Singlish

A French woman who has lived in Singapore for about five years recently took to TikTok to give a brief lesson on speaking Singlish.

In her video, 27-year-old software engineer Honvault Amandine taught users words like “corright” and “dunnid”.

However, her use of Singlish has divided the opinions of Singaporeans online.

Shows ‘efficiency’ of Singlish

Amandine posted her little tutorial in a TikTok video on 30 March, aiming to show the “efficiency of Singlish”.

Titled ‘How to speak English like a Singaporean’, the video presented the French woman as a “Singlish teacher”.

Her first lesson taught the Internet how to combine the phrase “you are correct and right” into a single word.

Save your breath and simply say: “Corright.”

Her second lesson involved a word that many of us probably utter countless times a day — “dunno” instead of “I don’t know”.

Her next lesson continued the theme of how Singaporeans tend to shorten phrases, saying “dunnid” instead of “I don’t need”.

Replacing letters and being as “efficient” as possible, Singaporeans also say “izzit?” instead of “is it right?”.

Amandine’s final lesson encompassed Singlish’s penchant for using as few words as possible, with Singaporeans saying “see how” instead of “wait and see what happens”.

Netizens question authenticity of Singlish lesson

After viewing the clip, many Singaporeans took to the comments to express their confusion over some of the alleged Singlish phrases, especially “corright”.

Well, the word is used in a hilarious SkillsFuture ad and is even featured in the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Graduate Studies Blog’s list of Singlish words and phrases, although In Singapura noted that it is rarely used.

Some slammed the TikToker for depicting the way that Singaporeans speak in a poor light.

However, Amandine reiterated that Singlish is part of Singaporean culture and should be embraced.

She also acknowledged that Singaporeans can speak proper English too. After all, there’s such a thing as code-switching.

Overall, commenters found the Singlish tutorial very entertaining.

Singlish a ‘distinctive aspect of Singaporean culture’

Speaking to MS News, Amandine shared why she decided to teach Singlish.

“Back in France, we are taught to be proud of what makes us unique,” she said.

“Singlish is a distinctive aspect of Singaporean culture. I tried to spotlight facets of Singapore that, as a foreigner, triggered culture shock — elements that perhaps some Singaporeans overlook or do not particularly take pride in.”

According to Amandine, the hardest part about speaking Singlish is combining words from different dialects and getting the accent spot on.

“I might receive comments about my accent not being here yet, but I can’t help it as I’m French,” she told MS News.

Despite the criticism, Amandine embraces the Singaporean culture and shared what she finds most fun about speaking Singlish.

“The efficiency for sure, how with just one word you can mean different things! Also as a foreigner picking up on some Singlish expressions, it fosters a sense of belonging among Singaporeans,” she said.

People have also approached Amandine for Singlish lessons, but she clarified she is just a “casual teacher”.

Also read: Tourist Struggles To Understand S’porean Accent & Singlish, Locals Say Language Is Efficient

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Featured image adapted from @new_to_singapore on TikTok.