Singdarin - Other Terms Associated With Singdarin

Other Terms Associated With Singdarin

There are other terms associated with Singdarin such as "Broken Chinese", "Half-bucket" (半桶水） or "Half-past Six Chinese". These are the terms used by Singaporean Chinese-language professionals to refer to the mediocre (or low) proficiency level of Mandarin amongst certain Chinese Singaporeans. The terms describe that when measured against Standard Mandarin, certain Chinese Singaporeans are only 50-65% proficient in Mandarin.

Part of the reasons for these could be due to the widespread use of Singdarin in Singapore. Singdarin has led to the impression of "broken Chinese" or "bad Chinese", and is generally considered to be an adulterated form of Mandarin language. Speaking Singdarin is a natural linguistic habit derived from speaking a mixed language in the daily life of Singaporeans. However, the lower proficiency in Mandarin Chinese was mainly due to a lack of practice and exposure to more proper Chinese language, a lack of practice in speaking, hearing, reading and writing Chinese. This further led to a limited Chinese vocabulary or knowledge on Chinese cultural subjects, thus making it difficult for Singdarin speakers to speak pure Mandarin fluently. Singdarin speakers will generally find it difficult to communicate (at a higher level) if they were to communicate with native Chinese from China or Taiwan.