My Admiration For Linguists

In the Singapore context, anyone can be a linguist! We are a bunch who can speak English (being our first language), Mandrin, Malay, and for some of us who have been living with grandparents since young, can maybe speak languages like Cantonese, Hokkien, Teochew, etc. This is not so much of a difficult feat, since we grow up in this environment. I used to joke with some clients who asked me whether I do any translation. I said “Yes of course. So if you need to interpret anything in Hokkien or Teochew, please look for me!” And usually, I get laughs. Because simply, there’s...