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| Ihre 10 Minuten Englisch pro Woche |
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Dear email,
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A few years ago, I visited Singapore – a fascinating place, where Malay, Chinese, Indian and English influences form a unique culture. English is an official language, so it wasn’t difficult to communicate, even taking into account that Singlish uses many words from Asian languages (see below). Then, I visited a numerologist and palm reader at a local market. The gentleman took down my numbers, examined the lines on my hand and launched into a long and lively monologue. I couldn't understand a word and it seemed very rude to interrupt. To this day I wonder what he was telling me.
I just re-listened to Spotlight’s audio editor Owen Connors talk about an all-day Irish breakfast, in our most recent episode of English, please! Delicious! Listen to find out what scrumptious and high-calorie ingredients make up an Irish breakfast.
My colleague Judith Gilbert, editor-in-chief of Business Spotlight, will be back next week with more stories from the English-speaking world.
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Inez Sharp
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Editor-in-chief, Spotlight
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unique: einzigartig | take sth. into account: etw. berücksichtigen | numerologist: Zahlenmystiker(in) | palm reader: Handleser(in) | launch into sth.: zu etw. ansetzen | rude: unhöflich, ungezogen | scrumptious: lecker
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Word of the Week
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ember months
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Did you know? In 2020, the Oxford English Dictionary added some new Nigerian English words and phrases to its pages. These words are commonly used in Nigeria, but are new additions to English as a global language. One of them is “ember months”.
With three of the last four months of the year ending in “-ember”, this is a logical name. But “embers” are also the remains of a fire – the hot coals that stay when the flames have gone. So, the ember months are like the dying coals of the year, as September fades into December and the year comes to an end.
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ember: Glut
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© Illustration: Georg Lechner
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Ihr Gutschein für Spotlight
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Sie erhalten die erste Ausgabe unseres Abonnements gratis
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English in Singapore
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A common language
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Singapore is a melting pot of cultures and languages, with English serving as the lingua franca in many contexts. But actually, there’s more than one type of English in the city-state. Standard Singapore English, which is similar to British English, is used in official settings. In informal contexts, you’ll hear Singlish – a language that mixes English with various Asian languages.
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melting pot: Schmelztiegel
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© Image: iStock.com
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Quiz
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Singlish
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In Singapore, people often speak Singlish in informal situations. It’s influenced by various languages, e.g. Malay, Tamil and Mandarin. Verbs are often not inflected, and plurals, articles and prepositions are sometimes left out. We’ve inserted some Singlish words and phrases into the sentences below. Can you match the meaning to the phrases in bold?
classy, snobbish | confused, slow to understand | selfish or competitive due to a fear of missing out | unable to understand
A. Sorry, can you explain? I catch no ball.
B. Come on, everyone knows that! Don’t act so blur!
C. This has to be the most atas place in town.
D. Look at those guys pushing in to get a free drink. So kiasu!
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inflect: beugen, konjugieren
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© Illustration: Martin Haake
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Answer: A. I catch no ball. = I don’t understand; B. blur = confused, slow to understand; C. atas = classy, snobbish; D. kiasu = selfish or competitive due to a fear of missing out
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Anzeige
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Test your English with our Free TOEFL iBT Full Practice Test
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Want reliable feedback on your English skills? Our Free TOEFL iBT Practice Test mirrors the actual exam, giving you an accurate measure of your abilities in reading, listening, speaking and writing. Get accurate results today!
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© Image: ETS Global
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Facts and Figures
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Feedback
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Sometimes, the working day is so full, there’s little or no time to step back and talk about how things are going. However, the US analytics company Gallup says: “meaningful feedback doesn’t hinder performance – it fuels it.” Gallup found that 80 per cent of employees who say they received meaningful feedback in the past week are “fully engaged”. And in a 2023 survey, the company ATTO Technology found a disparity between the value employees place on feedback and how often they get it:
75% of employees value frequent feedback
30% of employees receive frequent feedback
The same ATTO survey also found that companies perform better when they actively seek employee feedback. When workers feel heard, they are 4.6 times more likely to excel. A lack of feedback has a negative effect on the workforce. Companies that provide regular feedback have, on average, a 14.9% lower turnover rate than those that do not.
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step back: hier: innehalten | hinder sth.: etw. behindern | fuel sth.: etw. antreiben,
befördern | be fully engaged: hier: mit vollem Einsatz dabei sein | survey: Umfrage, Erhebung | disparity: Missverhältnis | excel: Top-Leistung(en) erbringen | workforce: Belegschaft | turnover rate: Fluktuationsrate
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© Image: Depositphotos mitay20, Igor_Vkv
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Business Skills
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Essential phrases for giving feedback
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Focus on the issues, not the person
• Let’s look at the issue we’ve had with…
• There is a problem with…
• Let’s check what could be going wrong.
Look to the future
• Our aim should be to…
• How can we improve our performance here?
• How should we proceed from here?
Don’t generalize
• Let’s look at this particular situation.
• Let’s concentrate on the issue at hand.
• I suggest we focus on…
Look for joint solutions
• What would you suggest to speed the process up?
• Let’s work together to solve this.
• Can we find an answer together?
Be empathetic
• I understand that it’s not always easy to set the right priorities.
• I can see your difficulty with this.
• I’m sure that wasn’t your intention.
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issue: Problem | proceed: vorgehen | at hand: vorliegend | empathetic: empathisch, mitfühlend
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© Illustration: Georg Lechner
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Im aktuellen Magazin
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English around the world
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Is there such a thing as global English? | Learn about English as it’s spoken in Australia, India, South Africa, Singapore... | Working as a dialect coach
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Podcast
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How bad is it?
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A full Irish breakfast is one of the meals that our Irish audio editor Owen Connors had in mind when he said: “Our traditional dishes are built up around providing as many calories as possible.”
Ireland isn’t famous for its fine cuisine. Britain and the US don’t have a great culinary reputation either. But is it really that bad? In the latest episode of English, please!, an Irishman, an American and a German-Brit discuss which culinary stereotypes are justified.
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cuisine: Küche, kulinarische Tradition | reputation: Ruf
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© Image: Shutterstock.com
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Quiz
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US elections
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This politician holds an impressive record. Who is he? What else do you know about US political parties and the elections? Test yourself in our quiz!
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© Image: Library of Congress / Unsplash.com
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Ihnen gefällt „ZEIT für Englisch“?
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Teilen Sie diesen Newsletter ...
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... mit Freundinnen oder Freunden, die ihr Englisch verbessern wollen! Kopieren Sie dazu den Link zur Anmeldeseite und schicken ihn per WhatsApp oder E-Mail weiter.
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Mitarbeit: Dennis Draber, Judith Gilbert, Susanne Krause, Nadia Lawrence, Mae McCreary, Richard Mote, Rachel Preece, Inez Sharp
Folgen Sie Spotlight und Business Spotlight auf Instagram.
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