It is no secret that complaining has the status of a national pastime in Singapore.

However, when these complaints come from frustrated students who can hardly string a few words together to make a correct sentences after four years of study, there is cause for alarm. Why do their French suck so badly?

Students point to various causes for their disinterest with the language of love:

A frustrated mother whose son studies at an international school described the situation thus:

"The school changes French teachers so often that the children always have to restart from zero. What's worse is that the school hires non-native speakers to cut costs. Many of these teachers have not mastered French well enough to teach it. Some of them do not use the accent marks when they write, others are still unsure whether a word is male, female or in-between! It's total chaos. Just imagine!"

We've come across a lot of students who complain that there is too much emphasis on French culture and civilization in their French language classes.

Let us quote one disillusioned student:

"In Singapore, when we learn English at school, we don't need to learn what color of underwear Queen Elizabeth wore on Sundays. But when they teach us French, they insist so much on French civilization that even after four years of study, we still don't know how to say ‘fried noodles' and ‘food stalls' in French."

"Why so like dat?," asked the overwhelmed student rhetorically, having given up on the idea of being a French-speaking tour guide in the lion city. Reason: she has only learned how to describe Paris and its surroundings.

While it is true that a language cannot be dissociated from the culture it comes from, you must take the local context into account as well. Otherwise learning is not meaningful.

Says one student:

"That French teacher ah, no common sense. We so lost and she talk and talk non-stop in French. She thinks we are in Paris, ah? This is Singapore, you know. Wn eat kueyteow, not baguette! No English in class, she says, so we just keep quiet loh, what to do."

We are really amazed at the number of students who tell us when asked how they survive in their French class at school:

"Oh, we are past the survival stage. We died a long time ago! Our French teacher talks to a graveyard."

This points to some serious problems with the way French language (if not other languages as well, otherwise a Mandarin Campaign would have been unnecessary) is taught in Singapore. French is a relatively new subject in the Singapore education system, so it is natural that the system goes through a trial and error phase until it gets it right.

School students: Common causes are excessive schoolwork, projects, co-curricular activities in all subjects, last minute preparation for a French exams or last minute availability of a seat at Bishan MOELC French department subject to passing the qualifying admission exam (decision to switch to French usually follows a record of consistent failures in an alien ‘mother-tongue' language thrust on the student.

Working adults: Common causes are hectic schedules at tiselyhe office, last minute pre-departure language training before being relocated on an international assignment to a French-speaking country, issues with scheduling classes at regular intervals due to irregular working hours.

Others: Common occurrence among drama queens and their male counterparts who find ecstasy in feigning busyness. Causes: poor time management, chaotic planning, short attention span, lack of commitment with long-term projects, sheer laziness.