You are sitting in the tropical garden of a café nursing your thirst with a cold beer when you hear the following conversation:

1. - Eh41 yu got watch PCK las nait or not?

2. - Ya lor55. Wa lau he kena sen English class! His English so lau ya one meh55?

3. - Ya wat21! Gamen say mas spik gud English ma21. Don play-play! Oderwise people ting yu dam chingchong la21.

You understand some of the words, but not all of them, because, although they sound English, some are pronounced in ‘strange’ ways. More importantly, you cannot quite make sense of all that is being said. So was it really English you heard or did you just imagine it? If it was, what was going on with the grammar? Because, surely, there was something wrong somewhere. And what about those little exclamations at the end of each sentence with such strange intonation? You might think that you have just heard some rather ungrammatical English being spoken. Or was it Chinese with some English words in it? According to some linguists, it was neither. What you have just heard is a language variety known as Singlish, or Colloquial Singapore English in academic circles. Singlish is a native variety of Singapore whose lexicon and grammar in part derive from English, Chinese and Malay. It is spoken by a majority of the young generation of Singaporeans, who relish it as their native tongue. It is officially labelled not ‘good English’ by the government and active steps have been taken in order to discourage its use.