Cecilia Cheung Speaks Broken English to Sons
After immigrating to Singapore, Cecilia Cheung (張栢芝) has been spending more time volunteering to help build relationships and pave a better road for her sons’ education. In attempt to broaden Lucas and Quintus’ language skills, Cecilia converses only in English and Mandarin with them.
By chance, one of Cecilia’s friends uploaded a clip of Cecilia speaking in highly broken English and Mandarin, despite having studied in Australia. In the video, she said, “You guys eating and playing Lego.”
Popular English tutor, Starr Lam saw the video and exclaimed, “Cecilia’s Hong Kong style English contains errors that Grades 9 and 10 make. She would miss a verb. For example, the correct form would be ‘You guys are eating and playing Lego,’ she still has a lot to improve on!”
Cecilia further exhibited her poor pronunciation abilities in an interview for a Korean TV show. She was unable to pronounce her ‘L’ sounds, and instead of stating that Koreans are very ‘chill’, Cecilia said, Koreans are very ‘chew’. On the other hand, Starr Lam exclaimed that Lucas’ English is far superior to Cecilia’s pronunciation.
Previously pegged as an irresponsible parent because she would often pull Lucas and Quintus out of school, Cecilia is determined to be a better mother for her children. Taking more time out of her busy schedule, the actress celebrated their birthdays and Mother’s Day despite being very ill. When Lucas had a loose tooth, Cecilia took the responsibility and pulled it out herself, and did not bring him to the dentist.
Source: ihktv.com
This article is written by Su for JayneStars.com.
Cecilia looks so pretty in this photo
I love how your comment has absolutely nothing to do with the article! Really, as long as she looks pretty in the photo, who cares if her English accent is good and if she’s speaking ‘grammatically correct’ English. It’s always good not to take these articles seriously!!!
I would wonder what studied in Australia…
Extracting a tooth rather than visiting a dentist…thats being a responsible mum?
I think most baby teeth fall out at home… no need for dentist.
i know….maybe i should say….they fall off on their own most of the time, why is that being a responsible mum?
Why is it such a big deal that she speaks broken English? I’ve heard her speak in English during this interview once and she’s not even bad. Just because she studied abroad doesn’t mean her English would be perfect. It’s not like she spoke in English her entire life.
Her English is very bad and her accent is ghetto.
Her mom is British and it is embarrassing to speak english like this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ep8pKbLRrjk
it’s okay, I think it’s like that when youve been in HK for a while. Or maybe she went oversea at an older age….Sonija Kwok speaks in somewhat broken English too and she’s supposedly mixed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVPcEc2GSjA
Btw that picture of Cecilia is soooo pretty.
Sonija’s accent is much better and you know the broken english is not really the problem.
Cecilia’s accent is just not normal accent and unacceptable. – hard to explain but i really think is embarrassing. It is okay to have broken english but her funny accent is really the problem.
I believe is just hkger’s are not talented when it comes to learning english. I have some hk friends that had immigrated to the US for over 15 years now and their english is still very bad including writing. One of the friend even married to a white guy and with lots of practice but she still speak terrible broken english.
Grammatically correct English is better than supposedly English/American accented English. Even the Americans speak broken English. Cecilia is understandably not great at English. She is not educated and she did not grow up in an environment where she needs to speak good English. Nic Tse grew up overseas didn’t he? Studied in good schools and all.
Actually Nicholas Tse dropped out of high school when he was still in 10th grade. I know which high school he went to because my high school is only a few blocks away from his school. I wouldn’t call his school “good” just normal high school like mine.
Heres Nicholas making a speech in some HK university
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mb43bdOHA7c
He seems a bit shaky at times, but his communication skill is strong overall. He really knows how to talk. I don’t really watch an hour long video on youtube, but I actually finished the whole thing in one sitting. I was so captivated by the way he talk, it was so inspirational…
It’s okay, no big deal just English.
Btw bud you’re sooooo pretty. Got you! LOL!
“I believe is just hkger’s are not talented when it comes to learning english.”
I think that language ability is by person, can’t really generalise to a nation. For me, language is just not my forte. I grew up in an English speaking country but my spoken English is not great and my Chinese is not on par with HK/TW Chinese. Whereas for some, example Nic, he lived in HK for a few years then Canada for few years then backed in HK yet he can speak really fluent Cantonese, English and Mandarin.
Most people omit grammars in oral, Korean or English. It’s a bit unfair to criticise her this way. If you are walking around London, most young British speak this way. It’s not a homework or movies like Pride and Prejudice where grammars are essential.
Why is she not speaking Cantonese to them? OMG Cantonese is dying…
Say thanks to Communist China and around the world for letting Cantonese language into endanger language species. Very few institutions only offering some Cantonese lessons… which is sad.
Actually I wouldn’t say that at all. Yes, Mandarin is replacing Cantonese as the lingua franca in many overseas Chinese communities and in the media. But us Cantonese people are very very proud of our language and heritage. There are millions of Cantonese speakers worldwide. It’s like saying French is dying because English replaced it as the language of international business and education.
Here in Portland, Oregon, I tutor several people in Cantonese (since there is a lack of Cantonese learning options). And we also have our own Cantonese Meetup group. I was actually very surprised by the strong interest (by Mandarin speakers) in Cantonese. No language has to die if there are people who are passionate and spread the word and their knowledge about it!
Check out this illustration, it’s awesome!
http://writecantonese8.wordpress.com/2014/02/25/cantonese-proverbs-in-one-picture/
The KBS interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ep8pKbLRrjk
She needs a lot more practice in speaking properly. How about asking her ex-husband?
Her Korean is good!!! Hahaha..
Ive never heard of nic speak in English. is he the same as her orr??
Oh no, Nic’s English is way better. I watched him on the American Next Top Model as a guess judge a few years back, he spoke English so fluently in the show. I must say I was really impressed!
I meant guest judge not guess judge
i heard him giving a talk in a school(or UNI)….very good!
He speaks very good English, hear him on couple of shows on the interweb.
HE WAS ON AMERICAN NEXT TOP MODEL?? OMGGG which season????? I used to love watching that show, actually i never missed a single episode…I stopped watching it when I started university though.
Isn’t her first language Cantonese? Why is it a surprise that she speaks broken English? It’s not her native language. Just because she lived or studied in Australia doesn’t mean she’ll be fluently. I know countless Chinese immigrants who’s lived in the USA for 20-30 years and their English grammar is still bad. Some people’s brains aren’t wired for language. On the other hand, I know people who grew up in Hong Kong and immigrated to the USA after high school and their English is better than people who immigrated to the USA as kids.
Some american friends I know doesn’t speak “goooood” english either.
same here in canada. a lot of them grew up in canada and still are not able to speak properly never mind non native speakers
well said.
I didn’t pick up the English language til I was 7 and I speak so fluently & unaccented that most if not everyone thinks I was born in America. On the otherhand, I have some ABC friends who speaks with pretty accented English. It really depends on the person..
Same I was 7 too!! I remember people were surprised when I meet them in person after talking to them on the phone. They’re like “wow you’re Asian??” Dunno if I should feel offended or take that as compliment lol.
hi there
1. what a big deal!
2. making a huge mountain out of some molehill.
3. she is just one of those mothers on the streets of Singapore.
4. btw, I am from sin hoh.
That’s normal..my colleague who got her degree from an University in Australia spell “torture” as “torch” and “colleague” as “kelig”.
Wonder whose fault is it? the Uni itself or the student? haha.
NO joke!
>>> In the video, she said, “You guys eating and playing Lego.”
Popular English tutor, Starr Lam saw the video and exclaimed, “Cecilia’s Hong Kong style English contains errors that Grades 9 and 10 make. She would miss a verb. For example, the correct form would be ‘You guys are eating and playing Lego,’ she still has a lot to improve on!”
<<<<<<
No cecilia's english is not broken.. it just needed a ? at the end.
the english critique is rubbish.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ep8pKbLRrjk
If a “?” is missing, it is still wrong…it should then be “Are you guys eating and playing Lego?”
You don’t need “Are” the word as a conversation question. She may have pick up the habit in the USA. It’s consider lazy.
‘she still has a lot to improve on!”
Grammatically it’s incorrect but it doesn’t imply poor English though. It is common for us to cut out words when texting and talking to friends, 1 being lazy and 2 being less formal. I would feel weird talking to my friends in perfect sentences.
That’s true, adults do that even more when speaking to kids.
Kenglish = Kid English
Can’t be a role model to the boys if she doesn’t have the proper English grammar and pronunciation foundation. Her kids should stay in school and learn from their classmates, teachers and the school environment instead of pulling them out for family vacations, etc. The article should have stated that Cecilia attended XYZ school versus she studied at XYZ school. If she truly studied, she would have mastered or at least have a better foundation of the language.
The most retarded comment ever.
Pls grow a few brain cells..from whatever that’s left. I think you “misspelled” your username ‘aptos’. It should spell A-p-o-p-t-o-s-i-s.
Role model has to speak proper English? LMAO. Never said that out loud in the public. That’s a symptom of a kind of schizophrenia, more accurate term as Post-Colonial-Hangover-Syndrome (PCHS).
Honestly I find loads PCHS nuts here…over glorifying the West and their “english”…give me a freaking break.
Though English still has its place BUT Mandarin is the IN thing now. I am also learning it and even many foreigners are learning. The world is now going through a paradigm shift in balance of power (be it militarily, economically, etc) and every wise and informed educated people and countries are tuning in closely to China and the impacted in this shift. Esp USA and EU, thus the incessant propagating of their Western crap…esp in African continent.
Btw, I’m not from China..wish I was…hence i don’t need to learn Chinese on my own now 🙁
I’m from one of those Freemason-led Commonwealth country…masking under Democracy bs. Name ; democracy, but reality ; one of the most autocratic system ever.
Seriously PCHS nuts makes me livid.
LOL. It doesn’t help that her sons are learning improper English pronunciation in Singapore either.
Why is it everytime I read articles about her, it’s always she’s a bad mother article? Although, I must say that whole pulling her sons out of school thing isn’t so smart. Doesn’t her own parents say something about that type of thing?
I alwways raised my eyebrow when I heard parents conversing in broken english with their children. Yes, their intention was good but if you can’t really speak good english then leave this to the tutors. The damage is greater if they were taught wrongly, it’s not always easy to correct something that the children think is the right pronounciation for example
Regardless of how poor Cecilia’s English is, I know someone who is far worse than her. Imagine my amusement when I talk to a certain person who keeps pronouncing “phases” as “feces”.
huh????? she knows korean!!!!!!!!!!!then she is going to be so good at speaking korean!!!!!!!!!!!O_o
yeah a lot of people’s english is not that really good even i am born in Australia my english is not that really good anyways!!!!!! O_o
I’m afraid I have to agree with you; your English is terrible.
Why do HK’ers so hung up on speaking English (Chinglish)?
If they had taken the same amount of time to learn and perfect their Mandarin Chinese, their time would have been better spent.
Yeah, I’ve heard her speak English in one of the interview – very broken. Her parents have bad gens because she look straight up like chinese without mix in her. Secondly, she ok looking, not pretty.
Wow, talk about irony. Why are you judging her while your written English is quite ‘broken’ as well?
Also, ‘mixed looking’ or not, she is gorgeous.
Cantopopfan,
Did I said my English is better? Secondly, what I said about this actress is true. And I did not say she’s ugly or dislike her. Everyone is entitled to their comment.
..Bad “gens” (sic)..?
are you serious?
In Asia even thought you speak broken English, it is still considered you’re smart, especially speaking English. Yea I’ve heard her speaking english in the interview on youtube, not great, but you still can understand her. She doesn’t have the British blood in her, she looks more like Asian to me.
‘In Asia even thought you speak broken English, it is still considered you’re smart, especially speaking English’.
I think that’s a bit of generalization.
Take Japan and South Korea for example, you won’t find such warped perception about speaking English.
hairy woman.
how do u know?
Most Korean and Japanese students and young adults can read written some English but will have an extremely difficult time understanding spoken English. I know because I have been to both countries and attempted to converse with them in basic simple conversation.
seriously? this is a non-story.
Her English is fine. Being fluent to me is being able to carry a conversation and understand it. Grammatical errors has nothing to do with spoken English. I have folks who grew up with parents who spoke broken English but it didn’t effect their English speaking.
Methinks you need to look up the meaning of, “fluent.” Nah mean?
fluent versus proper are also two different meanings, perhaps you need to look up fluent and proper.
there are plenty of southerners in US that speak with their unique twist yet it is not proper. do u mean to say, these americans are not fluent in their own mother tongue? they might not be proper but they are definitely fluent.
#gotyourbackasl
Cecilia should talk to her sons in Cantonese, her mother tongue. They can pick up Mandarin and English in schools. The boys are staying in Singapore now. They are surrounded by English and Mandarin speaking people. No need to fear they couldn’t pick up the language.
I disagree with parents who abandon their mother tongue in preference of more ‘international’ language with teaching their kids.
Kidd,
“Cecilia should talk to her sons in Cantonese, her mother tongue. They can pick up Mandarin and English in schools. The boys are staying in Singapore now. They are surrounded by English and Mandarin speaking people. No need to fear they couldn’t pick up the language.”
Maybe Cecilia is trying her best to try to phase her sons into an English environment as quickly as possible. Her intentions are good. Or perhaps she is surrounded by friends who converse in English and she is just adapting to the new environment. If she speaks it daily, it should improve.
It’s grammatically incorrect to say, “She doesn’t speak good English.” The correct grammar should be, “She doesn’t speak English well” or “She speaks English poorly.” Almost everyone here made that error, thus your English is also “broken.” Lastly to that man in the video….it’s incorrect to say,‘You guys are eating and playing Lego,’the correct form should have been “Are you guys eating and playing with Lego?”
Agreed, the suggestion given by the ‘star tutor’ is just as construed, as one may interpret the children ingesting Lego blocks. “Are you guys playing Lego while eating?” would be my approach to this example if I were a proper tutor. The guy probably has amazing skills for predicting (re: acquiring) test questions, though.
Maybe we should cast Cecilia as Eliza Doolittle and have some “Professor Higgins” type to work with her on her speech……
These article and comments are getting more weird by the moment.
hi there
1. aiyoh!
2. this is really no news making news.
3. some mountain out of a molehill.
4. what’s next gal: a horn coming out from xxx!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think the inappropriate English spoken by Cecilia here is a normal scenario among the Asians. I am not condemning the Asians since I dare not say that I speak perfect English. Most of the readers here write bad English but who cares? Infact I do find some viewers’ comments here quite fun to read especially those badly written.
Such as yourself? It’s grammatically incorrect to say, “Most of the readers here write bad English…” The correct sentence should be, “Many readers here write English poorly…”