"BORROW me $5 can?" may not be the most graceful way to ask for a few dollars, but it's music to the ears of many Singaporeans.

But as Singapore cements its position as a financial services hub and top regional touristdestination, the government is redoubling efforts to persuade locals to speak standard English. The government insists mastery of English is imperative to raise living standards as the economy shifts to services from manufacturing.

Some worry, however, that the island's unique patois known as Singlish could be lost, and with it an important cultural glue unifying the multi-ethnic, multi-religious city-state of 5.1 million people.

"There are many people who champion 'Speak Singlish'," Vivian Balakrishnan, a minister, said in a speech yesterday. "But I appeal to you to think of our children. Put aside some of the more emotional elements that language always engenders."

The government yesterday revived a decade-long drive to get Singaporeans to speak grammatically correct English. Through partnerships with restaurants and shopping center food courts, the government plans to exhort patrons to "Get it Right" with posters showing examples of Singlish phrases crossed out and their equivalent meaning in English.

So "Got problem call me can" becomes "Please let me know if you need help." And "You ask me I ask who" becomes "I don't know either."

Primary schools will increase teacher training in English diction and syntax, so Singlish isn't inadvertently taught to students. Singlish is a jumble of the nation's four official languages - English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil - and vocabulary from several Chinese dialects.

• graceful [´greisfəl] a.优美的，流畅的 (初中英语单词)
• financial [fi´nænʃəl] a.金融的，财政的 (初中英语单词)
• persuade [pə´sweid] v.(被)说服；使相信 (初中英语单词)
• economy [i´kɔnəmi] n.经济；机制；组织 (初中英语单词)
• cultural [´kʌltʃərəl] a.文化(上)的；教养的 (初中英语单词)
• champion [´tʃæmpiən] n.冠军 vt.拥护 (初中英语单词)
• minister [´ministə] n.部长；大臣 v.伺候 (初中英语单词)
• yesterday [´jestədi] n.&ad.昨天；前不久 (初中英语单词)
• emotional [i´məuʃənəl] a.易动感情的；情感的 (初中英语单词)
• primary [´praiməri] a.主要的 n.居首位的 (初中英语单词)
• vocabulary [və´kæbjuləri, vəu-] n.词汇；词汇量 (初中英语单词)
• tourist [´tuərist] n.游客，观光者 (高中英语单词)
• destination [,desti´neiʃən] n.目标地 (高中英语单词)
• unique [ju:´ni:k] a.唯一的 n.独一无二 (高中英语单词)
• appeal [ə´pi:l] vi.&n.请求；呼吁；上诉 (高中英语单词)
• equivalent [i´kwivələnt] a.相等的 n.同等物 (高中英语单词)
• imperative [im´perətiv] a.紧急的 n.命令式 (英语四级单词)
• mastery [´mɑ:stəri] n.精通；控制；优势 (英语六级单词)
• jumble [´dʒʌmbəl] n.搞乱，混乱 (英语六级单词)