Week 2 – 3:
I learn to hold basic conversations, sentence structuring for self-introduction or to ask questions as well as some basic words. There are also some words that are unique to hokkien in Singapore as well.

For example,
Q: where do you stay “li kia tor loh?”
A: I stay in woodlands “Wa kia woodlands”
Q: What time do you wake up “li gui tiam ki lai”
A: I wake up at 7am to go work “wa qi diam ki lai keh zou gang”
Unique words – loti (pau) , lui(ngiee), pasat(market), chincai gong (xi sua gong)
Hungry “yao”
Bowl “wa”
Plate “pua”
“Wa pat to yao, li ai jiak bak kut teh mai?” I am hungry do you want to eat bak kut teh?
“Buey gao kun, anchua?” What to do if dont have enough sleep?
“Buey gao kun lim kopi” Drink coffee if dont have enough sleep.
“Buey gao kun, eh por ko cai kun” Sleep in the afternoon again if not enough sleep

Week 4:

Today’s I learnt about how to name my favourite food in class and be able to hold conversation with them. For example, “jit wa bak kut teh” one bowl of pork ribs soup is my favourite food. So the conversation is as such:

li suka jiak simi – what do you like to eat / what is your favourite food

wa suka jiak bak kut teh – my favourite food is bak kut teh.

I also learnt how to name common animals:

Chicken is “kuey”,
Duck is “ah”,
Wildboar is “sua di”,
Pig is “di”,
Bird is “jiao” etc.

Direct learning: Hokkien words rhyme into different meanings. For instance, there are dog(gao), nine(gao), thick(gao) and enough(gao). All these are said from the same sound with stress on different intonations.

Incidental learning: For instance, there’s always a saying of terrible (gao lat) which is used in many context with different meaning, can be used to expressed a bad situation or a good situation

Accidental learning: Due to limited phrases there are always loan words from other languages in communication through Hokkien