My Mandarin has almost entirely been learnt in Singapore. At times people question me as to why I chose Singapore as a venue to learn Chinese. In their eyes, Singapore has a number of disadvantages:
It is an expensive city to live in;
Singaporeans' Mandarin accent is not exactly 'standard'; and
Chinese is only one of the languages spoken (along with English, Malay, Tamil, and others).
So is Singapore a good place to learn languages? There is some truth in each of the above objections, but I think Singapore is underestimated as a place to learn languages. Let us take a closer look at the objections:
Objection 1: Singapore is an expensive city
If you want to learn Mandarin, Singapore will indeed never be the cheapest venue. Who can be cheaper than China? On the other hand, Singapore is not more expensive to live and study in than, say, Spain or the UK. In fact, it can be a lot cheaper.
It also depends on your own situation. If you are on a budget, you may want to consider studying in China. You will probably be able to find a cheaper deal in China. China does have good language schools. Do keep in mind that you generally get what you pay for: the better language schools in China are certainly not the cheapest ones.
However, for the generally higher cost of living in Singapore, you do get things in return as well: ease of travel to surrounding countries, food safety and a very different quality supervision standard for private schools.
Objection 2: Singaporeans' accent
Since Singapore is multilingual and everyone is juggling 2-3 languages, most Singaporeans' Mandarin proficiency does not go as deep as the Mandarin spoken by mainland Chinese and Taiwanese. In my own case, I can fully understand Singaporeans, because the words they use are now all in my passive vocabulary. Mainland Chinese and Taiwanese generally use a larger number of words actively in their speech.
The accent with which Mandarin is spoken in Singapore has not bothered me so far. First of all, I do not believe in there being one single "correct" accent for any language, and secondly, Singapore language schools generally employ mainland Chinese and Taiwanese to teach Mandarin.
In the end, you learn your pronunciation from the teacher, not from the people in the street. And just as much as you should avoid sounding like a Singaporean, I do not advise you to copy the accent of a native Beijingner either!
Objection 3: Singaporeans mix many languages
There are two sides to the fact that Singapore is multilingual. If you want to immerse yourself fully in a language, it is probably best to go to a country that operates solely in the language you are learning. Italian is best learnt in Italy, and it is best to go to France of you want to learn French.
On the other hand, if you are not quite ready to jump right in, Singapore can be a good in between option. It is popular with students from China as a place to learn English. Singapore has enough Chinese speakers to allow them to express their needs, but offers more incentive to learn English than their home environment. The same goes for English speakers looking to learn Chinese in Singapore.
Conclusion
There is a number of reasons why you might choose other countries over Singapore for learning a language. It depends on your personal situation. However, what may be a disadvantage for some, does not have to be a problem for you. If you are not on an extremely tight budget, Singapore can offer you more comfort and an entirely different location for learning Mandarin.
A Dutchman currently living in Singapore, Guus has so far studied 7 languages (English, German, French, Spanish, Ancient Greek, Latin and Mandarin). He is passionate about travel, culture, languages and learning.
He founded Yago Singapore, a company that lets people in Singapore find and book Singapore's best language courses online. Check out his site to find the Singapore language school that is best suited for you.
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