A language lost is a worldview lost.
We're rebuilding the bridge between generations — one phrase at a time.
The Story
Since the 1980 Speak Mandarin Campaign, dialect use in Singapore's Chinese households has fallen dramatically. Where once Hokkien, Cantonese, Teochew, Hakka, and Hainanese filled wet markets, kopitiams, and family dinners, today many young Singaporeans can no longer hold a full conversation with their grandparents.
Dialects carry what Mandarin and English cannot. Hokkien proverbs about the sea and sweat. Cantonese banter that turns kinship into comedy. Teochew lullabies. Hakka resilience. Hainanese coffee orders. When a dialect goes quiet, an entire way of seeing the world goes with it — recipes, rituals, jokes, kinship terms that have no equivalent anywhere else.
We're not trying to replace your grandparents — we're trying to give you a reason to call them. tiagongSG is a starting point: a phrase, a tone, a conversation opener. The real learning happens at the dinner table. Use the platform to begin; let your family teach you the rest.
How It Works
Five Singapore dialects to explore — pick where your roots lie, or where curiosity leads.
Flashcards, story quizzes, and fill-in-the-blank exercises to build vocabulary your grandparents would recognise.
Connect with fluent mentors in our community who can guide you through real conversations.
See how dialect words already live in everyday Singlish — and use them with confidence.
Built by Raphael, a Singaporean who spent much of his childhood in his grandparents' Teochew-speaking household. Nostalgic for those days, he is building a platform where the social significance of culture and heritage can still shine in an increasingly monolingual Singapore.
Speak a dialect fluently?
Help validate our dictionary.
Right now, our phrases are drafted with the help of AI (Qwen and Claude), and language is dynamic — spellings, meanings, and everyday usage shift between generations and families. We need fluent speakers — our Language Custodians — to review and refine each entry, making sure the translations, romanisations, and tones ring true to how the dialect is actually spoken. Custodians review community-submitted corrections and new words on the Contribute page — credited on the platform, with a direct hand in shaping how Singapore's dialect heritage is preserved online.
Frequently Asked
What's Next
- Curator-validated dictionaryReplace AI drafts with fluent-speaker-verified entries across all five dialects.
- Audio pronunciationNative-speaker recordings for every phrase — so learners hear, not just read.
- Classroom partnershipsBring tiagongSG into Singapore schools and community centres as a heritage learning tool.
- Community meetupsIn-person practice sessions co-hosted with clan associations (huay kuan).
Get In Touch
Spotted a translation error? Flag it directly on the entry in the Dictionary — no email needed. For everything else, email us directly at raphaeleeingwi@gmail.com — or use one of the prefilled subject lines below:
Ready to tiagong?
Pick a path. Every phrase you learn keeps a thread of Singapore alive.
