By Deeba Varadaraju

IT HAS been a mere two weeks since it was launched and, already, the second volume of STOMP's English As It Is Broken book has created a buzz nationwide.

It now occupies the coveted top spot in Singapore's bestsellers list for non-fiction. The week before, it was No. 2.

English As It Is Broken 2 looks set to follow in the footsteps of its predecessor, which sold a record-breaking 26,000 copies and was No. 1 on The Sunday Times non-fiction bestsellers list for 10 months.

Book 1 had seven reprints. Book 2 is already going into a third reprint.

The second book was officially launched on Aug 26, in conjunction with the start of this year's Speak Good English Movement.

Its highly-informative content is based on queries on English usage sent by the public to STOMP, which is Asia's No. 1 social-networking and citizen-journalism website.

The questions were answered by a panel of experts from the National Library Board and then uploaded on STOMP's English As It Is Broken section.

On the success of Book 2, Madam Lim Geok Leng, deputy manager and publisher of Panpac Education, said: "A total of 5,000 copies were sold before the book was launched on Aug 26 and we had to publish a second reprint. Over 4,000 copies have been sold from the second reprint and the book is going for a third reprint very soon."

Both books have received overwhelming response from retailers as well as schools, which use them as teaching supplements.

Readers' House, a private company that conducts programmes on the importance of speaking and reading well for primary schools, actively promotes the English As It Is Broken books.

"We incorporate the mistakes commonly seen on signages in our skits. The schools and their pupils have shown keen interest in purchasing the book," said the assistant director of Readers' House, Ms Veronica Tan.

Mr Aloysius Yap, project executive for the National Library Board and a member of the panel of English-language experts, feels that it is great that Singaporeans are showing a strong and continued interest in improving their English by reading the book.

He explained why it has generated such enthusiasm among readers: "It retains the same casual and informative style as the first best-selling book.

"Another attractive feature is the liberal sprinkling of humour in the book, so that you not only learn something, but have a laugh at the same time."

deebav@sph.com.sg

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