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The importance of English in China? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Cultural Experiences in Foreign Languages |  | |
| ChristopherB Triglot Senior Member New Zealand Joined 6320 days ago 851 posts - 1074 votes  2 sounds Speaks: English*, German, French | Message 1 of 9 29 September 2008 at 2:10am | IP Logged | ||
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With the growth and emergence of China as a major world player, can anyone clue me in as to how important knowledge of English currently is in China, specifically the major cities? Can the average, well-educated Chinese communicate in English to the extent that the average, well-educated European can?
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| SimonGray Newbie Denmark Joined 5904 days ago 2 posts - 2 votes | Message 2 of 9 29 September 2008 at 9:41am | IP Logged | ||
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Not at all - except in Hong Kong where English is very prevalent.
You are able to find people in Beijing and Shanghai that can speak enough English to have a conversation (i.e. they know more than "hello", "handsome", and "very cheap"), but it's a small minority who can speak it that well. Further south, even in the major cities, practically no one will be able to speak enough English to have a conversation. In 4 months of traveling I only met 3 Chinese people who could speak English as well as a well-educated European (besides the ones who work in the youth hostels). And you meet a lot of people in 4 months. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| qklilx Moderator United States Joined 6190 days ago 459 posts - 477 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Korean Personal Language Map | Message 3 of 9 29 September 2008 at 6:39pm | IP Logged | ||
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SimonGray thank you for saying that. I can't tell you how many people I know who make the claim that Chinese outside of Hong Kong can speak English---and they aren't Chinese telling me this. Despite when I tell them how many Chinese businessmen I've had as customers at work, they still believe that many Chinese people speak English. From memory, fewer than 5 of the many businesspeople I've had were able to communicate with me in English. The next best ability I witnessed was a man who learned the phrase "I don't know" as an all-purpose declination of service. To remove some bias from my post, I've also had many families, most of whom also could not use English.
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| Alvinho Triglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 6238 days ago 828 posts - 832 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, English, Spanish | Message 4 of 9 07 October 2008 at 4:02pm | IP Logged | ||
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I saw a report on TV before Olympic Games kicked off that there was a policeman who was responsible for the security of a monument near Beijing.....that guy can speak English and other languages properly and people alledgely say he's quite sympathetic.
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| Northstar Newbie China chineseontheairRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5908 days ago 19 posts - 19 votes Speaks: Mandarin* | Message 5 of 9 21 October 2008 at 9:06pm | IP Logged | ||
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It depends where you go and what people you meet.
many Chinese can carry on daily conversation in large city, but can't go far.Because they don't have enough chance to speak and practice. Now many Chinese are learning English like crazy. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| solidsnake Diglot Senior Member China Joined 7045 days ago 469 posts - 488 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin | Message 6 of 9 06 January 2009 at 11:13am | IP Logged | ||
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People in China speak English in a style similar to Northstar's post above (Chinglish) but with an added incomprehensible accent. Chinese-accented English has to be the worst sounding English out there, second only to Korean-accented English. It grates the ears and sounds like someone speaking with a balled up sock in their mouth or something. I'm serious..its painful.
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| Alkeides Senior Member Bhutan Joined 6152 days ago 636 posts - 644 votes | Message 7 of 9 06 January 2009 at 12:05pm | IP Logged | ||
Oh yes... it is mainly the hobbling horse rhythm. I don't think Korean-accented English is worse though, but it makes the speaker sound strangely masculine (for females). 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| solidsnake Diglot Senior Member China Joined 7045 days ago 469 posts - 488 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin | Message 8 of 9 06 January 2009 at 1:37pm | IP Logged | ||
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Alkeides, do you play music at all? If you were to describe that "hobbling horse rhythm" in musical terms, how would it sound/be transcribed?
I agree about Korean girls sounding really tough when they speak English. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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