Is it necessary for every Chinese to learn English

[CookieFactory]

moving to a service based economy presupposes increased economic clout, and general global influence. In this case, Chinese will follow suit. It's shortsighted to assume English will always be the lingua franca.

[druid]

For the once-proud Germans had also realised years ago that they need to have all their technology explained n translated to English in order to bring their technology n products to the international stage ....

English is becoming more important as ppl from all over the world accepting it as a common bridge of communications ...

[赫杰]

Okay, found this in search, still seems to be somewhat on topic...so I will post my question here...I asked a friend here in 武汉 but was not satisfied with his answer.

My question is this: why/how do/can the people of hong kong/singapore/and I will even include other countries such as france/germany, etc. speak such good, nice, flowing (in that what is being said does not sound too 'akward') and for the most part grammatically sound english...whereas the mainland chinese for the most part...cannot?? This really boggles my mind, I mean, they are all taught in grammar school at a young age right? And then (forcfully) continued throughout their academic career? And yet each respective region uses the respective language to talk for communication in everyday life, right? So, French/Germans/Hong Kongese/Singapore(ans?) speak to storekeepers, parents, friends, watch the news, etc, in French/German/Cantonese and so on, right? How the hell is this different from the situations on the mainland? They all don't use english as the mother language, then why is the english language level and specifically the speaking here on the mainland for the most part so poor?

I say this because EVERY young (and even some old) hong kong or singapore person that I have met speaks english like they have always used it and is just so natural. I remember asking them why, and they said "o, it is taught in school. " ...well...what is the difference between their teaching and mainland's? And if hong kong/or any other country for that matter can produce such natural speakers...then why does not china simply copy such methods?

Among the possible reasons my friend gave me one was: "because there much more foreigners in those areas", but still ... that does not mean that all these people take their time to find these foreigners and bug them to practice speaking. Like I am going to speak fluent spanish just because I learned some spanish in grammar school and america is full of spanish speaking peeps. haha He also reminded me that there are more and more kids of the more developed cities in china who are can speak such a level of english. I do agree with this.

This question is especially for those hong kong peeps on the forum, perhaps you guys can enlighten me?

Thanks for your time

HJ

[Quest]

This question is especially for those hong kong peeps on the forum, perhaps you guys can enlighten me?

I am not from hong kong, but I think I can answer your question. It's because they use English textbooks in hongkong for all subjects other than Chinese and Chinese History, while in China its the other way around. In Hong Kong, they have English schools, the teachers only teach in English. The good students can always pick up fluent English this way. They are promoting "teach in mother tongue" now though, because many cannot catch up in English schools. So, don't assume everyone from Hong Kong can speak fluent English, most can't.

Hong Kong and Singapore were Britsh colonies. It's not possible to implement that in China, it would be like asking Britain to switch to Chinese.

[HashiriKata]

To me, the answer to "why people from some country speak English better than the people from another country" lies in the following basic factors:

1. How similar is English to the language of the learners: even Russian is closer to English than Chinese is, for example.

2. How strong is need to speak (= use) English in one country as compared to the other: HK, Singapore vs Mainland China.

3. How frequent are the opportunities to use English in one country as opposed to the other: HK, Singapore vs Mainland China.

[atitarev]

If we should a common international language, let it be English. If the the PRC government makes it a rule for everybody to learn English, they should supply the materials and teachers to rural schools as well. If the US is interested in promoting English, they could help as well. Having English under their belt will just make it easier for Chinese people.

I don't support too much flexibilities in education, that way everyone gets proper education but if you don't want to use it in the future you will have this choice.

I know my Russian fiends and relatives who didn't want to learn English in the past and now that they need it (they are grown-up) it's much harder. It would be easier for them if they were taught at school properly in the first place. A similar discussion is going on in Russia. English was never a required subject before and many schools chose German, French, Spanish, etc as their foreign language subject, rather than English an it's still the case - there are schools where Chinese or Japanese is taught, not English.