| Should everyone learn English? | |
|---|---|
| Oct 15, 2007 01:19 |   |
 | In recent years, Chinese people have attached much importance to English learning. English in China enjoys a very high status. No matter you are going to study for getting your master or docter degree, you should pass the Entrance Examinations. English is one of the subjects. If you wanna get your academic or technical title, you have to pass English test first. Under this situation, English has become the impediment that you must overcome. It is hard for me to understand why they attach too much importance to English learning. Actually, some of them never use English in their daily work. But they have to pass the exam first. What's more, some people who have studied English for a long time still can not speak English fluently. For what reason they study English? What do you think? Should everyone learn English? English is really important as some people claim? |
| Oct 15, 2007 01:36 | #1 |
| GUESTTUNG | :) not really |
| Oct 15, 2007 02:59 | #2 |
| Hey whats up, I do not believe it should be required for everyone to learn the English language. To me and others who feel the same, it makes it sound like English is the superior to other languages which I do not agree with. There is no doubt that English will be of great benefit to you if lets say, you work with people from English speaking countries or if you want to work in the countries they came from. Interestingly in America, if you speak any languages other than English, its a huge plus to have on your resume. But I do see similarities in the criteria required for higher education there in China and here in America though not as rigorous. Here in California, you would have to take three consecutive years worth of foreign language units in order to quality for the UC system, if not, all the AP classes would not help your transcript. Danny |
| Oct 15, 2007 04:25 | #3 |
| I think it should optional, but if you intend to move to the UK or the US then you will be expected to learn. |
| Oct 15, 2007 06:32 | #4 |
| English isn't more important than any other language. However, you do have to consider that during the days of the British Empire, a third of the world was under British rule - which means English was the operating language of those countries. I'm no expert on computers, but I'm told that the programming language of computers is also English. Given all these factors, it does seem that it would be advantageous to have a reasonable command of English. |
| Oct 15, 2007 07:37 | #5 |
| GUEST71117 | Absolutely NO. |
| Oct 15, 2007 09:58 | #6 |
| "English is the language of technology..." A French man told me that in the 90's when he decided to have all of the technical training for his product produced and taught in English...even when the training was being given in Germany. A common language for the planet would have certain benefits; the cultural losses would be enormous. |
| Oct 15, 2007 12:00 | #7 |
| There are probably many people studying English for whom it will be a waste. On the other hand there are still very few people in banks, offices and shops which foreigners visit who speak English. So probably it should be studied, but not on the assumption it will get a person a job. I teach English major and many of them will struggle to get jobs where they really use English, partly because they know so little about business and thier English is not brilliant despite 4 years in uni. I recommend high school students that they should choose something else that interests them and study English as an extra. Most will become just as good at practical English as the average English major that I teach and so they will be much more employable. |
| Oct 15, 2007 20:52 | #8 |
| English is just a language tool. But it is very sad that many Chinese students do not realize it. They treat it as a subject. They learn English just for passing the exams, not communicating with others. The root of this problem is the education system. Perhaps, this example can help illustrate my idea. Once an art professor in Peking University declared that he wanna quit his job because he thought that the Entrance Examinations for Masters are not reasonable. Some students really have talents in arts. However, they can not enter the graduate school to continue their further study. Why? Because they are not good at passing exams. English and Politics are the impediment. The professor is puzzled that why the students who are learning arts have to pass English and Politics Exams. How sad it is! |
| Dec 4, 2007 12:13 | #9 |
| It is not mandatory that everyone should speak English, however, I can understand why businesses put a lot of importance to it when hiring people. It doesn't matter what kind of business or what kind of profession but if you want your business to grow, you always think of the possibility of going global. Going global means you need to communicate in English and employers know that having English-speaking people will be an asset. It's true too that English is the language of technology. If you are in any technology-related field, you will have to deal with a lot of technical English terms that are not usually translated in other languages. |
| Dec 5, 2007 03:15 | #10 |
| English has moved on from being just a language of English speaking countries. It is just a common tool now of communicating throughout the world. It was and still is just a bastard language made from many different countries and continues to develop and adapt to meet the needs of an evolving world. Dodger. |
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