Can Chinese people speak English?
I have lived in both countries, and I find that English is not widely spoken in either place. Both have strong accent, which makes it hard to understand. Out of the hundreds of colleagues that I had in China, probably 10% speak with little accent, the rest 90%, I can't understand most of the time. So I speak Chinese with them, not saying that my Chinese is better than their English, but at least they're doing all the work trying to understand me. In Japan, I find even less people speak English, but those that do, do so better than those in China. Considering that English are taught from high school in both countries, their command of English is appaling, both written and verbal.
I’m living in China as a Chinese.In my observation, most of people don’t like to speak English. There are reasons:Poor English education. Although English education is set from junior school to universities, quality of education is still low before getting into universities or colleges. This is because lessons and homework are mainly designed to get over examinations rather than practical using. Even once getting a high score in exam, the student would forget most of words if English knowledge is of no use in future.Less English environment in domestic.native Chinese environment in basic definitely. Except in foreign-related especially English-related fields of communication, people don’t use English. Even the people in these fields mostly don’t use English in ordinary life living.realistic obstacles through touching English world, like the GFW, Great Firewall, which stops most of Chinese netizens getting into English application and websites, due to political consideration from Communists.though some people like using specific English words in Chinese sentences for acting in a so called high level life living style, they are still minority because it’s truly cheap.3. Excellent English skills is not apparently equal to high salary. If yes, most of Chinese would learn it well in such a high population density living environment.
It depends where you are and who you talk to. However, I think 70% Chinese cannot speak fluent English. Most people can say some very simple sentences, e.g. ok; how are you; thank you, etc.1 .where you are:Talking to those who live in developed cities, such as, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, you may find it is much more easier to communicate with them in English. Especially those districts, Hongkong, Macau, Taiwan, where are not in the mainland of China. I had a trip to HK and Macau before. In these two places, you can easily find someone who speak fluent English even they work in tea restaurant. They speak both Cantonese and English in their daily life. Unlike mainland of China who speak Mandarin in their every day life.SAR: Hong kong, Macau; Taiwan>Developed cities(Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, etc) in Mainland of China>Developing cities in Mainland of China2.Who you talk to:In mainland of China, actually, even those English Major students in Universities, they cannot speak fluent English with western people because they have few opportunities to employ English in their daily life. Not even say those elderly people, they have never learnt English when they were young and they do not need to use English when they work. It is extremely difficult to find an old man who can speak fluent English. However, more people pay attention to English education on their children so it would be easier to talk to a kid in English.Adults(20–40)>Teenager(10–18)>Adults(45–55)>Elderly people(over 55)
Dude. Do you speak Chinese?Let me tell you, Chinese is difficult. I grew up in a Chinese family. 75% of my country is Chinese, and I still can barely manage to buy eggs at the market using Chinese. First of all, the sentence structure is totally different, and so are the tenses and pronunciations. Here’s an example of the difference between Chinese and English (A simple sentence because I can’t think of anything better):我以前最爱吃草莓 means I used to love to eat strawberries. However, when literally translated, it comes out like this: I last time most love eat strawberry. The Chinese don’t have tenses or plurals. Now, imagine if you, as a native English speaker, were suddenly thrown into an environment where everyone speaks as weird as that, and when you speak like you were taught to, people look at you like you’re thick. How’d you feel?English and Chinese are worlds apart. It’s learning an entirely new language, people! You wouldn’t be able to learn Chinese despite “years” of trying, so don’t expect the same on their part, okay?Edit II: Many have mentioned that tenses and plurals do exist in Chinese. I must have been quite confusing, stating that tenses don’t exist, having cited an example of a tense, 之前, right before. So to clarify, tenses and plurals do exist in Chinese, but not as suffixes or word modifiers. Instead, they’re more often used optionally, to add context to a sentence. My fault for not being clear, sorry everyone!
Do the Americans speak poor English?
I know that your question is a tit-for-tat response to the reciprocal question about the quality of English spoken in Taiwan, but I will answer it anyway. Langauge is ever-evolving. It is true that American English is quite a bit different from "the Queen's English", and that many people (not just Americans) speak their own language in an uneducated and slovenly manner. Not everyone lives in a personal or family culture where education is valued. Having said that, I am aghast when I hear English teachers in Taiwan using "like" as every second word, and using poor grammar with students. I am also outraged when I see Taiwanese people being mocked. I saw one teenaged boy in Hualien wearing a T-shirt that said "stamp out lacism", and a girl wearing one that said (in Asian font) "funny genes". Yet I am certain that the comedian T-shirt artist would be mortally offended if called a racist, and would accuse me of having no sense of humour. Oh well. It takes all kinds to make the world go around, including curmudgeons.
1. Most people do not feel the need to learn English. Everything here is in Chinese or has been translated into Chinese. One proof is that if you have come to China, you will find it is hard to live here without knowing any Mandarin. However, even some educated people do think having a better English skill could help their career, or just their scores in school, English may still be their most hated subject because…2. English is difficult for East Asians to learn. Chinese languages (Mandarin, Wu, Cantonese...) and English are totally different. So even English does not act as a lingua franca in India, it would still be easier for them to learn because most of their languages belong to Indo-European languages just like English. Unfortunately, even those 学霸 (grinds) put a lot of efforts in school and get amazing scores, they may still cannot speak English fluently because…3. Our English education system really has a problem. Here I will just copy from my another answer (Wu Shan's answer to What is the problem with China's English exams? Why do so many Chinese students complain about it?):The biggest problem is imbalance (of the English tests). There's no speaking part in the exam, plus the listening and writing parts also play much less important role than grammar and reading. Unfortunately, the whole education system in China is exam based. Thus, a graduate who has learned English for about 10 years and get good scores every time may even don't have the ability to talk.
My wife doesn't speak English....?
This sounds too bizarre to be true. You've only met your "wife" twice, she doesn't speak English, she can't communicate with you and you don't really know each other. I wonder why you got an arranged marriage. Because communication is really the thing that holds marriage together. She may be cute, but how can you possibly know who she really is if you can't communicate with her? Well if this marriage is going to go anywhere, I suggest she learns English asap. I am surprised she doesn't know it already; many Chinese learn English and they learn it at a very young age. Once she learns how to communicate with you, finds out who you are, and you learn who she is, rather than just the cute wife, I hope this marriage is really what you want and that you share many common interests and experiences together. Good luck.
Security, busboy, trash collector, and, evidently, 70% of all stores in NYC.the ability to speak the local language properly or fluently is not even a concern to most people. Idek.
I'm Korean . I want to speak English well, but my English very poor...How I can speak English like American?
Well if you don't know any English speakers personally you could try finding English speaking pen pals online. That way you can ask them questions about English if you'd like. Also when you write to them in English they can check to make sure that you are writing correctly and inform you of any mistakes. I'm doing this with Spanish right now and it has helped me a lot. A few months ago I had a lot of trouble while reading in the language, but now I am able to read my friends letters in Spanish as well as surf the net in Spanish with almost no trouble at all. If you'd like some help with your English, I can help you. Just send me an e-mail. Have a nice day : )
It is often the case that people learning another language choose a name other speakers would be more familiar with. Many Chinese learners do this, I know of Chinese people named Chuck, Gerry, Frank, Polly and Vincent. I know that Japanese, Indian and Turkish people sometimes do this as well. I don’t think it’s weird. I also understand the reason; I lived with two Chinese people for weeks before I stopped messing their names up in my head (they were very similar to me).That being said, the name chosen is important. Polly, for example, is an old-fashioned name and is an odd choice for a young 20-something year old, it’s also the butt of many a parrot joke. If choosing an English name, I’d recommend finding out the most common names and selecting one that is close to your real name.