Blogger 'English useless' post starts war of words

serenades

A foreign teacher gives youngsters a English class at a traning center.

A Chinese blogger's post "English for most Chinese is a rubbish skill" on Monday sparked a row on social media.

Hua Qianfang, who has about 1.6 million followers on Sina Weibo, wrote that learning English not only costs Chinese people a lot of money and resources, it robs their children of their happy childhood.

People who defend China's "English craze" are either in the industry, or "mental slaves" degrading themselves, suggested Hua as English translation can be done online or by a team of professionals.

While some netizens agreed that the importance of English has been overemphasized in school curriculum and the workplace, others sharply refuted Hua's opinions.

A second language offers people a window into the outside world, and people who depend on translation could receive inaccurate or even deceitful information, noted many netizens.  

Scientists who have to wait for a professional translation of academic papers in their discipline are like people left smelling the exhaust from the tailpipes of cutting-edge scholars, one Net user said.

"Without English, how can I shop on overseas websites?" another netizen wrote with a hint of humor.  

Hua later explained that he did not mean that people should stop learning English, but he's worried people are spending too much money and time on it.

Children are being required to take extra English courses at a younger and younger age. "My institute just started to offer a pre-school program," a Beijing-based language tutor surnamed Yao told the Global Times.

Yao has witnessed her company adding primary school- and kindergarten-level programs into their business.

Parents don't want their kids to fall behind and some send their children to bilingual kindergartens while others turn to training centers and online courses. (Global Times)

huaqiao

The real problem is not about learning English or any other language. It is about going to the extreme, such as overspending on lessons or spending on unnecessary lessons in overpriced private schools for the sake of keeping up with the masses. Many think that knowledge can be achieved by spending more without due consideration on ability to pay and the benefits out of the expenses.

1626548377

Hua Qianfang is worried people are spending too much money and time on it, just as I thought he pay for these peoples English classes

parcher

He probably has a point. i wonder how many times parents have bewn ripped off by teachers who simply look the part? they will probably pay what ever the school is charging if he/she fits the perfect description....
parents will spend every penny they have saved just for their kids to get a head start, but its probably becoming an obsession now. My ex translator  taught herself english, because her family were too poor to send her to school..........an inspiring true story......

GhostBuster

huaqiao Post time: 2019-3-20 18:09
The real problem is not about learning English or any other language. It is about going to the extre ...

A school in Panyu, Guangzhou, Guangdong charges RMB400per one hour session for preschooler with so called one to one English tution class!

This is really ridiculous! Unfortunately, parents will pay with belief that they have the best English teachers. When in actuality, those English teachers do not seem to be English proficient! Common spoken English grammatical mistakes could be heard easily!

Unfortunately, those parents do not know! None of them will ever know!

Thankopam

GhostBuster Post time: 2019-3-20 23:48
A school in Panyu, Guangzhou, Guangdong charges RMB400per one hour session for preschooler with s ...

'ILearn' english easy as 'ABC'

wchao37

huaqiao Post time: 2019-3-20 18:09
The real problem is not about learning English or any other language. It is about going to the extre ...

Going to the extreme -- that's the case here.

The craze is harmful.  There are people now in Hongkong and Shanghai who insist on sending their kids to International Schools despite the fact that the kids would have received a far better bilingual education in the local schools.