Comments on: Is English Emerging as a Lingua Franca in China? How Convenient! http://dangerousintersection.org/2007/09/30/is-english-emerging-as-a-lingua-franca-in-china-how-convenient/ Human Animals at the Crossroads of Culture, Science, Religion and Media Wed, 07 Jan 2009 23:42:12 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.5 By: xiaogou http://dangerousintersection.org/2007/09/30/is-english-emerging-as-a-lingua-franca-in-china-how-convenient/#comment-14662 xiaogou Thu, 11 Oct 2007 13:01:17 +0000 http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=1634#comment-14662 Actually, all airline pilots are required to speak English if they do not they cannot fly. In China the ability to speak English is a prestige thing. To speak English in Beijing is like being part of the upper elite of the country and they are treated as such or act as such (I just smile as they often don’t know who I am.). In Southern China, the people still speak Cantonese as the main language. The Southern Chinese learn mandarin if they want to do business within China. Then, you have the few rich or affluent individuals that have their children learn to speak English. In other provinces they speak other Chinese languages such as Fujian, or Tibetan. Even, the Mandarin the Chinese speak varies from province to province if not from town to town. Beijing Mandarin has a distinct pattern and sound to it and the Chinese can often tell if a person is from Beijing or not. For the Chinese to learn English they often need to learn the particular phonemes that we use that is not present in there language. This presents a problem as they cannot hear the sound as we pronounce it such as the ‘v’ or ‘th’ sounds. They end up dubbing in sounds that sound like it and we hear the Chinese mispronouncing words. Only after they learn the phonemes can they actually start speaking correctly. Eastern Europeans have phonemes I cannot hear and I have a hard time pronouncing words in Bulgarian or Croatian. In Japan there is a strange phenomenon going on as they are using more and more borrowed foreign words in their language. My friends can actually speak to a Japanese person in English by changing the English word by changing the consonant sounds and vowel sounds to Japanese analogs and pronouncing it as Japanese. For example, the word bathtub is pronounced ‘basu-tabu’ and the Japanese speaker can understand what he said. Not always, but the number of words they can understand is very large. Conversely, native Japanese people can speak English quickly as they know the base word and all they need to do is pronounce it properly. Actually, all airline pilots are required to speak English if they do not they cannot fly.
In China the ability to speak English is a prestige thing. To speak English in Beijing is like being part of the upper elite of the country and they are treated as such or act as such (I just smile as they often don’t know who I am.). In Southern China, the people still speak Cantonese as the main language. The Southern Chinese learn mandarin if they want to do business within China. Then, you have the few rich or affluent individuals that have their children learn to speak English.
In other provinces they speak other Chinese languages such as Fujian, or Tibetan. Even, the Mandarin the Chinese speak varies from province to province if not from town to town. Beijing Mandarin has a distinct pattern and sound to it and the Chinese can often tell if a person is from Beijing or not.
For the Chinese to learn English they often need to learn the particular phonemes that we use that is not present in there language. This presents a problem as they cannot hear the sound as we pronounce it such as the ‘v’ or ‘th’ sounds. They end up dubbing in sounds that sound like it and we hear the Chinese mispronouncing words. Only after they learn the phonemes can they actually start speaking correctly. Eastern Europeans have phonemes I cannot hear and I have a hard time pronouncing words in Bulgarian or Croatian.
In Japan there is a strange phenomenon going on as they are using more and more borrowed foreign words in their language. My friends can actually speak to a Japanese person in English by changing the English word by changing the consonant sounds and vowel sounds to Japanese analogs and pronouncing it as Japanese. For example, the word bathtub is pronounced ‘basu-tabu’ and the Japanese speaker can understand what he said. Not always, but the number of words they can understand is very large. Conversely, native Japanese people can speak English quickly as they know the base word and all they need to do is pronounce it properly.

]]> By: Niklaus Pfirsig http://dangerousintersection.org/2007/09/30/is-english-emerging-as-a-lingua-franca-in-china-how-convenient/#comment-14537 Niklaus Pfirsig Mon, 01 Oct 2007 19:28:40 +0000 http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=1634#comment-14537 Gee, I oughta print those off and type them into my Besta English/Cantonese/Mandarin/Japanese talking dictionary and see how it translates them. Actually, English has become the defacto preferred language for internationial business. This is probably due to many reasons, but the influence of the British Empire, and the fact that English has evolved of the centuries from its Teutonic roots through the continuous addition of common bits of other languages. Gee, I oughta print those off and type them into my Besta English/Cantonese/Mandarin/Japanese talking dictionary and see how it translates them.

Actually, English has become the defacto preferred language for internationial business. This is probably due to many reasons, but the influence of the British Empire, and the fact that English has evolved of the centuries from its Teutonic roots through the continuous addition of common bits of other languages.

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