Dear forum friends,
Our capable forum master, 3Pan, once referred me to a Chinese article that discussed how the overheated English phenomenon in China turned just about everybody
into English fanatics. I do feel that this situation is an overkill and very abnormal. Any language, whether it’s Chinese or English, is only a communication tool, for people to interact, to convey and exchange ideas. It shouldn’t be just
another form of fad, which will subside once the 2008 Olympics in Beijing are over. I can understand that mastering the English language means everything if you’re studying to be a professional translator or interpreter, otherwise, you really have to ask yourself, what other areas of knowledge do you wish to pursue,
once you’ve gone past learning basic English? Is it civil engineering, medical
science, nuclear physics or computer programming? Learning English just for the
sake of learning English is shortsighted and usually results in all your efforts
being half wasted. You should think of English as a stepping stone, which enables you to rise and achieve higher and loftier goals.
In Canada, people with excellent written English, are not necessarily the ones earning the highest salary. The secretary in my company has a degree in English literature, my friend’s wife has a degree in Sociology, and a duty manager in my
company, is an extraordinary vocabulary pundit, a true walking dictionary when
it comes to English vocabulary. These are three people whose written English is
twice as good as mine, and yet I am sure my salary is twice of theirs.
In my opinion, the professions that require good English skills and can guarantee an above average income are lawyers, journalists and educators. If you happen
to focus your study in areas such as business administration, marketing, advertising, tourism, psychology, economics, chances are you will be making less money
than those who study in more specialized fields such as finance, geophysics, engineering, accounting, computer programming, statistics etc. And yet the former fields I mentioned usually require more English writing skills.
Prior to joining the Chartered Accountant firm where I used to article, my friend Terry, with a MBA from the university of Saskatchewan, had a hard time finding
related works with a decent salary. It wasn’t until he received his Chartered
Accountant designation that he began to earn enviable salary. CA’s are worth more than a MBA’s in the employers’ eyes, but MBA requires way more English writing skills than CA.
I also know a researcher in the university of Alberta, Dr. Chu, who has a Ph D.
in chemical engineering. He speaks with a very strong Chinese accent and hires a
young lady, an English major, to be his assistant, to help out with his English
technical writing, as he publishes books and writes academic articles year round. Dr. Chu makes his big bucks with his professional knowledge in chemical engineering, not with his mediocre English writing skills.
The reality is, a specialist with second class English skills, usually makes more money than a generalist with top notch English skills.
I hope what I said above will not in any way demoralize or dishearten our English learning friends in this forum. I totally understand what a monumental undertaking it is to try to learn English while living in China. It’s no difference from seeing Mary or Tim trying desperately to learn Chinese while living in North
America. It’s no easy feat. I merely wish to remind you that mastering the basic English skills is only a battle half won, you need to continue leaping forward
to grasp and acquire further academic knowledge in specific fields, in order to
make greater contributions to the motherland. We need to continue embracing the
'Long March' spirit and courageously marching forward, because the journey of a
thousand mile begins with a single step, but we also need to be psychologically
prepared and aware that our destination lies beyond the horizon of this long-lasting English learning journey.
After reading the article 3Pan referred to me, I do feel that the existing education system in China devotes too much emphasis in English learning, just for the
sake of learning the language.
That reminds me of a wise saying I read in a magazine from China, “Why do we want to spend so many years learning the “dragon hunting skills”, while there is
no dragon to hunt?”
Neil
