Why chinese people have difficulty mastering Engli

[yang88]

Dear cecil,
The chinese people are able to score high test score in all the Universities around the World. But why they are unable to master English language especially spoken English. Thanks.

[Cecil Lee]

Dear Anon,
1. In my opinion, many Chinese even before learning English, have to learn `many languages'.
2. For example, take the case of a Chinese in Malaysia.
Usually, the child picks up one or two Chinese dialects in their home.
This is because more often, each parent may speak one or more dialect even before they go to school.
3. When the child goes to school, he/she has to learn e.g. English, Bahasa Malaysia and Mandarin.
Thus, imagine, a child this young has to grope with 5 languages!
Each language has it own `gramma' etc...
While in an `English' speaking country, one's mother tongue may be `English' and later on, the child gets to learn e.g. Spanish.
In my opinion, one's mother tongue is important as it is the base language. Many Chinese do not speak English at home and thus, the only opportunity for the child to learn English is in School.
Since, English/gramma lessons are part of the syllabus, other subjects such as mathematics etc.. have less on English and gramma ....
Furthermore, if one translate, Mandarin word for word in English, it will certainly sound like "broken " English. The sentence structure in Mandarin cannot always be translated exactly into English without refinement to the language structure and vice vesa.
Warmest Regards,
Cecil

Quote

On 5/31/00 12:33:00 AM, Anonymous wrote:
Dear cecil,
The chinese people are able to
score high test score in all
the Universities around the
World. But why they are unable
to master English language
especially spoken English.
Thanks.