English has always been an important part of the mandatory and core curriculum in Chinese secondary school and university education. It used to be one of the mandatory subjects tested for students sitting for their National College Entrance Examination in China, the rest being Maths and Chinese. However, there has been a recent change on the subjects tested in the national exam, that is, as of 2016, English will be no more tested as a mandatory subject. College students, however, are still required to pass two English-level tests regardless of their majors.
Here comes my question: are foreign languages taught and tested as a mandatory subject in English-speaking countries as well?
When it comes to the native language, I have a question as well.
In China, Chinese mandarin is widely taught in classes throughout the country, and it has been set as a national standard for Chinese language teaching. Students whose native tongue is not mandarin are usually required to pass a mandarin exam so that they will aquire a good command of the official language standard. Is there a same or similar language standard in English in your country? Do schools in your country teach and test standardised English?
As far as I know, mandarin is more of pronuncation than grammar. China is a huge, so are the differences among local dialects and language usages. For example, Shanghainese and Cantonese are completely different from the mandarin. There is no way for me to understand if a Shanghainese or Cantonese talks to me in his or her dialect.
I bet it would be more or less the same with English in the UK as well. I watched the other day a video introducing a local dialect called Scouse in Liverpool, which sounds completely different from what I learnt as English in my English classes. I suppose that the case would be similar in the US as well. Someone from Boston will speak and pronouce differently from someone from New York or Los Angeles.
I'd like to hear more on this from you guys. Thanks!
What you may be hearing are reporters on CNN that are from different countries that learned English from an English teacher. What they call the "English Public School" accent. I often meet immigrants from India or Asia with that accent. It is also possible that they are from England or Australia but they also learned the same English in school and did not pick up the local accent too much. A neutral, educated English, although there might be a slight hint of an accent, is understandable to everyone so it would not sound odd to us at all. However, a thick patois filled with slang and jargon would not be completely understandable to anyone outside of that area and it is generally looked down on. It would be unusual to find a news reporter with a thick accent even in the area where that accent was common.
In my opinion, the ultimate example of spoken English is the character Jeeves from the show Jeeves and Wooster. The actor who plays him is Stephen Fry. Look up the videos on YouTube, it is a great show. That character's speech would seem a bit odd around here, to be sure, but people would love it.
Imk & Rick: Many thanks for your kind reply.
To Imk: I am personally quite interested in different accents of English, notably British and Amercian English accents. I have noticed that there are quite a number of anchors at CNN who do not have an American accent. Actually, some have a British and some have an Australian accent. How do you think of other accents? If someone, who is a non-native speaker of English, living and working in the States, speaks with a British accent or an Aussie accent, will that appear strange or a bit out-toned?
to Jmat: many thanks for your long and kind reply! Very much appreciated!
It's cool that you learnt Chinese at primary school! How is your Chinese going now? Did you have native Chinese teachers or Aussie teacher to teach Chinese at school?
Yes, I agree with you on the fact that Australian English is quite close to British English, esp grammar-wise, you are almost the same, with maybe just a few spelling differences, such as program in AuE while programme in BrE. I had a language exchange partner in Beijing many years ago, who is Australian. She's got a neutral accent. I had no diffulty in understanding her English. And luckily, I made myself understood to her as well. Besides, some time ago, I watched a video on the internet regarding Australian English, which gave a panoramic view on the language with local variations within the country. It was very fun and informative. You know what? I actually listen to ABC news on the net every day and get more acquainted with the Aussie accent now! Tony Abbot and Julia Gillard do speak differently from David Cameron.
I was taught Chinese in primary school and was given the choice between Chinese, Japanese and French in high school (we had to do at least one).
My sisters went to a different school. They were taught both Indonesian and German in primary school and could have chosen one of those two languages or Japanese in high school (but they didn't have to choose any at all).
"Australian English" is essentially just RP English with an Australian accent. There is no official language or dialect called "Australian English". Since Australia is part of the Commonwealth, British English is considered the official language and "Australian English" is just used to refer to how Australians generally talk colloquially. To Australian and British people, the difference between our accents is obvious, but they're not nearly as different as we think. Americans usually can't tell the difference between an Australian and a British accent. Australian English is much closer to RP English than many dialects within England. I also feel that, grammar-wise, both Australian and RP English are closer to standard American English than many dialects spoken with the US!
Everything I've ever written on Italki, including this post, is written in so-called Australian English ie. it's how I talk every day both colloquially and formally. I definitely would say it aloud with a different accent than any American or British person, but I doubt you'd have any trouble understanding me even if you've never heard an Australian accent before.
To Steve: thank you for your long reply. Yes, I agree with you sometimes that language requirements in Universities in are mostly useless exercises and requirements given by people who are unable to see other ways their stated goals are met in people's lives. Same here in China! I have to say that not everyone is made for languages. That's why there is a language major in unversities. I don't see why all college students in China, regardless of their majors or interests, have to pass English tests in order to graduate (In fact, mostly likely, they can graduate even though they fail in English exams. Lucky for the non-English majors!) .
It'd be much more efficient and reasonable that people get trained and study for a degree on a specific area, which falls in their own interest, and which is really what they are good at. Therefore, it'd more meaningful for English majors to reach an advanced level of the language than for students majoring in maths or arts or archaeology...
Last but not least, best luck to your son for the Korea test he will be required to sit!
Cheers!
