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Discovering the True Potential of Learning English in China
Written by Robert Vance on March 28, 2008 – 2:03 amDuring the past few weeks, social unrest in Western China has erupted into a firestorm of protests and harsh government reaction. As is usual with these types of situations, the information that is available in China about these events is quite limited in scope and very different from Western sources. People who I speak with in China about the events basically repeat what is being fed to them on Chinese television. They have no knowledge about differing accounts in the West. However, some of my friends have admitted that they would like to hear “the other side of the story” because they are sure that they are certain that they are not being told the complete truth.
What is to stop them then from reading these differing accounts? My friends all have computers. They can access the web as easily as I can. While it is true that much information in Chinese about certain events is blocked, there are many more English sites with the same information that have not been blocked. But most people I talk to in China really have no concept of looking for information outside of China. And many of them have no desire to. They have been fed by the Chinese Media Machine their whole lives and they trust no other news sources. In fact, they are told that other media organizations routinely distort the news to destroy China’s repuatation.
So why has the government here allowed the explosion of English learning? Is it not concerned about access to more information? In truth, the government has taken a risk by allowing the business of teaching English to thrive in China. But so far, the calculated gamble has paid off because most people are not using their English skills to look up government secrets or find out what is happening in a region. Instead, English is being used in China to create new businesses and establish stronger ties with foreign countries which of course results in more revenue for the government. And the few people that I know who do search for “forbidden” information in China are labeled as crazy and unpatriotic.
In closing, it seems that most Chinese people have not discovered the true potential of learning English. If only they knew what information that had access to. If only they cared. Knowledge is power but for now the government has the monopoly on most knowledge in China.
Authors Note: The author has to write this article with some caution so certain names and details have been omitted.
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Dear Robert, not sure how you are here in china, my friends in shanghai are routinely reading the english websites and the news and entertainment come with them. we fully understand the news from the chinese media are not the full truth, and expected more from the western media. what is really disappointing this time is the western media had turned almost unanimously against China. May be it is more popular to align wtih the Da**i La*a, may be it is simply more catchy to keep the news on the headline with reports of chinese government “opression”, the French Forrign Miniter put it. May be it is the politics of Nancy Pelosi to keep her conscience and moral standing of human rights regardless of her own country’s agression in Iraq. so, whatever the reasons are, the west has deeply hurted the feeling of the chinese public. Anything happened to the Olympics would lead to permanent damage the relations between china and the west. What are the western journalists thinking?
Hi Ty,
I don’t respond to comments often but I appreciate your response and I did want to respond to a few things that you said. Much of my time in China has been spent in smaller cities away from the big metropolitan hubs like Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen. I do think that English speakers in these big cities are more aware of the information that is at their fingertips. But as you move deeper into China I think you will find an information disconnect. Those same english news websites are of course available everywhere in China but it seems that more people rely on state television. They see little need to access other information. Some of them that I talk to really don’t care what others are saying because it doesn’t effect them personally. So while my article makes a blanket statement about China in general I do recognize that there are people out there like you who are using their English to access outside information.
I am sorry if you feel that the West has hurt the feelings of the Chinese people. You might be amazed to know, however, that many foreigners feel that the West hasn’t done enough to protest the actions of the Chinese. Some feel that the West (especially the U.S. government) has not been harsh enough in its response. I think that people around the world (including myself) are excited about the Olympics coming to Beijing but we are also concerned about what has been going on in Western China. We hope that this issue can be put at rest soon and that the Olympics can proceed smoothly. Good Luck, my friend!
[...] to read English news and expand their knowledge base online. As I have written about previously, it seems that many English students do not realize what a valuable tool English is for acquiring [...]