Learn Foreign Languages

But why are Chinese students making so much effort to learn English? There is a variety of reasons.

First, English is required at school. To get a higher education, you need to pass English tests. To be enrolled into college, English test is the must among five of them. To enter a postgraduate program, English test is one of the three required tests.

To find a job, you need to show the interviewers what you have with your English. The most important thing for which you need to prepare yourself for before a job interview is a brief English introduction of yourself. Many friends of mine asked me to translate their Resumes from Chinese into English. Most of the time, they ask me to write a self-introduction in English for them. Some even asked me to make an audio for this so that they can imitate my pronunciation.

What has caused this?

The influx of international companies that came after China opened its door to outside world must have something to do with this. These companies were richer. They paid better than local national or private enterprises. As a result, domestic enterprises began to imitate.

Many anecdotes and success stories of graduates finding a “good” job in a transnational corporation were spread among the senior and junior, even to the ears of sophomore and freshmen. Obviously, they rippled the hearts of the lower grade schoolmates. Learning English well became their single goal and task. Most Chinese students will agree if I say that all Chinese undergraduates have a secondary major, i.e. English.