Why do Indians speak better English than Chinese?

Speaking of it, Indians like to make jokes about English. There is a vulgar joke——

During the final exam, someone spent five minutes reading the questions and suddenly started to take off his clothes. Stripped down to just a pair of briefs.

Invigilator: "Hey, what are you doing?"

This student: "The test paper says we are asked to 'answer in brief'... Wear briefs to answer..."

Invigilator: "Idiot! That's what 'short answer' means!". . . . . . . . . . . .

There are many colonies in Asia or countries where English is popular, but there are few English jokes. This shows that English has been completely integrated into Indian life.

The biggest factor and the most important key to success for Indians is "English". How many English-speaking people are there in India? There are different opinions on this point, and there is still no accurate answer. Data show that 28% (more than 200 million) men in India can speak English, half of them (more than 100 million) can speak fluent English, and the proportion of women is lower than that of men. According to the 2011 census, India's English-speaking population accounts for more than 10% of the total, about 130 million people. In addition, every year, many Indian college students who are proficient in English go to work abroad after graduation, and their number ranks first in the world. No matter which data you look at, India's English-speaking population is second only to the United States. Even if it is underestimated, it is twice as many as the 64 million people of the old sovereign country, the United Kingdom. Some people even predict that India is likely to surpass the United States in the future and become the country with the largest English-speaking population in the world. There are reports that the number of people who can speak English in India has increased tenfold in the past two decades. Although the source of this number is unknown, it is an indisputable fact that India’s English-speaking population has grown rapidly in recent years. Hinglish will become the most widely used “variant English” in the world.

English is the second official language of India, and many Indians with different native languages ??use English to communicate. In fact, English was originally a "colonial symbol" that Indians were forced to learn when the British ruled India. Now it has taken root and become India's second language. In other words, for Indians, English is a "foreign language" rather than a "foreign language", but it is not a "mother tongue" either. The federal official language stipulated in the Indian Constitution is Hindi. Although Hindi is the language spoken by the most people in India, only one-third of the population (about 400 million people) can speak Hindi, and its popularity is really limited. In India's diverse environment, the only language that can "unify" is English. In this sense, English can be said to be the second national language of India.

To survive in Indian society, English is not only an indispensable tool, but also a powerful weapon. They learn English not only to communicate with foreigners, but also to communicate with their own people. English is the basic communication medium for Indian companies, and being familiar with English is a prerequisite for promotion and wealth in India.

Large Japanese companies, such as Nissan and Fast Retailing (the parent company of Uniqlo), set English as the official company language in 2012. Honda also announced that it will implement this policy in 2020. Others such as Asahi, Sharp, Mitsui, SoftBank, etc. will also follow suit. This is all in response to the wave of globalization. Large companies in India have used English as their official language for a long time. Even as early as the British colonial period, for Indians, English is the business language. A necessary tool for companies and businesses.

In such a culture, proficiency in English will seriously affect social status. "English" has become an important benchmark for Indians to judge whether a person will succeed in Japan. Therefore, not being able to speak English is very disadvantageous in Indian society. This kind of social differential treatment caused by the level of English proficiency is also called "English Divide", and India is a typical society of "English Divide". In general, India began to learn English from the British period, and English became the language of communication among fellow Indians, from which differences and differential treatment developed.

For this reason, Indian parents try their best to let their children learn English. They know that learning English can make their children prosperous in society. Therefore, it goes without saying that those whose families can afford it, some parents even do not hesitate to borrow money to send their children to kindergartens that teach English (this is called "English Medium" locally). Junior and secondary educational institutions that teach in English are basically private schools, and tuition fees are quite expensive.

However, under such circumstances, many parents are still willing to spend money to educate their children in English from primary school. English nurseries and kindergartens have also sprung up, regardless of urban or rural areas. There is a saying that the reason why Indians are so eager to learn English is because the IT industry attaches great importance to English ability. This is also one of the reasons why India's English-speaking population has increased rapidly in recent years.

Under the above circumstances, there is an atmosphere of "English first" in India, especially in five-star hotels, members-only clubs and high-end restaurants in upper-class social venues. I think this is related to the past British rule. "English" has become a symbol of social prestige. We dress up differently according to different times, places and occasions, while India uses different languages ??according to different times, places and occasions. Indians are very sensitive to language. They know exactly when to speak English and when to speak the local language. It is easy for them to switch languages ??at the moment. Don't say that I am a language handicap. Even a person who is very good at English will have a hard time mastering it because he has not received such "training" since he was a child.

India's internal population mobility has one main feature - they often "migrate across states" (states are equivalent to provinces), and many people go to work in states with different native languages. In principle, India is divided into states based on language. Every time you go to another state, you enter a new world with different languages. Road signs near state boundaries are marked in two languages. In this environment, nearby residents are also "trained" to be bilingual, and most of them can understand both languages. And the metropolises where people from all walks of life gather together are even more “language platters”, like a microcosm of the whole of India.

Indians often move to other countries due to job transfer and other factors. Some people move with their maids, while others hire new maids locally. If you choose the latter, you must communicate with the new servant in the local language, and in this case you must learn the local language (Hindi is commonly spoken in North India). After the children move with their parents and change schools, they will be in a "three-channel" state - speaking their mother tongue at home, speaking the local language outside, and speaking English at school. In short, India is a multilingual country. To live successfully in India, you must speak at least two or three languages.

Many Indians can speak fluent English and local languages. If those who can basically communicate in some English are included, India's bilingual population will exceed at least 100 million. However, because some special words or topics can only be expressed in English, "Indian bilingualism" does not pursue the goal of speaking both languages ??equally well. Their vocabulary system is constructed in English. Some English is so deeply ingrained in their brains that they cannot even find an interchangeable local language. When encountering such words, they can only express themselves in English. Therefore, when Indians speak, they often use two languages ??interchangeably as the topic changes.

When chatting in the local language, they will also match the other person's education level and topic, and mix in English words or proverbs in the conversation. This is actually more smooth and natural than using the local language entirely. The higher the education level, the higher the proportion of English in the conversation, and even "various" languages ??are mixed in.

People who can speak two languages ??in English are called "Bilingual", and people who have bilingual reading and writing skills are called "Biliteracy". Being able to be "bilingual in listening and speaking" does not mean being able to be "bilingual in reading and writing." Although many "English experts" can communicate orally in the local language, they are unable to read or write the local script. Especially for people who have received English education since childhood, their literacy skills are based on English training, and most of them cannot read or write local scripts. While bilingualism is like this, "Triliteracy" who is fluent in reading and writing in three languages ??is even rarer.

In contrast, we basically use Chinese to deal with vocabulary in all fields, and a few abbreviations or special terms also have corresponding Chinese translations. Although this is something to be proud of, it also results in insufficient bilingual communication skills.

There is a brain teaser that asks:

People who can speak two languages ??are called "bilinguals" (Bilingual).

People who can speak three languages ??are called "Trilinguals".

People who can speak multiple languages ??are called "Multilinguals".

Excuse me, what do you call a person who can only speak one language?

The scientific answer is "Monolingual", but as a brain teaser, the answer is "American"...

Think about it carefully, although the United States is a multi-ethnic country The country is unusually monotonous in its use of language. As we all know, English is the only official language of the United States. The U.S. Constitution does not have relevant provisions on "official language", and there are no relevant provisions in each state. India is different. They have a very rich variety of languages. There is even a saying that "four miles have different customs and eight miles have different languages". There are as many as 22 officially recognized languages. Some states not only have different writing systems, but also have different language systems. In order to run their lives, they basically know plural languages. For example, my friend who went to Chennai met a security guard who spoke five languages. He was born in Andhra Pradesh, South India, and his family speaks Telugu; he is a Muslim and communicates with his Muslim friends in Urdu; if he can speak Urdu, he can speak Hindi. In addition, he works in Chennai, so he can also speak Tamil; and as a security guard, speaking English is a must. His ability to switch languages ??at will in various situations really makes me envious. Former Indian Prime Minister Narasimha Rao, who is also from Andhra Pradesh, is even more powerful. He can speak nine Indian and European languages.

As long as Indians are educated in English, their English proficiency is basically very high. It’s no problem for people who have learned English since primary school. Even those who started to receive English education only after going to college can be qualified for jobs that require English proficiency after entering society. According to the author of a book I read before, the author is a Sikh and taught in Punjabi from elementary school to high school. It was not until he was admitted to the Mass Communication Department of Punjab University that he began to receive English education. However, after graduating from university, He became a reporter for India's authoritative English-language newspaper "The Times of India", and then moved to Canada to work as a reporter for a local English-language newspaper in Vancouver. Finally, he moved to Toronto to work as a freelance reporter and published a best-selling book in English. Isn't it surprising that an English master like him didn't learn English from a young age, but started listening to classes in English after entering college. He has achieved such success in just a few years? There are countless such examples in India.

In short, I don’t know why Indians seem to have a language talent. Although the accent is really difficult to understand, their ability to learn and adapt is extremely strong, which in my opinion far exceeds their dancing talent. After all, outside of Bollywood, not many people dance very well.