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I don't kno how much I believe this. I think the Chinese government would love for this to be true and maybe the US government too. I interact with a fair amou

I don't kno how much I believe this. I think the Chinese government would love for this to be true and maybe the US government too. I interact with a fair amount of Chinese people online - always in English. Chinese people seem to be like to be everyone else and like that they can communicate with people from everywhere. It's understood by everyone that English is the Global language - this is just trying to present China as so elitist that the population expects us all to learn Mandarin now to talk to them - that hasn't been the case in my experience. Plus, I watch a fair amount of Asian media and Chinese media always has English subtitles on their shows. They are aware that I watch them - China is trying be more of a cultural power rn and that's all bc of English so... I just don't kno how much I believe this.

deleted 2y ago
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stonesthrowaway 2y ago
> I think the Chinese government would love for this to be true and maybe the US government too. Why? > Chinese people seem to be like to be everyone else and like that they can communicate with people from everywhere. Do you think that's what people want? I personally prefer the time when almost 100% of the people online were american. I've no real desire to speak with chinese or british or any others. I simply just assume I'm interacting with americans. > It's understood by everyone that English is the Global language It shouldn't be. There shouldn't be a global language. Chinese, Hindi, spanish, arabic, etc along with english should be major regional languages. Also, it's a waste of time for vast majority of people to learn english on a superficial level. Their time is better spent on learning their own languages. Especially a language with such rich history as chinese. > China is trying be more of a cultural power rn and that's all bc of English so... Language is one of the most important aspects of cultural power. If china wants to be a cultural power, then they should be focusing on spreading chinese, not "submitting" to english. America didn't become a cultural power by adopting french when french was lingua franca. > I just don't kno how much I believe this. It's an economist article on china, so much of it is probably nonsense. So don't let it bother you so much.
- NemoNobody 2y ago
  The Internet is so much better now that everyone is on it. I remember usenet, I kno of geocities. You shouldn't assume English speakers on the Internet are Americans, some of the better I've encountered are not. Tbh, I'm bored with an American centric point of view. I consume a lot of culture tho. Which is my next point. The Internet isn't the first translated thing. You said countries should focus on their own language but that's absolutely bs. As if you've never read something originally written in another language. I kno a fair amount of Latin from my exposure to the stuff written during the era when all intellectuals had to know Latin or Greek - should we do that again? That was nice and uniform for the Western World at least. For the record, by using English to make their content accessible to the global population, I have been exposed to more Chinese culture than China could ever hope. I watched Three Kingdoms and the Qin Dynasty series and the Kings War - that's over 350 hour long episodes of Chinese history I've now seen - I only knew Three Kingdoms before hand. So you are wrong about that also. Additionally, I'm developing an appreciation for Mandarin itself, as far a language goes it seems to be as expressive as English and the Chinese speak in idioms just like Americans but obviously different idioms, so I now also understand that to truly appreciate Chinese content, just like American content, I do need to know the language it was made in. Lastly, the US was a single vote from German being the official language of this country, it's why we have no official language now. So I disagree with direct correlation of language and culture - it's often related but not always and English is an exception as today we live in a world where English is often used by people from countries that do not speak English to do business with other countries that do not speak English.
  - epoxia 2y ago
    The "factoid" about the German vote is false. It was a vote to adjourn the discussion. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/the-german-vote/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/the-german-vote/
  - stonesthrowaway 2y ago
    > The Internet is so much better now that everyone is on it No it's not. > You shouldn't assume English speakers on the Internet are Americans, Until fairly recently, almost everyone ( not just english speakers ) were american. > For the record, by using English to make their content accessible to the global population, I have been exposed to more Chinese culture than China could ever hope. The vast majority of the global population does not speak or understand english. It's strange how people with agenda make shit up. You write like a journalist. Also, what does this have anything to do with chinese people learning english? Surely chinese people can appreciate chinese culture in their own language? > Lastly, the US was a single vote from German being the official language of this country Dumbest thing I've ever read. A simple search shows it is dumb myth. Are you even american? > it's why we have no official language now. We have no official language because all the original 13 colonies were british colonies populated predominantly by british peoples - english, scots, irish. There was no need for it because everyone spoke english. All the documents were written in english. What language do you think the declaration of independence was written in? It's remarkable how stupid some people on hacker news truly are. Imagine being stupid enough to believe 13 british colonies would get together and make german the national language. Especially when there were anti-german sentiment during the 1700s.
ashoeafoot 2y ago
in a twist of irony its also that government's self centered attitude that got them to this place. 2000 years squandered on navel gazing .
OKRainbowKid 2y ago
> I interact with a fair amount of Chinese people online - always in English. I suspect this is a form of selection bias: Are you interacting with them on websites or services targeting a predominantly western audience? As a personal anecdote: I spent two weeks in China last December, and was shocked how little English people spoke, even when interacting e.g. with staff at Beijing airport, train stations, or hotel receptions.
- seanmcdirmid 2y ago
  It’s weird, but in 2002 I could always find one person working at a McDonald’s in Haidian who spoke English, but come back in 2007, that was no longer the case. Starbucks was the same, I think those places just decided that English wasn’t important anymore. Now, Shanghai is much better than Beijing, I was shocked when even a taxi driver spoke English to me, and even the no name corner store they could often converse a bit, something that just would never happen in Beijing.
rurban 2y ago
I don't believe it neither. Of all East Asian countries Japan and Korea are the least fluent in English, even amongst devs, and Chinese the best. Also their work attitude is much better.

deleted 2y ago

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stonesthrowaway 2y ago

> I think the Chinese government would love for this to be true and maybe the US government too. Why? > Chinese people seem to be like to be everyone else and like that they can communicate with people from everywhere. Do you think that's what people want? I personally prefer the time when almost 100% of the people online were american. I've no real desire to speak with chinese or british or any others. I simply just assume I'm interacting with americans. > It's understood by everyone that English is the Global language It shouldn't be. There shouldn't be a global language. Chinese, Hindi, spanish, arabic, etc along with english should be major regional languages. Also, it's a waste of time for vast majority of people to learn english on a superficial level. Their time is better spent on learning their own languages. Especially a language with such rich history as chinese. > China is trying be more of a cultural power rn and that's all bc of English so... Language is one of the most important aspects of cultural power. If china wants to be a cultural power, then they should be focusing on spreading chinese, not "submitting" to english. America didn't become a cultural power by adopting french when french was lingua franca. > I just don't kno how much I believe this. It's an economist article on china, so much of it is probably nonsense. So don't let it bother you so much.

NemoNobody 2y ago
The Internet is so much better now that everyone is on it. I remember usenet, I kno of geocities. You shouldn't assume English speakers on the Internet are Americans, some of the better I've encountered are not. Tbh, I'm bored with an American centric point of view. I consume a lot of culture tho. Which is my next point. The Internet isn't the first translated thing. You said countries should focus on their own language but that's absolutely bs. As if you've never read something originally written in another language. I kno a fair amount of Latin from my exposure to the stuff written during the era when all intellectuals had to know Latin or Greek - should we do that again? That was nice and uniform for the Western World at least. For the record, by using English to make their content accessible to the global population, I have been exposed to more Chinese culture than China could ever hope. I watched Three Kingdoms and the Qin Dynasty series and the Kings War - that's over 350 hour long episodes of Chinese history I've now seen - I only knew Three Kingdoms before hand. So you are wrong about that also. Additionally, I'm developing an appreciation for Mandarin itself, as far a language goes it seems to be as expressive as English and the Chinese speak in idioms just like Americans but obviously different idioms, so I now also understand that to truly appreciate Chinese content, just like American content, I do need to know the language it was made in. Lastly, the US was a single vote from German being the official language of this country, it's why we have no official language now. So I disagree with direct correlation of language and culture - it's often related but not always and English is an exception as today we live in a world where English is often used by people from countries that do not speak English to do business with other countries that do not speak English.
- epoxia 2y ago
  The "factoid" about the German vote is false. It was a vote to adjourn the discussion. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/the-german-vote/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/the-german-vote/
- stonesthrowaway 2y ago
  > The Internet is so much better now that everyone is on it No it's not. > You shouldn't assume English speakers on the Internet are Americans, Until fairly recently, almost everyone ( not just english speakers ) were american. > For the record, by using English to make their content accessible to the global population, I have been exposed to more Chinese culture than China could ever hope. The vast majority of the global population does not speak or understand english. It's strange how people with agenda make shit up. You write like a journalist. Also, what does this have anything to do with chinese people learning english? Surely chinese people can appreciate chinese culture in their own language? > Lastly, the US was a single vote from German being the official language of this country Dumbest thing I've ever read. A simple search shows it is dumb myth. Are you even american? > it's why we have no official language now. We have no official language because all the original 13 colonies were british colonies populated predominantly by british peoples - english, scots, irish. There was no need for it because everyone spoke english. All the documents were written in english. What language do you think the declaration of independence was written in? It's remarkable how stupid some people on hacker news truly are. Imagine being stupid enough to believe 13 british colonies would get together and make german the national language. Especially when there were anti-german sentiment during the 1700s.

ashoeafoot 2y ago

in a twist of irony its also that government's self centered attitude that got them to this place. 2000 years squandered on navel gazing .

OKRainbowKid 2y ago

> I interact with a fair amount of Chinese people online - always in English. I suspect this is a form of selection bias: Are you interacting with them on websites or services targeting a predominantly western audience? As a personal anecdote: I spent two weeks in China last December, and was shocked how little English people spoke, even when interacting e.g. with staff at Beijing airport, train stations, or hotel receptions.

seanmcdirmid 2y ago
It’s weird, but in 2002 I could always find one person working at a McDonald’s in Haidian who spoke English, but come back in 2007, that was no longer the case. Starbucks was the same, I think those places just decided that English wasn’t important anymore. Now, Shanghai is much better than Beijing, I was shocked when even a taxi driver spoke English to me, and even the no name corner store they could often converse a bit, something that just would never happen in Beijing.

rurban 2y ago

I don't believe it neither. Of all East Asian countries Japan and Korea are the least fluent in English, even amongst devs, and Chinese the best. Also their work attitude is much better.