Sept. 19 - Shanghai's middle class, white collar workers were criticized for using too much English at a conference to mark the 20th Anniversary of promoting Mandarin in Shanghai yesterday. While English fluency has become a badge of distinction for office professionals, some experts claim too many people are blindly following a fashion with little sense.
"It's herd behavior", said Pan Wenguo, president of the Chinese Language department at Huadong Normal University. "The fashion for English is not bad in itself, but in Shanghai, it's over the top. Around one third to one quarter of Chinese people learn English in most cities, but the numbers in Shanghai are much higher.
English fluency has become a required skill at the big companies that are most attractive to students. In some companies, it is the only language used in intra-office communication.
"They don't speak Chinese at all", Pan said. "In some middle-level meetings at these companies, everyone is asked to speak English even if everyone present is Chinese, let alone writing letters or emails between Chinese. In contrast, foreign employees usually write messages in Chinese and English. It's weird."
Pan says people over-use the English language in Shanghai because they're blindly following the trend.
Another prominent Shanghai educator, Yulian, also voiced her concerns over the English language's growing popularity.
"Some schools teach students classes in English even in the first grade. Foreign languages are important, but they shouldn't be considered more important than the native language."