English language skills among Hongkongers are not looking too great, lah, if results from a recent survey conducted by the HKU Public Opinion Programme are anything to go by.
The survey, which was commissioned by local learning centre Wall Street English, examined English proficiency among Hongkongers.
Featuring responses from 500 residents aged 18 and above, the survey found that more than half of them rated their own English skills as being average, while 30 percent of respondents gave themselves a measly 0-4 out of 10.
Over half of respondents were unable to correctly distinguish the difference between the words “advice” and “advise”, and almost all participants (92%) with tertiary certificates or higher educational levels had problems translating “Attached is the document” – an essential phrase if you like getting spam.
In addition, 88 percent of those with tertiary institution certificates or higher educational levels incorrectly translated “what can I help you with?”, perhaps because it’s a phrase that doesn’t really exist in Hong Kong.
The only redeeming result from this survey? More than 80 percent of respondents considered English language skills to be important.
However, Wall Street English’s director Lam Duk-yee was quoted in the Oriental Daily as saying that Hongkongers are increasingly moving towards studying Putonghua (Mandarin), resulting in a general decline in English proficiency. She urged the government to promote English-learning and to increase Hongkongers’ competitive strength on an international scale.
Got a tip? Send it to us at hongkong@coconuts.co
