I've only visited HK once, but lots of my friends are from there And I've heard one of them going to a job interview there with an english resume another one took medicine classes at a university and the lectures were in english and so were the textbooks when is english used in HK? in classes is it ever mixed? can i student ask a question in chinese and the teacher answer it in chinese but dumping english terms in everywhere?
I rarely use english in HK also. Occasionally, I would speak english to foreigners during my summer job or with friends whom I know speak english better than chinese.
Official languages are both Chinese and English; however, most people (locals) will almost always speak Chinese to one another. English is used when speaking to foreigners, at school/University for instruction. Many of the big universities, such as HKUST, teach in English. English as a language in the work force is becoming increasingly important, with many parents sending their kids for private English tutoring or going aboard to study English; however, Chinese remains equally as important. Most (big) employers (hotel, bank, etc.) will require that you are proficiently fluent in English and Chinese, as those are the major languages used in business in Pacific Asia. Nonetheless, Cantonese is rapidly being phased out by Mandarin as the language that most employers are looking for with potential employees. As China is set to take over as the next economical superpower, many Hong Kong businesses and companies now require Mandarin and English as language qualifications.
I don't think English is the official language now. It was under British government but not anymore. I don't know how many HK people understand English, but I suspect that more than half does not understand or understand it poorly.
HK people are not that bad in english. Their listening and speaking may not be the best, but their comprehension and writing can definitely be compared with people from western countries. That's assuming they've graduated of course.
almost everyone uses cantonese in everyday life, but during my volunteering this summer, i spoke english cuz i volunteered to teach some elementary kids english.
You can use english when you talk to a english person or when english foreigner ask for direction on the street.
i have never visited HK but would love to someday. And I don't mean to insult or anything; but does normal people on the street able to give a foreigner directions in English? The reason I asked is because on the Amazing Race show, when they were in HK; seems like no one understands them. Maybe only the younger generations ...
Yes, you are not being very nice... I can understand english if they ask me for direction... In your case, may be they are just can't be bother or feeling too shy about answering...
Yes, according to Wikipedia, English and Chinese are both the official languages of Hong Kong. It is true that many locals do not communicate in English efficiently, but it is improving, especially now that there is a greater push to learn it and a greater demand for skilled English workers. Well, I don't know, a lot of people, including many of my friends, believe that the official language is Chinese only.
In HK you will find the new generation speaking more and more english. All "modern places have signs in both chinese and english.... but you you go out eating by the street at some noodle shop you wont find english... the can perhaps say "yes" and "no"
yea i had an experiance with that when i went to HK for the first time and we went out for noodles in the morning the table next to us spoke no chinese, but broken english (i think he was irish) even thought the menu had english, the waitress spoke no english so i had to help them translate that a conversations about trying to get some tea to drink
I've been to HK a couple of times, but my relatives speak cantonese so I don't use that much English, but since I can't read Chinese I use the English signs to know where I am.
lol i dont think an irish person would be able to speak full english maybe his accent was too hard to hear through haha maybe he was European or sumtin
