Recently, Xi'an Jiaotong University announced that it will no longer use English level 4 and 6 test results as a condition for obtaining a university degree" news spread on the Internet.
Netizens have launched a fierce debate around the topic of "canceling the fourth and sixth level exams".
Source: Weibo
The square debater believes that "the fourth and sixth level exams are useless", and there are not many units that want this certificate. Some even shouted that "English is not that important". If you have time to study English, you can even study math, physics, and chemistry.
Source: Internet
In the comments section, these people called on other universities to follow Xi'an Jiaotong University. Chinese diploma does not require a foreign language certification.
Source: Weibo
Friends on the other side believe that the fact that universities cancel the link between certificates and degrees at level four and six does not mean that learning English is useless.
On the topic of "learning English", Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei recently publicly expressed his views:
"Now some people say, don't learn English, if you don't learn English, the children in the country will always be farmers. If you don't learn English, how will you get a job in this world in the future? ” ？”
Source: Sohu News
In the face of such fierce confrontation, "whether canceling the English test is a wise decision" has clearly become a difficult question.
What do you think about this? Leave a message in the comment area to discuss~
Learn English = kneeling?
In last year's proposal for the two sessions, some people said, "It is proposed to abolish the main English subject in primary and secondary schools."
Source: Weibo
This is because proponents find that learning English puts a lot of pressure on Chinese students. In order to achieve better quality education, it is best to "decentralize" the status of English as the main subject.
At that time, many people voted in favor, feeling that this thing should have been done a long time ago, and there was no need to spend so much time learning a foreign language that may not be used in the future.
Source: Weibo
Today, double-first-class universities such as Xi'an Jiaotong University take the initiative to "disconnect". Many netizens took the opportunity to jump out and complain about the tears and sweat they shed when learning English.
- English was so hard to learn, my graduate school entrance examination was ruined by this foreign language.
"I used to learn English just for exams, but now I completely forget about it. Even thinking about it is a nightmare! ”
During the college entrance examination, I was good in other subjects, but my English was very poor, so I could only go to a regular school. I was a good "student", but my English beat me.
Source: Weibo
Even if you pass CET-4, you can only understand a few words when they teach in semi-English.
Source: Weibo
Some people not only "hate" learning English, but also elevate English learning to the level of "admiration".
"The mind of a typical foreign slave", "kneeling for foreigners", "cleaning garbage cans for foreigners" ...
Source: Weibo When I saw an ordinary blue-collar worker learning English, I didn't mean that he was energetic, but strangely told him "stop studying" and "learning English is useless for moving bricks".
Source: Weibo
Especially now that artificial intelligence and various translation software are as powerful and easy to use as the human brain, why start with ABC?
It must be said that since the existence of English as a foreign language in elementary schools, doubts have never disappeared, and there are always people who want to kick English out of the main subject team.
Those who have experienced hardship and great loss have a hard time accepting why they need to learn English. He is ungrateful, hurts their self-confidence, and affects their future.
However, those who do not encounter various obstacles on the way to learning.
If you just think that if you can't learn, it's useless to speak English if you can't use it after graduation, and you may miss out on more opportunities than you think.
Image source: public number
"English is useless", the biggest scam in the workplace
I saw a statement on the Internet that is particularly poignant:
Those who claim that "English is useless" are those who say "studying is useless" all day.
One netizen talked about a Korean doctor he met while studying abroad. He originally chose Korean because he hated learning English, but when he wrote his paper, he found that the references were in English and the paper he was writing needed English, which almost drove him crazy.
Image source: public number
A professional working for a foreign company in Zhongguancun now works only in "English".
At that time, they were competing with someone with more business knowledge than he did. However, the other party does not speak English. Every time he wrote an English report, he relied on translation software to ask people grammar questions. After working for less than two months, he could not hold on and simply "gave way to others".
Image source: public number
Many non-English majors of undergraduate and graduate students believe that if they find a job in their major, they will have little exposure to English in their lives.
But after joining the workforce, I came to realize that English is especially important.
Like this computer professional, the programming languages and tools used are all in English.
If you encounter technical problems at work and want to solve them yourself, you can only read references in English.
If you want to improve your professional knowledge, you can't bypass the threshold of English.
Source: Little Red Book
If you don't have a certain knowledge of English, you can only accept "second-hand information" filtered by others, and you will fail early because of the lack of expert information.
Many Fortune 500 companies consider IELTS and TOEFL scores when hiring employees.
Even if there is no language requirement in the notification, fluency in English listening, speaking, reading and writing is a guarantee of a successful interview.
A 2016 study by Chinese Minmin University showed that:
In addition to Chinese and mathematics, among the three subjects, only Chinese and English college entrance examination scores have a significant positive impact on employment income, while the workplace effect of mathematics ability is not obvious.
Relevant authentic research articles also point out that the stronger the English language ability, the higher the income.
Source: Xiaohongshu has a netizen who originally had a very low starting point in life. By learning English, he went from being a worker at a state-owned enterprise to a teacher. He got the opportunity to study in the UK and joined a foreign company after returning home. He achieved a huge counterattack in his life.
Source: Little Red Book
For HR in large companies, sometimes it is not that they do not want to recruit, but that there are too few suitable people.
Only for non-technical Internet positions. In addition to relevant professional experience, you must be proficient in English and able to adapt to a fully English work environment.
The conditions are not high, but after two months of interviews, no one meets the requirements.
People with strong English skills can get more good career opportunities. It's just that some people can't see the outside world, so it's useless to say that it should be stopped.
The more people have this idea, the more likely they are to fall behind those at the top of the pyramid and thus unknowingly lose opportunities.
If you want to get promoted, and strive for a bigger promotion, you can't do without discernment.
In this case, non-English speakers can make a decision. The favored directly take the right to speak, and the unfavored can only count on salaries.
The limits of language are the limits of the world
As for whether or not to learn English, whether English is useful or not, in the final analysis, it is a cognitive difference.
If we take a longer view, we will find that promoting English learning through education is definitely a good idea for the benefit of the people.
National pride and the feeling of being useless if you don't know English are the same thing;
However, refusing to study simply to "reduce the burden" and "evade exams", and not recognizing the status and importance of English, will only accelerate class differentiation and exclude children from ordinary families from high-paying industries such as finance and IT. . . It's even harder to attack.
Education is fair because English is fair. Everyone is capable of learning foreign languages and has the opportunity to become the elite of society from ordinary citizens.
Yan Feng of Fudan University put it well: "The limit of language is the limit of the world, and any view of foreign languages as tools, even trivial tools, is short-sighted." ”
Do not use your limited knowledge to one-sidedly interpret the meaning and value of foreign languages. Don't let the limitations of your language limit your understanding and exploration of the world.
The existence of English has never challenged the 5,000-year-old culture of the Chinese nation, nor has it posed a threat to language, mathematics, or physics.
Open your heart, let go of prejudices, and look at language issues. Foreign languages are not curses, but closed hearts.
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The picture comes from the Internet, invaded and deleted.
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