Bye Bye To Zai Jian

Till a while ago, the only two words that made up the English vocabulary of the local Chinese were ‘bye-bye’ and ‘okay’. In one recent Chinese film, the hero says ‘okay’ some seven times on the phone. And most Chinese prefer ‘bye-bye’ to the local ‘zai jian’.

Things may soon be changing though. Courtesy a decree issued last September by Beijing’s ministry of education, which made it mandatory for applicants to government jobs to have a working knowledge of English. Where a simple test and interview sufficed earlier, applicants now have to take a national English language test. Academicians too, whether they teach Chinese, English or physiotherapy, have to clear this test.

Zhang, who works in the international affairs department of Qinghua University, sees three phases of education in China. The first, he traces from the foundation of the Republic up to 1966. Though education was a priority during this phase, nobody seriously learnt English, as it wasn’t compulsory. They learnt Russian instead, because of the excellent Sino-Soviet ties at the time. Even today, old intellectuals in China understand Russian as well as Chinese. Back then, they fervently believed "Future China is what Soviet Union today is".

But Sino-Soviet ties soon declined, and 1966 heralded the phase of cultural revolution. Zhang recalls it as the "darkest period in China’s history", when schools, colleges and universities were closed for almost five years. "Intellectuals had to work behind doors. Forget English, even basic education wasn’t imparted." It was at this time that Prof Ji Xianlin, former vice-chancellor of Beijing University, and described as the Max Mueller of China, secretly translated the Ramcharitmanas into Chinese.

Then came the fall of Jiang Qing and The Gang of Four. In December 1978, the Third Plenum of the 11th Party Congress, under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping, announced the policy of "reform and opening up". This marked the third phase in the history of China’s education, with the government laying stress on reform in education. This was also the time of improving Sino-US relations, when Beijing started attaching importance to US investments, and learning English became imperative. Thus the government promulgated a law stipulating that anyone wanting to pursue higher education in the universities would have to pass an English test. Today, one needs to clear the fourth-grade English exam for a graduate degree from a Chinese university and a sixth-grade examination-the highest grade in an English-language test-for a Masters.

English has today become Re men or "the best discipline" in China. It’s taught even at the kindergarten level and teachers from English-speaking countries are invited at handsome salaries. "Almost all renowned schools in Beijing have a foreign teacher," says Gao Xiaofei, who teaches English in a middle school in Beijing. While a teacher in a Chinese university or a government employee earns no more than 2,000 Yuan a month, a foreign teacher can earn 100 Yuan for a single English language class.

The toefl exam’s another reason why English is gaining popularity among the Chinese. "Almost all research scholars of Beijing and Qinghua University dream of going to the US," says Zhang Wenli of Beijing University. In fact, students in the Chinese universities prepare for toefl/gre like their Indian counterparts do for the civil services. The foreign students’ dorms are swamped by pamphlets from Chinese students seeking "language partners".

Even the Beijing Youth Daily, the most popular newspaper in China today, more than often attracts its readers by putting in English words on its front page. cctv-4 has some 16 hours of English programmes daily, while China Radio International now also broadcasts in English. It was no surprise then that President Clinton needed no interpreters when he delivered his lecture at Beijing University in July 1998. The students also queried him in English.

But while most Chinese are quick at reading and writing English, the spoken skills are still "a problem", says We Wei, a government employee. "The government doesn’t encourage it." People’s University officially reverted to its Chinese name, the Renmin University. In fact, while most Chinese leaders understand a little English, they don’t utter a word of it in their official meetings. Premier Zhu Rongji has studied in western universities but will never be caught speaking the ‘alien’ tongue, though he did say "Hello" on his recent US visit. "Chinese is a UN language, so why should our leaders express themselves in English?" asks Zhao Ronghua, who works for a state agency.

Besides, the hardliners in the country are unlikely to allow English to flourish. And China still seems to lack the will to really popularise English. So a foreigner still faces language problems in China. Like the one who went to a general store to buy bread. And came back with a paper napkin.