Why are many Chinese people poor at speaking English, despite years of learning?
When I was studying for my master’s degree in Sweden, an Italian classmate once approached me and asked why Chinese students often kept to themselves and didn’t socialize much with students of other ethnicities. I paused for a moment and gave him an answer he didn’t expect at first: “Because many of us don’t speak English very well.”
From what I’ve observed, many Chinese students abroad lack confidence in speaking English, especially in their first year. Unlike many European countries where people grow up in more diverse, multicultural environments, most Chinese students grow up surrounded by other Chinese. Opportunities to have regular conversations with foreigners in English are rare.
Although we start learning English from primary school, the focus is mostly on memorizing vocabulary and grammar—it’s repetitive and uninspiring. That’s also why many Chinese students are better at reading and writing than speaking. In my own school experience, the "speaking" part of English class usually meant reciting textbook passages aloud with the whole class, like in the picture below. It didn’t help much when it came to having real conversations in everyday life.
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