问题：怎么中国人学了这么多年英语，水平还是这么差？
网友Kee的回答
This problem is based on a false assumption. The questioner assumes that Chinese English classes include oral English. However, the fact is that Chinese students will not learn spoken English in primary, middle or high schools because we did not take part in the college entrance examination in this subject. Therefore, this is an issue that has not been verified by facts.
这个问题是以一个错误的假设为前提的。提问者假设中国的英语课包括口语。然而，事实是，中国学生在小学、中学或高中都不会学习英语口语，因为我们在高考中没有参加这门科目的测试。因此，这是一个没有经过事实核查的问题。
Rephrase this question. As mentioned above, the question contains some interesting components. I want to rephrase this question to make it more worthwhile and friendly to answer; Why do Chinese people find it difficult to master English
重新表述这个问题。如上所述，问题中包含了一些有趣的组成部分。我想重新表述这个问题，让它更值得回答，也更友好；“为什么中国人很难掌握英语？”
Reason 1: This is not a fair competition.
原因一：这不是一场公平的竞争。
From a linguistic perspective, English and Chinese belong to different language families. Chinese is one of the Sino-Tibetan languages languages including Chinese and Tibetan, and English is one of the Indo-European languages languages including Dutch language, German, Icelandic language, Swedish language, etc. When Dutch people start learning English, they intentionally or unintentionally exploit the similarities between these two languages. For example, in Dutch language, "doctor" is spelled "dokter", "champion" is spelled "kampioen", and "university" is spelled "universiteit". Therefore, when learning English, the Dutch only need to know the corresponding language of their mother tongue, while the Chinese face a completely new language.
从语言学角度讲，英语和汉语属于不同的语系。汉语是包括汉语、藏语等在内的汉藏语系语言之一，英语是包括荷兰语、德语、冰岛语、瑞典语等在内的印欧语系语言之一。当荷兰人开始学习英语时，他们会有意无意地利用这两种语言之间的相似之处。例如，在荷兰语中，“博士”的拼写为“dokter”，“冠军”的拼写是“kampioen”，“大学”的拼写则是“universiteit”。因此，在学习英语时，荷兰人只需要知道母语的对应语，而中国人则面临着一种全新的语言。
Guess which country's students achieved the highest score in the Foreign English Test or TOEFL exam. According to the statistical data released by TOEFL, as shown in the figure below, in 2015, the average score of Dutch people was 100/120 points, ranking first in the world; Germans average 97/120 points; The average score of Icelanders is 95/120; The Swedes scored 95/120 points. However, the average score for Chinese people is only 78/120. Therefore, a person's English proficiency is closely related to their English and native language, rather than their level of work effort or intelligence. This is not a fair competition.
猜猜哪个国家的学生在对外英语考试或托福考试中取得了最高成绩。根据托福公布的统计数据，如下图所示，2015年，荷兰人的平均成绩为100/120分，排名世界第一；德国人平均得97/120分；冰岛人的平均得分为95/120分；瑞典人得了95/120分。然而，中国人平均只得到78/120分。因此，一个人的英语能力与英语与母语的关系密切，而不是他们工作的努力程度或聪明程度。这不是一场公平的竞争。
Reason 2: English is not very useful for ordinary Chinese people.
原因二：英语对普通中国人来说用处不大。
Although your native language is important for your English proficiency, it is not the only factor. Let's take a look at the average score of the TOEFL exam in Asian countries, and you will find two weirdos: Hong Kong SAR and Singapore. These two places are mainly composed of Chinese people, but their average scores are much higher than those of Chinese people from mainland China. Singaporeans scored 97/120 points, while Hongkongers people scored 85/120 points. Why?
虽然你的母语对你的英语能力很重要，但它并不是唯一的因素。让我们看看亚洲国家托福考试的平均分数，你们会发现两个怪人，香港特区和新加坡。这两个地方主要由中国人组成，但他们的平均分数远高于来自大陆的中国人。新加坡人得到97/120分，而香港人得到85/120分。为什么？
Historically, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Singapore have long been British colonies. Although both regions later achieved decolonization, they still had a strong colonial heritage and British influence. For example, the judicial systems of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Singapore are common law systems, similar to those of the UK, where most of their judgments are written in English rather than Chinese. Therefore, English is one of the official languages of Hong Kong and Singapore, so you can find English everywhere there, which creates a very friendly environment for learning English.
从历史上讲，香港特区和新加坡长期以来都是英国的殖民地。尽管这两个地区后来都实现了非殖民化，但仍有强大的殖民遗产和英国的影响。例如，香港特区和新加坡的司法制度是普通法制度，与英国的司法制度相同，他们的大多数判决书都是用英文而不是中文写成的。因此，英语是香港和新加坡的官方语言之一，所以你在那里到处都可以找到英语，这为学习英语创造了一个非常友好的环境。
Singapore is more unique in this regard. Chinese Singaporeans accounted for 74.2%, Malaysians 13.3%, Indians 9.1% and Eurasians 3.4%. In order to promote racial integration, the Singapore government requires students to learn English well (sometimes even better than their mother tongue) so that they can communicate with Singaporeans of other races. Suppose you are a Chinese Singaporeans and want to buy a pack of chewing gum at 7-11 (joking). If the clerk is an Indian Singaporean and you can't speak English, how will you settle the bill? Therefore, if you live in Hong Kong or Singapore, English is not only a prerequisite for exams, but also a prerequisite for your daily life.
新加坡在这方面更为独特。新加坡华人占74.2%，马来西亚裔占13.3%，印度裔占9.1%，欧亚裔占3.4%。为了促进种族融合，新加坡政府要求学生学好英语（有时甚至比母语更好），以便他们能够与其他种族的新加坡人交流。假设你是新加坡华人，想在7-11买一包口香糖（开玩笑），如果店员是印度裔新加坡人，如果你不会说英语，你会怎么结账？因此，如果你住在香港或新加坡，英语不仅是考试的必备条件，也是你日常生活的必备条件。
In contrast, since Chinese Mainland has never been completely colonized by any foreign country, and even in the most international city like Shanghai, most of the population is Chinese, English is of little use to ordinary Chinese. We can live a good life without understanding English. Similar to Chinese Mainland, students from Taiwan have a low average score (80/120 points) in TOEFL. Of course, Taiwan is mainly composed of Chinese people and has never been colonized by English speaking countries.
相比之下，由于中国大陆从未被任何外国完全殖民，同时，即使在像上海这样最国际化的城市，大多数人口都是中国人，英语对普通中国人来说用处不大。我们可以在不懂英语的情况下过上很好的生活。与中国大陆类似，来自台湾地区的学生在托福考试中的平均成绩较低（80/120分），当然，台湾地区也主要由中国人组成，从未被英语国家殖民。
In summary, I believe that the most important factors affecting students' English proficiency are: (1) the similarity between their mother tongue and English; And (2) the importance of English in their country. Due to these two reasons
总之，我认为影响学生英语掌握的最重要因素是：（1）他们的母语与英语的相似程度；以及（2）英语在他们国家的重要性。由于这两个原因
中国网友泰德•李的回答
I can't speak on behalf of today's students in China. I can only share my experience. I was born in a second tier city (a very important industrial and military base) in 1980. We started our English class (first day of junior high school) from Seventh grade or the first day of middle school in 1993.
我不能代表今天在中国的所有学生，只能分享我的经历，我1980年出生在一个二线城市（非常重要的工业和军事基地），我们从七年级或中一开始上英语课(初一), 那是1993年。
Throughout my entire high school and high school years, I have always been one of the best students in English classes. When most students struggle in exams, I find it not that difficult to learn English. You just need to remember grammar rules and know how to apply them. So I think I am a small English "expert" and I am full of confidence in it.
在我的整个中学和高中时期，我一直是英语课上最好的学生之一，当大多数学生在考试中挣扎时，我发现学习英语没有那么难，你只需要记住语法规则并知道如何应用它们。所以我认为我是一个小小的英语“专家”，我对此充满信心。
In 2001, when I first arrived at Vancouver International Airport, this beautiful sense of pride was blown away. It was my eighth year of learning English, and I couldn't understand a word spoken or express my feelings. I became deaf and mute. Then it took a long time in Canada to really speak and understand English correctly. What's the problem after studying in China for 8 years? Now I can simply give three reasons, just my opinion.
2001年，当我刚到温哥华国际机场时，这种美好的自豪感就被吹走了，那是我开始学习英语的第八年，我听不懂别人说的一句话，也无法表达我的感受，我变成了聋哑人。然后在加拿大花了很长时间才真正能够正确地说和理解英语，在中国学习了8年有什么问题？现在我可以简单地给出三个理由，只是我的看法。
1. English and Chinese are too different, they may have some similarities, but overall, the differences are huge, and I am not going to elaborate here because I am not a linguist, so I may be wrong. This is just my feeling. This makes students feel discouraged about learning English. In high school, many boys just complained about why we need to learn such a difficult foreign language.
1，英语和汉语太不同了，它们可能有一点相似，但总的来说，差异是巨大的，我不打算在这里详细说明，因为我不是语言学家，所以我可能错了，这只是我的感觉。这让学生们对学习英语感到气馁，在高中时，许多男孩只是抱怨为什么我们需要学习一门如此困难的外语。
2. In the 1990s, China was still a relatively poor country, and we didn't see many foreigners coming to teach English, so we didn't interact with native English speakers, especially in my hometown where few foreigners lived. It wasn't until the late 1990s that the internet became popular, and even then, learning from the internet was not an option.
2、在20世纪90年代，中国还是一个相对贫穷的国家，我们没有看到很多外国人来教英语，所以没有与以英语为母语的人互动，尤其是在我的家乡，那时很少有外国人居住。直到20世纪90年代末，互联网才开始流行，即使在那个时候，从互联网学习也不是一种选择。
The last and most important reason I believe is the education system or curriculum. The reason you are in school is because you need to pass exams or compete with others to enter university, rather than learning true knowledge and skills that are useful for your life. Until today, I believe that China is still like this. Therefore, under this influence, English teaching methods place more emphasis on passing exams rather than learning real skills.
3.最后一个我认为最重要的原因是教育制度或课程。你之所以在学校，是因为你需要通过考试或与他人竞争才能进入大学，而不是学习对你生活有用的真正知识和技能。直到今天，我相信中国仍然是这样。因此，在这种影响下，英语教学方法更加注重通过考试，而不是学习真正的技能。
The problem with English education in China is that almost all the courses in schools are exam oriented. Teachers pay more attention to the content to be tested in the exam than the content actually used in real life. Speeches are definitely not part of the course. Speaking tests are optional in the college entrance examination, at least in my province.
中国英语教育的问题在于，学校里几乎所有的课程都是以考试为导向的老师们更关注的是考试中要测试的内容，而不是现实生活中实际使用的内容。演讲绝对不是课程的一部分。口语测试在高考中是选修的，至少在我所在的省份是这样。
海外网友托尼•金的回答
I am a proud American citizen and a true Chinese.
我是一个自豪的美国公民，也是一个真正的中国人。
In Silicon Valley, I have met many people of different nationalities professionally who do not speak English at their native language level. Whether in terms of profession, language, or both, they are often significantly above average. But let's first talk about which Chinese people do you refer to when you asked them?
在硅谷，我在专业上认识很多不同国籍的人，他们不会说母语水平的英语，无论是在专业上、语言上，还是两者兼而有之，他们往往明显高于平均水平。但让我们先聊聊你问过口中的中国人，你是指哪些中国人？
As early as 2015, China had a population of 1.371 billion. Although some of the 1.371 billion people are very wealthy, the vast majority of them have relatively average living conditions, some even being very poor. Most Chinese people have never left, and will never leave, even in their provinces. They may have gone on business or sightseeing in a certain place before, but they will never leave this country, just like some Americans will never leave their hometown.
早在2015年，中国就有13.71亿人口。尽管13.71亿人口中的一些人非常富裕，但绝大多数人生活条件相对一般，有的甚至非常贫穷。大多数中国人从未离开，也永远不会离开中国，甚至是他们所在的省份。曾经他们可能会在某地出差或观光，但永远不会离开这个国家，就像一些美国人永远不会离开他们的家乡一样。
If someone with such a background studies English in school, their teacher would almost certainly be a native Chinese before college. A person from this background must overcome a lifetime of poor English teaching background if they perform well in their studies and study abroad.
如果有这样背景的人在学校学习英语，在大学之前，他的老师几乎肯定是个本土中国人。一个来自这种背景的人，如果学习表现出色，出国留学，他必须克服一生糟糕的英语教学背景。
By the way, did you know that almost all Almost all people grew up in a bilingual environment? For example, most Shanghainese people can speak Shanghainese and Mandarin fluently. Business people and elites are expected to speak more "dialects" and international languages outside the region. So those who don't speak English well may speak two languages!
顺便说一句，你知道吗，几乎所有大陆人都是在双语环境中长大的？例如，一般上海人都能流利地说上海话和普通话。商界人士和精英阶层预计会说更多地区以外的“方言”以及国际语言。所以那些“英语说得不好的人”可能会说两种语言！
In 2012, there were over 50 million overseas Chinese, with a population of over 1 million in 10 countries. Compared with 1371 million, 50 million seems to be a small number, but it is still huge, more than the population of Demographics of South Korea.
2012年，海外华人超过5000万，其中有10个国家的中国人口超过100万。与13.71亿相比，5000万似乎是一个小数字，但它仍然是巨大的，比韩国人口都多。
I think your question is about the overseas Chinese in your area, not 'Oh my goodness! I went to Shandong, China, where people's English is terrible!' Do you mean people who have migrated to the United States? He should be a hardworking person: not only does he need to learn a new language, but he also needs to learn a new culture, work or go to school, and perhaps work hard to support his family. This person may want to make progress and may be making progress, but learning a language is unlikely to be something they can devote most of their time to.
我想你的问题是关于你所在地区的华侨，而不是“天哪！我去了中国山东，那里人的英语太糟糕了！”你应该是指移居美国的人？他应该是一个在努力工作的人：不仅需要学习一门新语言，还学习一种新文化，同时工作或上学，也许还在努力养家糊口。这个人可能想要进步，并且可能正在取得进展，但学习语言不太可能是他可以投入大部分时间去做的事情。
Secondly, what do you mean by "English"?
第二：你说的“英语”是什么意思？
American English is different from British English, both of which are different from English on the Indian subcontinent (Hindi and English are official languages). Americans may find it difficult to understand Indian English, especially when speaking quickly.
美国英语（Midwestern American？）不同于英国英语，两者都不同于印度次大陆上的英语（印度语和英语都是官方语言）。美国人可能会发现印度英语很难理解，尤其是当说得很快的时候。
However, over one billion English speaking people in India may feel that there is no problem... there are much more Indians than Americans. Even in the United States, Southerners and Yankees mock each other's English, sometimes it's a friendly joke, after all, accent has a huge impact, right?
然而，印度10多亿会说英语的人可能觉的没有问题……印度人比美国人多得多。即使在美国，南方人和洋基人也互相嘲笑对方的英语，有时这是善意的玩笑，毕竟口音影响太大了，是吧？
Thirdly, what do you mean by 'poor'?
第三：你说的“差”是什么意思？
Does this person have poor grammar and pronunciation according to local standards? If that's the case, this person is not a fluent user of your local dialect. With a little patience, can you understand what non locals are saying? If possible, this person may actually speak a foreign language very well!
这个人的语法不好，按照当地标准发音不标准吗？如果是这样的话，这个人就不是你当地方言的流利使用者。只要有一点耐心，你能理解非本地人在说什么吗？如果可以的话，可能这个人其实外语说得很好！
I have a friend who has never traveled internationally, but plans to go to France when her child grows up. She always asks me after I travel: What do you do when you don't speak this language? Are the French angry with you? Do they make fun of you? I always say to her, 'Why are they making fun of me?'? I am not the first non French speaking country to visit Paris or Provence. I am very polite to them, and they are also very polite to me. We can understand what each other wants to express through gestures or mobile phones, which may be interesting or frustrating, but no one shows any harshness towards it.
我有一个朋友，她从未进行过国际旅行，但计划在她的孩子长大后去法国。她总是在我旅行后问我：当你不会说这种语言时，你会怎么做？法国人对你发火吗？他们取笑你吗？我总是和她说：他们为什么要取笑我？我不是第一个访问巴黎或普罗旺斯的非法语国家的人。我对他们很有礼貌，他们对我也很有礼貌。我们可以通过比划或者手机理解彼此想要表达的东西，这可能很有趣，也可能令人沮丧，但没有人对此表现得很刻薄。
Sometimes I encounter fellow Americans who are very angry about the night shift attendants in foreign hotels: for example, the attendants hardly speak English! This is very impolite, you know how difficult it is to hire someone who speaks English - I want to point out that a native English speaker is unlikely to become a night shift clerk in a small foreign city hotel. Even in the United States, better language skills can earn higher salaries.
有时我会遇到美国同胞，他们对外国酒店的夜班服务员非常愤怒：例如服务员几乎不会说英语！这很不礼貌，要知道雇佣一个会说英语的人有多难——我想指出的是，一个会讲母语英语的人不太可能成为外国小城市小酒店的夜班店员。即使在美国，更好的语言技能也能获得更高的薪酬。
I love America. However, I found that the United States is very unique in language: we instinctively want everyone to speak American English. By contrast, when I am in Asia or Europe, my mindset is different. People will not have any overreaction due to the language you speak. They are more flexible, patient, and adept at communicating in various languages, adding explanations when necessary.
我爱美国。然而，我发现美国在语言上非常独特：我们本能地希望每个人都说美国英语。相比之下，当我在亚洲或欧洲时，心态就不同了。人们不会因为你说的语言而有任何过度反应，他们更灵活、更有耐心，更善于用各种语言进行交流，并在必要时补充说明。
You should be kind to those who are learning your language and culture.
你要善待那些正在学习你的语言和文化的人。