Difficulties in immigrant English

According to UK-Chinese Times, since April 6th, the change of the new immigration policy has caused quite a shock in the Chinese community. The new policy not only tightened visas for China residents in the UK, but also affected the interests of the Chinese community in the UK. Among them, the food industry in China is the most affected. Although skilled chefs are still on the shortage list, they face stricter recruitment requirements. They have at least five years' working experience, and the minimum wage for British employers must be reached? 28,260, English ability should reach the level of IELTS 5.0 or so. The short-term improvement of English level is more like an impossible task for many chefs. There is no transition period for the sudden rise of English threshold.

One of a series of changes in immigration policy promulgated on April 6th is that the English level of Tier 2 applicants should be improved from A 1 to B 1, and there will be no immediate transition period from the date of promulgation of the regulations. On June 3, a group of people concerned about the government's tightening of English proficiency requirements were in Chinatown, London. Does the improvement of Tier2 English threshold harm the interests of China food industry? Hold a press conference, hoping to solicit the opinions of the Chinese community, and put it forward at the June 10 meeting of the Immigration Advisory Committee. They believe that the change of English level will affect Chinese food practitioners, their families and employers, and hope to convey the voice of the Chinese community through the Immigration Advisory Committee, and call on existing overseas work visas and new applicants to pay attention to the change of B 1 due to the new English level.

Wei Qiling, one of the sponsors of the conference and general manager of Oriental Cuisine College, explained to the reporter the difference between English B 1 and A 1. The English test of Grade B 1 is much more complicated than that of Grade A 1. A 1 level, candidates only need to answer some basic English sentences, such as being able to tell the address clearly when asking for directions; For example, if you can understand the basic dialogue, you only need about 30 words in writing. However, Grade B 1 requires English sentence structure to be complex, situational dialogue and writing hundreds of words, and the overall difficulty level is almost equivalent to IELTS (ELTS)5.0. It is equivalent to the basic requirements of Britain for international students, but it is unrealistic for China chefs. ?

Wei Guiling, dean of the British Oriental Culinary Institute, told reporters. We received some phone calls from Chinese food employers, who complained that the government had raised the English proficiency requirements of second-level applicants, making it more difficult for them to recruit professional chefs. ? The headmaster of the health school said:? These chefs work long hours every day and don't have much time to learn English. For many people, it is difficult to reach A 1 level, let alone B 1 level. ?

Zhang Peifen, a lawyer of Zhangye Law Firm, pointed out at the press conference that since the implementation of the new policy for two months, many cases have shown that it has caused great difficulties for applicants to apply for work visas. Both new applicants and renewals need to improve their English in a short time according to this new policy. Only those applicants who have obtained Tier 2 visas and renewed Tier 2 visas for the same job can be exempted from English testing again. Other applicants need to retake the English test and reach the level of B 1 before they can obtain a British visa. ?

Why should chefs in China improve their English?

To this end, the reporter visited some large Chinese restaurants and Chinese food catering groups in the UK to listen to the opinions of Chinese food practitioners. The head of the British Han Dynasty Catering Group told the reporter that at present, the chefs in several branches of the group have not faced such problems, and most of them have been permanently resident or naturalized? Old? Chef, at work, chefs don't need to use English directly. ? I don't think it's necessary to require the chef's English level, as long as he can cook authentic dishes, it's his duty. Just like some Western chefs in Europe and America do not need to learn to speak the local language when they are employed in Asian countries such as China and Japan, as long as authentic western food can attract customers, they are competent chefs. ?

Newcastle? Athens cafeteria? Manager Johnny told reporters: Chefs only work in the kitchen, and they communicate with each other in Chinese. Unlike the floors of restaurants, they don't have to face customers directly, let alone speak English. If they need to buy condiments and sauces, as long as they can speak Chinese, we naturally have professionals to help them buy them without the need for chefs to buy them directly. ?

Mr. Zhang, the head of Bashu Shijia, a restaurant specializing in Sichuan cuisine, also said that most Sichuan chefs are professional chefs from Chinese mainland. When recruiting a chef, we mainly look at his professional skills. Sichuan cuisine is not authentic, and there is no special requirement for English.

Manager Ye of the top restaurant in London told the reporter. Although chefs don't need to use English in their work, they still need to communicate with people in their daily life. He needs to use basic English to deal with daily affairs such as banking and transportation. He thinks it is necessary to master basic English. ?

Generally speaking, due to the particularity of chef as a technical type of work and the simplicity of kitchen working environment, it is generally believed that chefs do not need to use English in practical work. But in daily life, we need to use English in communication and integration with the mainstream society, and we don't need such a high level of English. Most restaurant owners think that the British government will improve Tier2' s English. Equal treatment? Is upgrading to B 1 too much for chefs in China? Harsh? And then what? No need? Will this cause Chinese restaurants? Chef shortage? The phenomenon is getting worse and worse, which is not good for the future of Chinese food. ?

English is getting worse and worse? Chef shortage? situation

In the interview, the reporter also learned that the tightening of English proficiency requirements for work permits has little impact on these large Chinese restaurants. They said that the invited chefs are all experienced old chefs, and basically all came to Britain 10 years ago. At that time, there was no strict English requirement for chef visa. So the New Deal has little influence on them. Most of the victims of this policy are China employers, who are going to recruit new chefs in newly opened restaurants or hire chefs from overseas. In the long run, the development of Chinese food in Britain will be limited.

Although for China chefs, the improvement of English level will undoubtedly bring convenience to living in Britain, and also enable them to better integrate into the mainstream society. However, this move is undoubtedly worse for the British Chinese food industry, which has been struggling at present. At present, China chefs have become the object of competition for large and medium-sized restaurant owners, and it is even more difficult to hire chefs overseas. The head of the British Han Dynasty Catering Group told the reporter: Cooking is a technical activity in China, and most of it is cultivated by technical schools and specialized institutions. Practitioners are basically not highly educated, so it is very difficult for them to attack English. Perhaps the improvement of English requirements will raise the domestic culinary specialty to a new threshold, and even the chef specialty will be set up in the future, but at present, it is too difficult for the chef industry to improve the English level. ? Newcastle? Athens cafeteria? Johnny, the manager, thinks that instead of letting chefs spend time learning and improving English, they should spend their time learning cooking. Now Chinese food is growing all over the world, and the competition is fierce. To promote China's food culture to the world, we must be better at cooking. ?

Although more and more technical schools have been set up in Britain and a small number of chefs have been trained, they are rare after all, and the professional level of their teaching needs to be considered. Oriental Culinary Institute not only provides opportunities to learn Chinese food in Britain, but also offers English courses to improve the new English requirements. However, President Wei said: Although we offer English courses, China people are not enthusiastic about them. They didn't notice the difficulties brought by the change of English level in applying for a work visa. ? Therefore, she appeals to those who are about to apply for a Tier2 work visa to study English hard.

British non-governmental advisory bodies? People-oriented? (People 1st) wrote in the proposal report to the Immigration Advisory Committee of the Mainland Affairs Council): In the past ten years, Britain, especially the London area, has benefited from the increasingly diversified and high-quality catering industry and gained a good reputation. This also adds a lot of color to the British tourism industry. High-quality, original food from all over the world will promote Britain to become? A gourmet trip? Holy land. 20 12 London Olympic Games requires the government to ensure that tourists can enjoy diversified and high-quality food in Britain. Shortage of skilled chefs? Swept the tourists' fun. ?

And the tightening of immigration policy, the English level of China chefs? Triple jump? Requirements, so that many experienced chefs can not cross the threshold of the past Britain. What's more, the Ministry of the Interior has issued the latest policy of applying for permanent residence, stipulating that all work visas (Tier2) will not be able to apply for permanent residence, and the chef industry is naturally included. This is undoubtedly a recruitment for China chefs? A major blow. Many China chefs who want to develop in Britain in order to improve their family life may stop there. Facing the Olympic year, Britain? A holy place to eat? At present, our vision seems difficult to realize.