How many people in modern Hong Kong can speak Mandarin?

48% of Hong Kong residents:? I can speak Mandarin.

Around 1997, there is a popular saying in Hong Kong: As long as you don't cross Luohu Bridge, you don't need to learn Mandarin.

Nowadays, in the crowded Causeway Bay business district, the voice of Putonghua is everywhere in my ears: shop assistants enthusiastically solicit business in Putonghua; Hong Kong citizens on the street patiently use Mandarin to guide mainland tourists.

Before the reunification, Cantonese and English were the mainstream in Hong Kong. Since 15, with the more frequent exchanges between Hong Kong and the mainland in the fields of politics, economy and trade, social culture and education, Putonghua has been widely used in Hong Kong. According to the 20 1 1 Hong Kong Census Report released by the Census and Statistics Department of the SAR Government in February this year, the popularity of Putonghua surpassed English for the first time and became the second largest language in Hong Kong.

Mandarin in the workplace has become "sweet cake"

Waters, a well-known precision instrument manufacturer, recently advertised in Hong Kong for a personnel manager of its Hong Kong branch, and specifically stated in the language requirements that candidates should be proficient in Mandarin. Mr. He, a human resources analyst at Waters, said that since 15, the company's mainland business has been rising steadily, accounting for more than 50% of the total business volume, and the Hong Kong department is in charge of the entire Asia-Pacific region. Communicate with mainland employees and speak Mandarin.

In recent years, the status of Putonghua in the workplace in Hong Kong has been continuously improved, and more and more enterprises hope that their employees can speak Putonghua. According to the data provided by jobsdb 5 5 a large job-hunting website in Hong Kong at the end of May, 1 1% of the job advertisements in the last six months explicitly require candidates to speak Mandarin.

If classified by job type, there is a great demand for job seekers who can speak Mandarin in banking and finance fields, accounting for18.6% of the total job advertisements of this job type; Followed by the government and institutions, accounting for17.1%; Property and real estate, accounting for16.9%; Professional services accounted for15.2%; Beauty and health accounted for 14. 1%.

Huang Qiting, HR manager of Walters, a professional recruitment company in Hong Kong, said that most of their clients are foreign-funded companies, and they have branches in Hong Kong, which are responsible for mainland business. She revealed that 60% to 70% of customers tend to hire employees who can speak Mandarin. "Before the reunification, speaking English was a necessary condition, and now Mandarin has become a universal requirement."

Liu, a lecturer in Chinese and Bilingual Department of Polytechnic University, said that she had seen two mainland tourists in a famous local tea restaurant, meditating on the menu for a long time. Just as she was preparing to be an enthusiastic translator, the shop assistant greeted her in Mandarin with her mouth open, and communicated easily once and for all.

"Basically, Hong Kong people know the importance of Putonghua. Mandarin is the standard language in China, which exists in our hearts, but it also has the practical need to make a living. "Liu said to:

Mandarin is popular on campus.

At the end of March this year, Hong Kong Baptist University held a Mandarin recitation competition, with more than 800 applicants, a record high. 19-year-old Hong Kong-born Cao Keren won the first prize in the poetry group with a poem "A Flowering Tree".

Cao Keren told reporters that because of her love of language, she taught herself Mandarin Pinyin at home since she was a child and began to participate in recitation competitions from the first grade. When she grew up, she found that speaking Mandarin well was of great help to her study, communication activities and job interview. Cao Keren hopes to engage in the advertising industry in the Mainland after graduating from college.

According to the census report released by the Census and Statistics Department of the SAR Government in February, by the end of June 20 1 1, there were about 7.07 million people in Hong Kong, of whom about 46.5% reported that they could speak Putonghua, which was about 13.2 percentage points higher than that in 200 1. In addition, about 1.4% of the population uses Putonghua as the most commonly used language, which is also higher than 0.9% in 200 1 year.

Since 15, the popularity of Putonghua in Hong Kong has jumped, and the promotion of school education has contributed greatly.

Putonghua has become the core subject of primary schools in Hong Kong since 1998. 1998 and after, students learn Putonghua from the first grade of primary school to the third grade of junior high school and receive 9 years of Putonghua education. At present, all universities, colleges and community colleges in Hong Kong offer Putonghua courses.

Duan, a member of the Standing Committee on Language Education and Research in Hong Kong (SCOLAR) and a professor in the Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, said that before 15, there were very few students who could really speak Putonghua, but in recent years, the standard of Putonghua of Hong Kong students has been greatly improved. She went to some recitation competitions in the past year or two and found that many local primary school students were as fluent in Mandarin as Cantonese.

She also said that in the past, Chinese classes in many universities were taught in Cantonese, but in recent five or six years, with the increase of mainland students, teachers learned to teach in Mandarin. For example, in the bilingual department of the Polytechnic University, 90% of postgraduate courses previously taught in Cantonese have been changed to Mandarin.

Lin Jianping, director of the Putonghua Education Research and Development Center of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said that according to the census report, the number of Hong Kong residents who can speak Putonghua increased from more than 30% in 200 1 to 40% in 2006, and then to nearly 50% in 201,indicating that Putonghua is gradually becoming popular in Hong Kong. From the perspective of language teaching, what should be done after popularization is how to "improve".

/kloc-more than 70,000 people took the putonghua proficiency test in 0/4.

In today's Hong Kong, the voice of Putonghua can be heard in major occasions related to government activities, numerous international conferences, forums and exhibitions, subway and bus stops, and voice prompts of customer service calls.

Peng Qinghua, director of the Liaison Office of the Central Committee in Hong Kong, said a few days ago that he had been here before the return of Hong Kong. At that time, shop assistants and taxi drivers generally did not know Mandarin, so it was very inconvenient for mainlanders to come to Hong Kong for sightseeing and shopping.

He said that not only most salespeople and taxi drivers can speak Mandarin now, but also many young people in the mainland can listen to and speak Cantonese, which also reflects from the side that since the reunification, personnel exchanges between the two places have become closer and exchanges in all aspects have been strengthened.

These have benefited from a series of exchange and cooperation agreements signed between the Mainland and Hong Kong in recent years, especially the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement between the Mainland and Hong Kong and the individual travel policy of Hong Kong and Macao.

Chen said that Mandarin is the homophonic of our nation. Nowadays, exchanges between Hong Kong and the Mainland are becoming more frequent and in-depth. As long as there is contact with the mainland, it is necessary for Hong Kong people to use Putonghua.

SCOLAR was established in 1996. It is a semi-official organization that aims to make recommendations to the SAR Government on the language education policy in Hong Kong. According to reports, the organization has organized more than 90 activities to promote Putonghua, with about 280,000 Hong Kong citizens participating and more than 3 million viewers watching related TV programs.

On the eve of the 0/5th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland/KLOC-,the Institute of Language Application of the Ministry of Education also signed a cooperation agreement with the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority in May this year, which is dedicated to exploring, developing and deepening cooperation and exchanges between the Mainland and Hong Kong.

Since 1996, the State Language Committee has signed an agreement with Hong Kong 1 1 universities to establish a Putonghua proficiency testing center. According to the data of the State Language Commission, from 1996 * *, there were 14 1 people in Hong Kong, and by the end of 20 10, the number of people taking the exam had exceeded 70,000.

According to the data provided by CUHK Teaching and Research Center, the level of Putonghua of Hong Kong people is concentrated in "Grade III A", that is, "qualified Putonghua", and there is no problem in daily communication; In recent years, the standard rate of Putonghua proficiency of Hong Kong people (that is, "second-class B") has been on the rise.

Lin Jianping said that in Hong Kong, "popularization" in a broad sense seems to mean "going out of China and facing the world", such as training excellent Putonghua teachers, promoting Putonghua overseas and promoting Chinese culture.

■ Xinhuanet

Popularization work from government to people

On the streets of Hong Kong, you can hear colloquialism mixed with English, fluent English and nonstandard Mandarin. "Being biliterate and trilingual" can be said to be the unique landscape of Hong Kong as a metropolis. Cantonese is the mother tongue of Hong Kong, English is also the common language of the citizens, and Putonghua is gradually becoming another common language in Hong Kong. According to the Hong Kong census report released in February this year, 48% of Hong Kong residents claimed to speak Mandarin, slightly exceeding the proportion of Hong Kong residents who can speak English (46%). In the 200 1 census, only 1/3 residents claimed to speak Mandarin. In just over a decade, Putonghua has surpassed English and become the second most widely used language among Hong Kong residents.

So, what has Hong Kong done to promote Putonghua?

In 2002, Hong Kong passed a bill to promote Putonghua.

On June 23rd, 2002, Cai Suyu, then a member of Parliament, proposed a motion on "Promoting Putonghua" at the meeting of the Legislative Council. She said that with China's accession to the World Trade Organization and the increase of tourists from the mainland, Taiwan Province Province and Southeast Asia, it is necessary for Hong Kong businesses and citizens to be familiar with Putonghua extensively in order to seize business opportunities and improve their competitiveness and communication skills. To this end, the Legislative Council urges the government to formulate effective measures to solve the shortage of Putonghua teachers; Increase the number of channels broadcasting Putonghua programs, improve the reception quality of Putonghua channels of Radio Television Hong Kong, and give the public more opportunities to get in touch with Putonghua; Encourage non-governmental organizations to hold more activities to promote Putonghua and create a social atmosphere conducive to learning Putonghua.

Of the 265,438+0 Members who will speak later, 20 supported the motion with actions and set an example by speaking in Putonghua, which promoted the atmosphere of "speaking out". Finally, the Legislative Council of Hong Kong passed a motion urging the government to formulate effective measures to improve people's ability to use Putonghua. Luo Fanjiao Fen, then director of the Education and Manpower Bureau of the Hong Kong SAR Government, said in standard Mandarin that the SAR Government attached importance to the balanced development of "being biliterate and trilingual" (that is, Chinese, English and Cantonese, Putonghua and English) and would strive to improve the Cantonese, Putonghua and English level of Hong Kong people. Previously, the SAR Government has taken a number of measures to improve the environment for Hong Kong students to learn Putonghua, such as incorporating Putonghua teaching into the curriculum of primary and secondary schools and increasing the number of Putonghua teachers in schools several times.

The passage of this Bill has strengthened the promotion of Putonghua in Hong Kong and further improved the environment for Hong Kong students to learn Putonghua.

Hold "Putonghua Day" and "Putonghua Month" activities.

In 20001year, the Putonghua Channel of Radio Television Hong Kong proposed that Hong Kong Putonghua promotion organizations, non-governmental organizations and schools should form the "Hong Kong Putonghua Promotion Alliance", and held the first Putonghua Day in Hong Kong on September 2000 13, which won * * *130.

In 2002, the Putonghua Channel of Radio Television Hong Kong made persistent efforts to hold "Putonghua Month 2002" from September 15 to 10/3. With the slogan "Speak Mandarin well and create a new world", Putonghua Month 2002 encourages Hong Kong people to learn more, use more and speak more Putonghua. The activity lasted until June 10 and June 13. Including "Putonghua Shopping Preferential Plan", "Students' Putonghua Leap Award", "Teachers' Award for Promoting Putonghua Most Actively", "DJ Training Course for Middle School Students" and "Hong Kong Putonghua Singing Competition".

According to reports, citizens patronize nearly 1000 shops with "Putonghua Shopping Discount Scheme" stickers during the promotion period, including services, shoes, jewelry, beauty salons, cosmetics, restaurants, entertainment, department stores, books, stationery and other shops, and can get discounts and various discounts when shopping in Putonghua.

Tung Chee-hwa urged Hong Kong people to speak more Mandarin.

In 200 1 year, Tung Chee-hwa, then Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, attended the first Putonghua Day. He said that learning Mandarin is an obligation of China citizens. He called on Hong Kong people to listen and speak more Mandarin.

Tung Chee-hwa said that since the return of Hong Kong, cooperation and exchanges with the mainland in commerce, trade, tourism, education and culture have become increasingly frequent. Learning Putonghua will help Hong Kong to further understand the culture of the motherland and strengthen its identity. Learning Putonghua is also very important to the economic development of Hong Kong. China's imminent accession to the WTO will bring unlimited business opportunities to Hong Kong. Everyone in Hong Kong should learn Putonghua well and equip themselves, so as to seize these opportunities and play the role of Hong Kong as a bridge connecting the Mainland and the world.

Tung Chee-hwa thinks that besides making efforts in school education, we should also create a Chinese-speaking environment in our daily life. He hopes that all sectors of society can actively support the campaign to promote Putonghua.

SCOLAR and Putonghua Learning Society actively promote it.

The Standing Committee on Language Education and Research, referred to as SCOLAR, was established in 1996. Its duty is to make suggestions to the government on general language education issues and the use of language funds. In recent years, SCOLAR has spared no effort to cultivate people's "biliterate and trilingual" ability, help improve people's language level, create a good language learning environment for society, and strive to promote Putonghua in Hong Kong.

Since 2002, SCOLAR has jointly organized a series of Putonghua Festival activities with various social organizations in Hong Kong every year. SCOLAR opens up a platform for the public to learn Putonghua by organizing dramas, debates, award schemes and TV programs related to Putonghua, expands and strengthens the contact and penetration of Putonghua Festival, and spreads the message of "speaking Putonghua well and creating a new world" to every corner of society. Moreover, every year, famous artists from Hong Kong will be hired as ambassadors to promote Putonghua at the Putonghua Festival, and they all have clear themes. For example, in 2002, the theme was "Speak Mandarin well and create a new world", and in 2009, the theme was "Apply what you have learned".

The Hong Kong Putonghua Research Association was established in 1976, which is a non-profit non-governmental charity officially approved by the Hong Kong government. Its purpose is to promote Putonghua in Hong Kong through teaching, publishing, research and communication. In the past 30 years, the Putonghua Learning Association has trained hundreds of thousands of people.

In addition to teaching classes, the learning society has also set up many interest groups, such as speech group, heart-to-heart group, young crops group, chorus group, music group and reading group. , which not only provides learners with a permanent Putonghua language environment, but also increases their interest in learning Putonghua, thus attracting more friends to master Putonghua.

As a charity, all the income of the Hong Kong Putonghua Learning Association is used to promote Putonghua. In addition to organizing various competitions, public welfare activities and publishing Putonghua Newspaper, the College also opened the Science and Technology Creative Primary School of Hong Kong Putonghua Institute in September 2006, with Putonghua as the campus language. The college also offers an introductory course for foreigners to learn Mandarin.

Metro adds Putonghua broadcasting.

Since the end of September, 2003, Putonghua broadcasting has been increased in subway stations and carriages in Hong Kong, and the training of front-line staff in Putonghua has been strengthened. At the same time, there is also a "passenger consultation service counter" in the subway station, and one or two "tourist ambassadors" are arranged in each place to provide information for passengers. Yang Meizhen, the marketing manager of Hong Kong Metro, said that the Hong Kong Metro Company has hired 20 "tourism ambassadors" who have been trained in Mandarin. From September 27th to 1 October 16, 8 subway stations including Central, Admiralty, Wan Chai, Causeway Bay, Tsim Sha Tsui, Jordan, Mong Kok and Kowloon Tong Station were deployed with1to provide tourists with shopping and food information.

Besides the original Cantonese dialect and English, Putonghua broadcasting has been added to the basic recorded message broadcasting.

Extended reading

Stars study hard.

Due to geographical and historical reasons, most Hong Kong stars can't speak Mandarin well, especially those who grew up abroad. With the deepening of exchanges with the mainland performing arts, they are all trying to learn Mandarin. Comparatively speaking, performing stars can be regarded as a group that studies hard and speaks Mandarin best in Hong Kong.

Sammi Cheng: "Shrimp" sounds like "Sammy"

Sammi Cheng learned Putonghua late, so she hired a teacher in Hong Kong who smelled of Beijing. She answered with a smile when she met something she didn't understand. However, sometimes interesting things happen. Several times, Sammi Cheng heard people calling her English name Sammi, so she ran over and said yes, but people were confused. Later, she learned that people meant "shrimp" instead of calling her.

Aaron Kwok: If you sharpen your knife at the last minute, you will be very happy.

Aaron Kwok performed in Chinese mainland and Taiwan Province with a Cantonese accent. However, unlike Sammi Cheng, Aaron Kwok tried to speak Mandarin as soon as he got off the plane. The first thing to do when you arrive at the hotel is to turn on the TV, read the articles in the newspaper aloud and practice more first, so as not to make a fool of yourself in front of the media.

Jacky Cheung: Mandarin has made great progress.

A few years ago, Jacky Cheung also made a lot of jokes. The most interesting time is that he said to Yu Chengqing, "Look, these' attachments' are really cute and will fly around." ? Yu Chengqing listened for a long time, but he didn't understand what Jacky Cheung was saying. Later, when I looked in the direction he pointed to, I realized that Jacky Cheung was talking about a "dove". Thanks to friends' correction, Jacky Cheung's Mandarin has made great progress in the past two years, and now it can correct Xu Zhian's pronunciation.

Karen Mok: Take a Chinese dictionary with you.

Karen Mok is an artist with great talent for language. She is proficient in Italian and English. She carries a Chinese dictionary with her and learns it everywhere, so Mandarin has made rapid progress. Besides, every morning, Karen Mok will read at least seven to ten newspapers, both current affairs and life editions, but she seldom reads the entertainment edition because there are too many gossips on it. She says reading these rubbish is a waste of time. Now, Karen Mok can speak fluent Mandarin and know a lot of Chinese characters.

Sun Xing: Children speak Mandarin like French.

Sun Xing is also from Hong Kong. But because he has been filming in Taiwan Province Province and mainland China, he speaks Mandarin very well, and everyone can't recognize his Cantonese accent. When he is free, Sun Xing goes back to Hongkong and tries to speak Mandarin with his children. It's just that his children can't speak Mandarin well. Sounds like French.

Wang Leehom: The lyrics are more affectionate in Chinese.

When Wang Leehom first arrived in Taiwan Province Province from the United States, his standard of Mandarin was so poor that he couldn't understand what others said, and no one could understand what he said. Nine and a half out of ten sentences are in English. He also began to learn Mandarin by reading newspapers. At first, like a primary school student, one word jumps out, and people around you will follow suit. Wang Leehom, who had a natural talent for languages, spoke standard Mandarin in just a few months. Now he often chooses to write lyrics in Chinese when composing music. Wang Leehom said: "There are many expressions in Chinese, and many words can highlight the artistic conception that English can't, so I think the lyrics of some affectionate songs are better in Chinese."

Ambrose: Listen to Chinese songs and practice Mandarin.

Ambrose, who is also full of ABC, practiced Mandarin by listening to those Chinese songs. When listening to songs, he should choose those songs with clear articulation, such as Yu-Ching Fei and Jacky Cheung, which must be his first choice. After a long time, Mandarin has really improved rapidly. He said that this is his "exclusive secret recipe" for learning Mandarin, which is very useful. ■ Sina