English for the confused

(學習重點：加了黃色螢光標記的詞組)

Those behind the government's Workplace English Campaign (職業英語運動) may very well benefit from their own program – if their grammatically challenged press releases and confusing slogans such as "Let's Learn and Live" are anything to go by.

Their message is not much clearer when they turn to celebrities such as actress Liza Wang Ming-chun for support.

"We will win client's confidence with good English," Wang said – or at least what the translator of the press release claimed she said. Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah has another take. "Good English brings you business opportunities everywhere," he said.

Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp chairman (匯豐銀行主席) Vincent Cheng Hoi-chuen, on the other hand, "encourage(s) young people to 'earn' opportunities with their efforts to improve their English."

If one didn't know better, one might think English is a currency rather than a language.

Central Station
The Standard, 4 August 2008