學生剛考完期中試，拿了試卷給栗看。栗看見英文作文卷上滿是紅線，便指著其中一條問：「知道這裡有甚麼問題嗎？」學生閒閒道：「不知，老師沒說。」
當年教育部門提倡以溝通為本的學習模式，令學生的英語文法水平一落千丈。到今日，有關部門重申學習文法的重要性，但卻勸諭教師，該著重學生文章的內容和架構，文法即使錯了，只要不妨礙溝通，便不應扣分，以免令學生失去學習興趣。
真是狗屁不通的理論。寫文章不是說話，說話錯了，只要沒錄音錄影，便事過境遷，了無痕跡。但文章可是白字黑字的紀錄，文法的錯，初讀或許可以忽略/原諒，但再讀便如針刺，三讀更猶如火燒，損人眼球！留得住學生的學習興趣又如何？最後不就是落得「港生英語水平每況愈下」的評論！然後官員又會推卸責任給老師……
可憐的九十後，你們沒栗子妹的一代幸福，可以學好英語文法，寫像樣的英文。
沒甚麼關係，我一見到英文文法就沒興趣學下去。
回覆刪除Not interested in grammar does not mean that we do not need to learn grammar. If you dunno the rules, how can you play the game?
回覆刪除Learning a foreign language is never easy. HK with its unique history is already leading in English compared to most Asian countries. Japanese is known to be hard working but their English is not that great either maybe below HK. We can't really compare which generation is better. Each generation is unique and will have both good and bad. English was important to us because we lived in a British colony. As the global economy expand, English may not be so important any more. People will be doing business in their local language. A lot of American is learning Chinese now because the opportunity is in China.
回覆刪除"English was important to us because we lived in a British colony." If any written words could be poison, these are it, for HK youngsters.
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Most people in continental Europe were never colonized by the Brits, yet they speak and write English well, because they have known for generations, that English is the language of science and literature, or, in other words, just plain knowledge. The sooner we get out of this post-colonial nonsense and get real, the better. We should also avoid reading too much into a handful of trendy and adventurous Americans learning Chinese. They know English already.
After World War II, Western Europe is under US influence. And Eastern European also know Russian as well. A lot of scientific writings are in German and French tool. Having knowledge is great but we shouldn't project ourself onto other. People should determine what is the best for themselves.
回覆刪除Historically, the Europeans were quite proficient in English well before WWII, or even WWI, for that matter. As for the Eastern Europeans knowing Russian, a more accurate description is that they "studied" Russian, because they were force to. They hated it so much that they stopped the minute the Berlin Wall came down. But , who cares about those minor tidbits of history.
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I agree with, and fully support 堅 on, self-determination for individuals. The more HK teenagers "self-determine" themselves into believing that they don't need English in these post-colonial times, the more will return in 10-15 years, paying people like me very, very well to teach them what they should have learned in primary school, for free.
栗子姑娘：乏言英語水平低，故不敢獻醜以英語回應，請諒。與其說「港生英語水平每況愈下」，不如直言「「港生英語水平每況愈下」，乏言以為這歸咎於訂定課程、考試範圍者的失誤，這與英文的重要性無關，如果是的話，那麼，現今學子的中文應該有很大的進步，但現實卻非如此。
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英語大都不是我們的第一語言，而在香港此地，雖然由英國管治了 152 年，英國文化不深，沒太多少人去欣賞英式下午茶，所以不能從文化中學英語，而是從英語體驗交化， 故此實有必要好好地去學習文法，文法井然正是必要的條件。
當然 Sir Humpfrey Appleby 在 Yes Minister 中所說的英語大都合乎文法上的要求，卻又未見得是好的英文。
英語已具世界工具語言的地位，請不要說中國十多億人、拉丁美洲是葡語、西語天下，斯拉夫民族地區英語不行等等。請問，全世界的飛行員那個不會英語而能駕民航機飛外國。大量的電腦、科技等名詞也用上英語。這是人家英美在這些年裡對人類進步貢獻而漸漸將其語言成為主流。這可與殖民地沒多大關係吧。英國統治印度百多年（約 1858 年），而香港開埠於 1842 年，印度 1947 年獨立，香港 1997 年回歸，為什麼人家的英語比我們好？事實上印度的軟件工程師就是英語比我們好而穩佔市場（連 PCCW 也用上印度軟件）。雖說科研成就也有德國、法國人份兒？試想會英語的俄德法科學家多，還是會俄德法語的英美科學家多？讓事實來證明，乏言不相信由學子去 determine what is best for themselves.
回應第三行千應是「港生的語文水平每況愈下」，抱歉。
回覆刪除For all of us, we are part of the industrial revolution which began in the UK and it brought changes all over the world. If we step out of this frame of reference for a second, there are many great civilizations before it and there will be many more to come. No one know where the new break through will come from. US has been leading in new technologies because it is able to attracted talents and have the freedom to express and create both physically and mentally. But now most scholars and CEOs in the US are worried before of the failing education system and the number of educated people in India and China. In this new paradigm, new ideas can come from anywhere. A lot of jobs had been out sourced from the US to other part of the world. Partly because of the cost and time different. Most medical transcription are done in India now. They are done by the next day when you come to work. Global economy is real. But it will take time for us to understand and get use to it. Change is the only constant.
回覆刪除I know where the next breakthrough will come from. It will be from a society where free thinking is the norm, so we could rule out Cuba, China, and North Korea. It will be from an economy where one is allowed to keep most of the fruits of his labor, so we can rule out the northern European socialist economies.
回覆刪除The failing education system in the US is at the primary and secondary levels only. The US university post-graduation education and research are still producing the best in the world. All those jobs out-sourced from the US, be it customer service hotlines, or medical transcription, are still done in English, so 堅 , please tell me on a double when they’re all done in Chinese or Hindu, and I’ll be the first one to join you in worrying about the declining importance of English.
We unconsciously use grammar all the time when we use Chinese language for speaking, listening, reading and writing, but if we want to improve our writing ability, then we have to master the Chinese grammar. This is also true to English language, as far as I know, students in the UK do not study English grammar in schools, but they are living in an English speaking environment and use the language each day.
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For some HK Students who cannot wrtite correct English, I think this is nor fair to blame the students or the education system alone, bearing in mind that teachers are the key figures in the English learning process, the lack of good English teachers and learning enviroment also contribute to the performance of a student. For many English learners, English grammar can be quite boring and difficult to learn, I always fell asleep during English class and hence my English is bad. Thoughout the histroy of English things have changed and often dramatically, I hope there will be a greater simplification of the English grammar.