The cost of learning* English

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When I was a child, during the Cultural Revolution, it was advocated that \"foreign languages are weapons in the struggle of life.\" People mistakenly believed that by learning a foreign language, one would be qualified to go to the United Nations, take off one’s shoes, and stand at the podium to shout insults； After attending university, I realized that one needs to master a foreign language in order to be eligible to pursue a graduate degree; otherwise, no matter how much one memorizes classical texts or writes beautifully, if one’s foreign language skills are poor, they won’t even be able to pursue a graduate degree in Chinese classical literature. It seems that those with master’s or doctoral degrees in classical literature bear the responsibility of using Tang and Song poetry to generate foreign exchange, and even acting as intermediaries to promote the works of Qu Yuan and Jia Yi. Today, “foreign languages are weapons in life.” When looking for a job, even as a reporter who works in Chinese, one needs to have a proficiency level of 4 or 6 in foreign languages; even marriage ads in the back pages of newspapers specify requirements such as fair skin, a car and a house, as well as proficiency in foreign languages. By \"foreign language,\" I obviously mean English; at the very least, it could be German, French, or Japanese. If it’s a language from a third-world country, it’s even worse than \"Shanghainese.\" There's space! 　　Choosing a foreign language is always filled with the snobbery of petty people; English is the native language of the UK and the US, those two related countries that are the richest, with many who seek to curry favor with them. 　　Only the spoken language of developing countries is developed; such people are not even fit to work as chefs in night shifts, or to work as farm workers, let alone as Filipino domestic workers. Mastering a developed **mother tongue is like being a \"fat translator\" who wears glasses and says, \"I don’t even have to pay when eating out in the city\"; you can use credit cards or payment apps to effortlessly enjoy the taste of foreign foods, just like eating lamb in hot pots. 　　These days, the younger people are becoming as they learn English. Kindergartens use English as a selling point, teaching children songs like “I am I, you are you / Come is come, go is go / Yes means yes, no means no / Boy is boy, girl is girl”. At a higher level, it’s either \"crazy English\" or \"English taught by foreigners\". Some foreign teachers refer to Mr. Nan Guo, who is a student studying abroad. What’s more, those who come to China on tours are full of the \"deception\" associated with selling sweaters. Their accents remain unchanged; it’s as if in the United States, people from Pudong who teach Mandarin are also considered \"foreign teachers,\" and the foreigners they teach end up pronouncing words like \"Di pao pao, Yi pao pao.\" 　　Mother tongue and foreign language education provide different types of mental training. The mother tongue is aimed at writing; writing involves creating something from nothing, seeking differences rather than similarities. It helps develop innovative thinking skills, which are the most valuable form of wisdom in market competition. Foreign language education is repetition training that focuses on seeking similarities rather than differences; excessive repetition can restrict imagination and stifle creativity. 　　Japan is the nation that is best at imitation, but its people’s English is far inferior to that of people in Shanghai, because they only imitate without creating anything of their own. Japan has a group of full-time translators who quickly translate the latest international inventions, turning translation into an industry that enjoys economies of scale. This results in affordable services that are akin to public goods, allowing more people to save time spent mastering English skills and use it instead for creating and imagining new things. One of the ten \"flaws\" of Americans: they don’t learn foreign languages; \"we prefer to use the time that other peoples spend learning foreign languages on innovation or doing practical things.\" Human time is limited; by choosing one option, one must give up another, and that other option represents the cost of opportunity. The United States used to be the world’s largest economic power, while Japan serves as a model for catching up with more advanced countries, and their leadership is achieved through innovation. Their sort of \"disregard\" for foreign languages is a wise choice. 　　Chinese people emphasize \"not relying on others for anything,\" and do not pursue \"division of labor and cooperation based on each person’s strengths.\" As a result, everyone acts as a literal translator, repeating tasks at a low level; this causes everyone to waste a great deal of time and money on repetitive, uncreative work in a foreign language. In the end, their proficiency is still inferior to that of ignorant street kids in Britain. And the translation industry losing its market is a waste of national resources. 　　Among the four ancient civilizations of the world, only Chinese civilization has never been interrupted or ceased to exist, demonstrating the wisdom of Han culture ； China was once a powerful nation for thousands of years, possessing leadership skills and mindset ； China has the largest population and vast territory, which will always serve as the physical foundation for a great power. Twenty years after the reforms, China has risen rapidly from a poor and weak country to become the seventh-largest economy in the world, as well as one of the countries with the fastest economic growth rates. These developments signify the revival of the nation. Mandarin remains the language with the largest number of speakers in the world to this day. When China’s GDP ranks among the top three, Mandarin will become a dominant language, that is, a language used for international communication. Is the substantial investment in English today perhaps excessive? 　　I’m not against learning English; what I object to is using excessive effort for it. Over-investment can lead to failure in the future, and such failure is akin to the lifelong regret that comes from a good woman marrying the wrong man, or a good man choosing the wrong career. “Crying and turning back at a crossroads – the greatest dilemma in life is making choices. Perhaps the biggest failure in life isn’t laziness, but rather striving in the wrong direction.