International languages in Asia

Hi! I'd like to know which languages can you speak in Asia (business areas, airports, stations, etc). I know that English is one of them. But, you can use other European or Asiatic languages?


English is spoken in India, Pakistan, Singapore and Philippines (officially). Can you use it in other Asiatic countries?

Hi!

English is widely spoken in most Asian countries.
It is de facto the lingua franca par excellence in the resgion.

Notable "exceptions":
In Central Asia Russian is still widely spoken, and in the Arabic countries, Arabic would of course be more useful. But even in these countries English is widely used as a mean of communication with the outside world.

Under the disguise of Chinese socialism, the PRC isn't actually going to abolish English, a product of British imperialism, as an official language of Hong Kong. Any attempt of renaming "Hong Kong" to Xianggang, for example, would be regarded as commie with much contempt. Well, even though everyone speaks English fairly poorly just like most people in non-Anglophone developed countries, its status isn't going to be changed any time soon when its leaders in both the SAR and the Imperial capital still see the business interests associated with the dominant business language. I shall never forget also the fact that English is actually THE quasi-offical language of 1.3 billions (and a true one for the other 1.1 billions), when many of them are complaining about declining level of Chinese among many (and them).

Xie, what about the status of Chinese in other countries, like South Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia?

So, if I understand well, there is only 1 international language in all Asia, English.

Arabic, Chinese, Russian, etc have their own influence area, but not all Asia.

There are some places in Asia where English isn't enough - some of them very big places - like Siberia.

<< So, if I understand well, there is only 1 international language in all Asia, English.

Arabic, Chinese, Russian, etc have their own influence area, but not all Asia. >>

Exactly

English is the language you need. The "facilitator" from SE Asian country #1 tells the Korean representative what the western company and the Chinese parts company needs from yet another supplier in SE Asian country #2-or some similar scenario. Sometimes things are complicated because of the risk of someone losing face if corrected by someone from his own country.

Yes, it helps to know a few words-greetings and words like "Thank-you".
I would also advise knowing a few strategic words in the language of the other country-as in knowing when the other players say things like "no good" and "ain't gonna work no way" in some language they think you are far too stupid to know. Smile, be polite and don't give too much away.

I shall never forget also the fact that English is actually THE quasi-offical language of 1.3 billions (and a true one for the other 1.1 billions), when many of them are complaining about declining level of Chinese among many (and them).

**********************************************************

no,most chinese people cant speak English at all,and university students usually speak fairly poor English...China is not India.

>>Xie, what about the status of Chinese in other countries, like South Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia?

Except Singapore... who cares?

>>no,most chinese people cant speak English at all,and university students usually speak fairly poor English...China is not India.

I did write that. I do it too, but who cares? This is my own cultural stereotype, and do conquer me by convincing me, if you want to. For all the western influence everything has in my mind, I'd love to see a perfectly competitive world of language learners - if you can conquer me with Chinese, I'd end my own "doggie" scheme of learning your native tongue. That's exactly what some American guys say about stopping blunt Chinese from practicing English with an atrocious accent. Exactly, it's also why some of my friends are whining about poor English AND poor Mandarin, and some Anglophones outmaneuver them. LOL

Well, I may sound soap-box-ish at times,,, but this is part of my nature... in real terms, it's been universally true, at least to my knowledge, that English is a luxury - yes, people whine, people suffer, people get embarrassed about it. The stereotypical Chinese guy often finds himself (must be a he; a she would get a lot of help and end up mastering English with flying colors) so terribly embarrassed for both linguistic and socio-economic reasons. That's why I wrote recently that Eurocentric and Sinocentric are essentially the same in the Chinese context. The very moment that this blunt Chinese blushes has serious cultural implications, namely the legacy of cultural Asian stereotypes of femininity.

I don't want to put it too far-fetched, but English being luxurious is quite, I think, closely linked to socio-economic status of, in my analysis, Asian peoples in general. To my knowledge, a huge volume of publications, classes, and teaching services of languages are offered in English, followed by some of its western neighbors (with Russian being a notable exception). For reasons I must skip here, their relative affluence is the exact reason, I think, of the ever booming language market. The sorrows of some blunt Chinese, or their own bluntness, could be practically owing to such Sinocentric views, which originated from some ego-poverty. Both the elder generation and my generation would have to acknowledge that the dead (and living, alike) white guys RULE, and RULE by their languages, since they are so much widespread everywhere, just like how difficult it would be for any non-Europeans to create brand-new traditions in philosophy, art, music, literature, and so on (do we have a philosophic term for it?).

The Anglophones learn Chinese (often) "for fun", but the Chinese learn English...for survival, and in my case, for telling you how paradoxical my life with languages has become. By survival I mean, literally, not to be starved. Generations of them have their lives econ. ruined for linguistic reasons, and by the time their offspring get over them, their mind has become enough westernized that they can't speak their native languages natively.