Education | Prize winning student says: ‘I don’t think people pay enough importance to English’

Fong Cheok Wang (left) poses with other local winners of the contest

Fong Cheok Wang, an English debater from the University of Macau (UM), has expressed his hope that Macau residents will pay more importance to improving their English proficiency skills in the future.

The UM student, together with his teammates from the same school, recently defeated more than 100 teams and won the third prize at the 21st FLTRP Cup National English Debating Competition, held in Beijing.

In his interview with the Times, Fong remarked that “in Macau, many people regard English as a subject instead of a language.”

The UM English debater believes that when English is not considered as a language, but treated as a subject, people will absolutely fail to speak it well.

“I think that in Macau, [people] do not pay enough importance to English. First of all, […] English is not the official language but is used in many places. [In Macau, because] major customers come from mainland China, they [Macau residents] think it might be more useful to learn Mandarin or Portuguese rather than English,” said Fong, who has been devoted to studying English since he was in college.

However, Fong voiced that, despite these circumstances, the Macau public still cares more about English than they do about Portuguese.

“I think they [Macau people] still pay more importance to English than to Portuguese. English is a mandatory subject in all schools. However, English is still just that, a subject. […] It seems that every place needs talented human resources [who know] English, but not every place will hire someone who only knows English,” said Fong. “From an educational perspective, I think that English has been paid more importance than Portuguese, but from the perspective of a resident, and of a student, I don’t think people pay enough importance to English,” he said.

Fong, who also won several English contests in the past in Macau, also remarked that, in schools, English teachers often dedicate more effort and attention to English grammar and spelling, which consequently resulted in many students losing their interest in the English language.

“When students are already afraid [of making grammar and spelling mistakes], it will become extremely difficult for them to talk in English,” said Fong.

In Fong’s opinion, the English learning environment in Macau is unsatisfactory.

“The chances where we can really use English as a communication tool are too [few]. […] I feel that [Macau people think] they don’t need to use English, that there is no room for English. This led many expat workers [who speak English] to also cater to us to speak Chinese,” said Fong.

When voicing his opinion on how to become proficient in English, Fong noted that “studying English can not only be limited to school textbooks. You can learn English from many places, not just from school textbooks or co-curricular classes.”

“I think we can learn from Hong Kong. […] Students there will take the initiative to study English well [because] they are afraid of being unable to enter universities,” said Fong.

The UM student, who will soon enter the job market, believes that the fact that Macau’s main market consists of mainland China has stopped many locals from improving their English proficiency skills. However, he is confident that Macau’s English proficiency will improve as time goes by.

“I think [Macau people’s] English will improve. It’s not that Macau people can’t speak English. Actually, many of them speak English. It’s just that they are afraid of speaking in English,” said Fong, adding “maybe [it is because] currently the Macau government is not paying too much importance to explore the tourism market in Europe and America. In the future, if we can also attract these people to Macau, then, when the market needs people to speak English, and when the Macau people realize the necessity of speaking English, their English might improve.”

Fong suggested for local families to encourage their children to speak English at home, as well as to explore additional English resources, such as English TV programs.