Why Can’t Chinese People Speak English Well?

When you travel in China, have you ever felt confused — because literally everywhere you go, you find that almost no one speaks English at all?

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So why does this happen? Why is traveling in China so difficult? Why does a country with 1.4 billion people barely have anyone who can speak English?

Let me give you a little background about myself — it might help you understand why.

I have lived in China for almost 21 years. Before I turned 19, I couldn’t say a single word in English. But after two years of self-study, I managed to become fluent. So why couldn’t I speak any English before I was 19?

Here’s the truth: in China, you don’t need to speak English to find a job. You don’t need to speak English to survive. You don’t even need it to enjoy your life.

China has its own YouTube — Bilibili. It has its own social media platform — WeChat. You don’t need to download WhatsApp. It has its own payment systems — Alipay and WeChat Pay. You don’t need Apple Pay. Everything in China is so convenient.

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China is not a tourism-oriented country like Japan, Thailand, or Vietnam.

So when you walk on the streets of a tier-2 or tier-3 city, you’ll barely see any foreigners. If you live in Shanghai or Beijing, that’s a different story — you can meet many foreigners there. But for most people, there is very little chance to use English in real life. So they don’t find the language useful — unless they work for a company that requires English.

China’s English Education System

Now, about China’s English education system — based on my memory as a student in middle school and high school, teachers always made us memorize vocabulary, practice listening, and practice writing. But they never focused on speaking.

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That’s why Chinese students are usually good at listening, reading, and writing, but not speaking.

We even have a term for this in Chinese: “哑巴英语” — mute English. We often use it to laugh at ourselves.

But why did I eventually decide to learn English, unlike most other Chinese people? And I think this is the key to understanding why most Chinese can’t speak English.

The answer is: they don’t realize how important English is.

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They’ve never gained any real benefit from it.

There’s a saying in China: “English skill plus any other skill is more powerful than a degree from a 985 or 211 university.” I don’t know if that’s completely true, but it does help those who have both a skill and some English — it opens doors for them.

For example, if you’re a local taxi driver with driving skills, and you can also speak English — that’s extremely rare in China. When a foreigner takes your ride, they might be amazed and even give you a tip.

Or if you work in tech — say, at a software company — you have computer skills. Once you know English, you can work for American clients and earn in dollars instead of RMB. And 1 USD equals about 7 RMB — so your work becomes more valuable.

My First Trip to Singapore

Two years ago, I traveled to Singapore for the first time.

Back then, I realized that it seemed like everyone from every country could speak English — except the Chinese.

For me, ordering food was difficult. Taking the bus was difficult. Everywhere I went, I felt painful — because I couldn’t speak English.

So after I returned to China, I was determined to change.

I learned English through YouTube videos, through games, through TV shows…

And two years of self-study turned out to be far more effective than 12 years of studying English textbooks in school.

If I had only relied on school, I would never have mastered the language.

The Reward System

There’s something called a reward system: if you learn English and find that it rewards you, you’ll keep going.

For example, every time I speak English with foreigners, they admire me — they say my accent is perfect. I feel a sense of satisfaction. That makes me want to keep studying.

That’s the reward.

But let’s go back to the students studying in school. They never feel rewarded — only a score on an exam paper.

But what happens after they graduate?

Does that reward still exist?