Cut Tongues for Speaking 'Perfect' English Demanded in Shanghai

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, June 18, 2002

Cut Tongues for Speaking 'Perfect' English Demanded in Shanghai

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News from Ren-ai Hospital said that some young English learners in Shanghai demand operations on their tongues in order to utter "pure" English pronunciations, especially those that need a curling of the tongue.

This fully shows how enthusiastic and reckless Shanghai people are in learning English, experts say.

Sociologist: a lovely stupid action

Sociology professor Yu Hai with Shanghai University burst into laughter when he heard the news from reporter. "This is a lovely stupid action!" he said seriously.

Don't think it too crazy, Yu said, for this at least reflects the enthusiasm of Shanghai people for learning English, which explains the strong development of the city's human resources. Now the English we learn are only for communication, and one can easily find occasions to speak English in this big city. Anyway, good English leads to business opportunities more easily.

Doctor: pointless to operate on the tongue

The Ren-ai Hospital checked two people who demanded operations, and found their tongues were of normal structure. They speak perfect Chinese and it is unnecessary to raise pronunciation capability through tongue operations, doctor says, since the operations are only applied to born deformities. Naturally, their demands were turned down.

Besides, Chinese speaker and English speaker have different pronunciation habits, just like Beijinger and Cantonese do. That is, it is a question of pronunciation habits instead of tongue structure and therefore can not be solved through operations.

Language teacher: don't learn English for instant success

It is groundless to say tongue operations could help better one's English pronunciation, this is the first instinct from many English training experts in Shanghai.

From a physical point of view, a normal person can learn any language under correct instruction, and this is only a question of time, Liu Yuejun, president of an English training school said. What's more, pronunciation problem shouldn't become a reason of visa refusal, for people go abroad just because they can not acquire good pronunciation in their own countries. This also shows the fact that people are too eager for instant success and quick benefits, actually learning a language is a long course of time.

Modern people are under more pressure and they can not possibly learn a language for its beauty, just like football, in which playing is for goals, for goals could bring benefits, said Zhou Chenggang, president of Shanghai New Oriental School. Nowadays people are learning English for finding a job or going abroad and they have no time to "waste" on the learning course. Under such an atmosphere people resort to extreme actions as far as asking to "operate" on their tongues.

By PD Online Staff Member Li Heng

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