I was born in the US but like most had that mom, dad, and family that were from China and what not. I was thinking of going back to HK in possibly starting life. How do you guys do it? I finished my college, but it's not like matters. lol I cannot read/write chinese, and can speak seldom, but I understand more than I can speak. Any possible careers? My relatives were born in HK and went to foreign places to school. Some immigrated, while others returned to HK. I still aspire the American dream, but as of now, I wanna try something new. Any thoughts? Thanks.
Its gonna be hard to find a job if you can just barely speak the language, which kinda applies in any country, unless ya wana clean toilets or something.... dunno what kinda jobs that you could get away with speaking only english unfortunately. Maybe you should have like a month long vacation out there, that way you will know what opportunities there are and if you can survive
To put it that way, I can watch TVB and understand but I had NO education in Chinese language at all. I consider myself better than most ABC, but of course there's plenty of people better than me. I thought HK was an international city (of course it is). My relatives there tell me there's PLENTY of international, american speaking people. After all HK has signs translated with ENGLISH underneath as well. hehe. Not sure if its post 1997 or whatever though. I think my English is great, but of course compared to people I won't be. I don't know if there is a need or demand for American speakers, maybe as teachers? I d K. I don't think yellow skin people can hang w/ the huck gwais too much in the USA, and I crave the city life - so why not HK. POSITIVES people hahaa.
I understand the consensus, but there's no need for good english speakers and what not? Probably not. Just had a thought in mind. There's plenty of English people. I've been to HK in the past, about 5 times ever 2 years and know how it's like. I was hoping people here could really chime in. I've spoken with my aunt regarding this and they've suggested that language barriers aren't too much of a problem. What do you guys think? Pursue other parts of the US mainland or try Hong Kong?
Well, the English speaking people who work there are usually for big companies such as banks. Hong Kong, to the English speaking world is more known as a financial city, if you get what I mean. If you are planning of going to Hong Kong, without a Uni degree, life will be very hard, and be even harder due to the fact that Cantonese is the main language spoken there.
I have a Uni-Bachelor's degree from the USA. IMO, I could care less, but I am better than a lot of people w/o one. What befuddles me is when I got sick in HK/Kowloon and I visited a doctor. He tried to describe my diagnosis in English, "Gastronimcal blah blah". I could hear, the doctor didn't speak English fluent at all. But I just let it go. THanks for the input..
lol Or u can marry a Girl in Hong Kong, and get her to do everything for u , =P or u can be those 'english talking asians or , 中國番鬼佬
I'm not too familiar with the US, but there are a lot of opportunities in HK, but also a lot of pressure from the higher positions
thats the point English is a very good language to have and sort after by employers, but only if your good at speaking (at least canto and mando would be a plus) and writing chinese I know for me to get a job with cathay pacific as an engineer, I have to be able to speak cantonese (mandarin would be a bonus) and english proficiently and be able to write english and chinese proficiently If you wanted to be an english teacher, you would at least have to be able to read and write chinese, so you could translate and do things properly If you were just gonna live in HK, then you could get away with good english and limited chinese, cause yeh pretty much everything is in dual language. But getting a decent job and making a life out there, your gonna need more. not trying to be negative but thats how i see the situation
zz give up, its different visiting there then actually working there, if u were in a job that required lots of traveling, and buisness pays 4 u, then that's the best choice, but if u cannot read then i don't see how you can even consider working in a place w/ chinese characters -.-
Depends on your education. I know some people who can't even speak one once of canto, but are making big bucks in HK, mostly finance related or business related.
There's always extremities. In world, a true talent speaker of FLUENT ENGLISH and CHINESE (mando and/or canto) is very very hard to find. I have seen MANY MANY Chinese speakers that stutter, and carry accent in ENGLISH but have MADE it in the USA. However, I cannot say the same on HK/CHINA grounds. Reading and writing in Chinese is probably valued more than English. I doubt REAL ENGLISH talent is really needed, perhaps at higher positions. Just a thought.. Oh well, at least try. Even if you fail, you probably gained a lot more. What shocks me is, I have NOT ever, celebrity or common place seen anybody that was FLUENT in ENGLISH and knew Chinese. I could always hear the accents, and the lack of vocabulary usage. What sucks is people learn a few, and call themselves fluent, when in fact they aren't. THey only speak a few phrases and consider a foreign language their natural tongue.
it really depends on wat job u want, its really competitive in hk since everyone u see on the streets holding bachelor certs =| if u want to wrk in banks and stuff 90% of time they set u out in front counter for like a year b4 u move into management, so ur chinese/canto has to be good... for my job the requirements was just to noe (read/speak) english, mandarin, cantonese (language wise)... but for most other jobs mandarin isnt a must but its highly recomended =] and ill garuntee u if u start speaking english on the mtr or any public place, ull get alot of stares =| and yeah thers crap loads of ppl who are fluent in english and chinese in hk, but like 40% of them will go overseas ie the US or UK to find a job since its higher pay ther, and the other 60% will jus get medium to high standing jobs...
Do you mean to say, English still takes a back seat? I can assume so. After all it's still a Chinese area. I thought perhaps the demand for the bi-lingual English/Chinese was a necessity. The thing is, how well can you perform or speak? Will taking x amount of credits matter? I suppose English is still a subordinating language. But I though they really pushed English speaking. Can people really speak CONVERSATIONAL English/Chinese? I know it's tough to answer. Thanks for the input. It's odd, how people who are bi-lingual would wanna go overseas, yet some would actually go retro.
lol yeah its conversational english, alot like wen i was in australia speaking to genuine australians! Suprisingly enuf... but yeah its hard to find them around in hk cause most of them will rather speak canto to u than practice their english...they will only speak it if the boss makes em (like me=P) and also ther are ALOT of international schools that ban people from speaking cantonese/mandarin in the campus!! so only enlgish is accepted or else the kids get in trouble...and most of those kids are foreigners anywais or kids from really rich families!! in the end it depends on the type of job u want: jobs with a lot of oral communication or written communication or even split of both~ but most employers will look at where cert-come from>credits>language>what u look like>background then leads to a interview sometimes!
Shit seems tough. Maybe I should get with a celeb. HAHAHA. Thanks for the insight. And so, what purpose are these ENGLISH SPEAKING only schools? I mean, is it because they want to immigrate? Certainly the demand isn't with in HK, but then again, it is very INTERNATIONAL.
those schools were made b4 1997, when UK still had authority over hk =] so ther was alot of ppl from UK in hk back then, and their children went to those schools wher they can speak/understand english, rather than being exposed to a totally new language Edit: If u get a PHd in wateva ur doing ur garunteed a job pretty much at HKU assuming they have the course u did =]
