English in Asia

Yesterday I met a woman who is an English teacher in Macau. Since I was there during my trip to Hong Kong, I told her that I was surprised that people who weren’t working in hotels and casinos couldn’t speak English.

She told me this is usual because students in Macau don’t really use English in their classes or learn it as a language used in communicating, and I thought this was really interesting because I think it’s the same thing that’s happening in Japan.

She told me Philippines is special because so many people there can speak English, so I did my research this morning and I found out that people in Singapore, Philippines and Malaysia are the most proficient in English in Asia.

I think it makes sense that these countries have the most number of English speakers based on a lot of things like history and the people’s attitude and beliefs, but it was still a surprise for me.