Since the first Confucius Institute opened in 2004，an increasing number of foreigners have become interested in Chinese language. Chinese fever has since gripped the world. Against the backdrop of burgeoning Chinese learning worldwide，what about Chinese itself in the homeland?
Chinese has been compromised by English.
It seems to have become a standard that you must have an English name if you work in a multinational cooperation. When talking to each other, they speak Chinese mixed up with some English words. I often hear conversations like these among white collars when I take the subway: " 我明天有个meeting，今天得OT赶完PPT才能go home" which means I'm having a meeting tomorrow so I have to work overtime to get my presentation finished before going home. Well, that sounds, I guess, fancier and more professional.
For the sake of livelihood, these white collars seem to have the very need to speak the mixed language. Every corner of society, however, has seen changes. People need haircutting all the time. However, when entering a barber shop, they no longer call the barber Shifu(a qualified worker as distinct from an apprentice). Instead, barbers all have English names like Mr. John, Mr. Robert, Mr. Bob and the like. It's sort of strange in a Chinese barbershop that you ask “Mr. John” rather than “Shifu” to cut your hair. But who knows? Maybe this is a growing new trend.
Globalization has brought about the need for English. Never before has China become so intertwined with the outside world. The nation imports a lot of technology from other countries. Homes are packed with electronics which has English on them. Children watch American or British TV shows.
Chinese is in no way pure now, after having been influenced by English. For instance, Chinese doesn't show tense by changing the form of verbs, but by relying on auxiliaries such as 着，了，过. With the translation of the western books and movies introduced to China back in the 1900s, many inaccurate translations involve annoying 着，了，过. It has damaged the language for ordinary people and writers, of which both are not immune to adding those auxiliaries in their conversation and writing. They do this even when it’s not necessary. Thus，it's not uncommon to read some news with lots of 了 in one sentence in contemporary China.
Even worse, students prefer English to Chinese when at school because they believe Chinese as their mother tongue is too easy to learn. They work hard to learn English as their native language worsens without their knowledge. The ministry of education has to reduce English test total points in CEE(College entrance examination) to bring down the fever. Authorities in Beijing, for example, have cut the scores to 100 from 150.
Chinese language has witnessed this nation's ups and downs despite being corrupted. It has thrived with enormous vitality. It will continue to, I believe, overcome what's in its way by absorbing the good and discarding the dross. Long live Chinese!
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