Macau makes a special effort to promote English, which has long been the lingua franca, although it is not one of the city’s official languages.
Elise Ao Yong Wu, Minister of Social Affairs and Culture, said Friday that the government will continue to strengthen the application of English in various fields to help Macau become a global tourism and leisure center, while Diversification of Macau’s economy through English.
Ao Ieong made the remarks when answering a question from MP Wang Sai Man during the parliament’s half-cycle plenary session.
Mr Wang asked about Macau’s strengthening of its “internationalization” strategy. That is, whether the government is considering promoting English in various fields such as tourism and business sectors. He also asked about the government’s plans to develop English talent in Macau.
Ao Ieong pointed out that in non-tertiary education, the government is promoting schools to improve students’ English proficiency through curriculum reform, and in the 2021/2022 school year, all formal education schools provided an English course or related educational activity. He said 15 of them use English as their language of instruction, with a total of 13,400 students, about 15% of the formal education students. Due to the development needs of civil society, schools using English as one of the international curricula and teaching languages will be launched in the future, he added.
When it comes to higher education, according to Ao Ieong, nearly 40% of Macau’s students, who now account for more than 10,000 students, continue their studies in English-speaking countries or regions, or in local higher education institutions where English is available. I’m here. Alternatively, they have attended higher education courses teaching English in places like Macau, with different levels of educational attainment.
Ao Ieong also said that in order to continue cultivating local English talent, the University of Macau, the Macau Institute of Tourism, and St. said it continues. in different specialties.
On the other hand, several lawmakers expressed concern over the lack of use of English in areas such as road signs and names of cultural heritage sites.
Ao Ieong said road signs may not contain English in many countries and regions where English is not an official language, adding that pinyin could basically solve the problem.
However, Ao Ieong stressed that Macau’s UNESCO World Heritage Site signature consists of Chinese, English, Portuguese and Japanese.
Ao Ieong also pointed out that Chinese and Portuguese are the official languages of Macau.Macau Post Daily reported.
