[MotoHK]

Come to the conclusion that almost all the local Chinese here speak English with a British accent wheras American English is the standard as it is without accent and more easily understood and is the defacto international standard of communication. Any thoughts on why 10 years after the handover this persists? Some of it is puzzling like the MTR message "please mind the gap". Come on, would be easier to say "please watch your step". Also, "typhoon level X is hoisted". Sounds to me some heavy thing is being lifted. Why not simply "typhoon warning in effect"? Is there a movement away from the nonsense? I'm not faulting HKers, just wondering why after so long regular normal English has not been emphasized more.

[PDLM]

Troll alert!

[MotoHK]

Originally Posted by PDLM

Troll alert!

hi not a troll. You seem to have logged 1800 posts so my guess is you have been in HK a long time. Can you answer my question so I can learn soemthing?

[PDLM]

I could try, but you wouldn't understand because I use long words and sound funny.

[lionrock88]

Originally Posted by MotoHK

Come to the conclusion that almost all the local Chinese here speak English with a British accent wheras American English is the standard as it is without accent and more easily understood and is the defacto international standard of communication.

Accents are relative - all variations of English have accents. Standard American English has guess what?.. an American accent.

In any case, it's difficult to expect HK with 150+ years of British colonial rule to rid themselves of the British influence in a matter of 10 years. It's ingrained in Hong Kong's DNA.

[MotoHK]

Seriously did not mean to offend you. It is odd as for example if you go to Bejing the English is closer to American English. Same for Japan and Korea as they too follow international standards. I respect the elegancy of a British accent and after all it was the precursor for American English but seems inefficient to me. Seems to me education policy makers in HK have to ask themselves if they will be doing more business with the US or the UK. American power, business reach, philanthropy, and influence throughout the world is undeniable. The other thing I noticed in talking to well heeled locals is the propensity to send their kids to the UK for higher education when the folks in China prefer American universities. If you think about the last 100 years, innovation and research standard setting has come from the US more than any other country in the world.

[jayinhongkong]

It's not going anywhere man. A lot of people here grew up speaking that way and their kids are too.

[JBest]

Also, alot of the local people that I know here were educated in the UK

[PDLM]

Whose definition of "international standards" are you adopting? Just because Americans wish the world to follow them in everything it doesn't follow that it will be that way...

The European Union's "international standard" for English, for example, is the English that is spoken in England. That's 25 countries covered for a start.

[Expatriate]

Originally Posted by MotoHK

I'm not faulting HKers, just wondering why after so long regular normal English has not been emphasized more.

I would think English was coming from England. Therefore the Americans have an American accent, while the British speak without accent as they are native English speakers.