India exporting English to China

[STD]

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Publishers in Beijing are lining up to check if books by Indian authors can teach Chinese students and call-centre employees better English than American textbooks. At a time when bilateral ties are strained, the neighbours are finding common ground over a foreign language. India is the country of honour at the 58-nation Beijing International Book Fair that opened on Monday with 27 Indian publishers showcasing 3,500 titles.

“The Chinese are greatly interested in copyright and translation rights for books to learn call-centre English,” Sanjiv Chawla, manager of exports at the Delhi-based Orient BlackSwan told HT at the fair. “The Chinese have a fixed idea that English is best taught by the Americans and British, so we have to explain that English is like a second-language for Indians.”

Books on Buddhism, Rabindranath Tagore and Jawaharlal Nehru are the centrepiece of India’s pavilion so that past cultural linkages strike a bond with China. But the Chinese publishers are mainly interested in India’s legacy of English education, to see if the books could be adapted to modernise Chinese teaching.

Several Indian publishers told HT that English was proving the biggest barrier to selling English books to the Chinese.

“We’re trying to interact but we can’t express ourselves,” said Subhabrata Deb, a publisher from Tripura.

Millions are learning English in China but outdated textbooks and rote-learning methods can leave even graduates with English majors tongue-tied at the workplace.

China needs a vast new English-speaking workforce to realise its ambitions to expand the service sector.

India exporting English to China - Hindustan Times

I found it a bit funny.

[Urbanized Greyhound]

Publishers in Beijing are lining up to check if books by Indian authors can teach Chinese students and call-centre employees better English than American textbooks. At a time when bilateral ties are strained, the neighbours are finding common ground over a foreign language. India is the country of honour at the 58-nation Beijing International Book Fair that opened on Monday with 27 Indian publishers showcasing 3,500 titles.

“The Chinese are greatly interested in copyright and translation rights for books to learn call-centre English,” Sanjiv Chawla, manager of exports at the Delhi-based Orient BlackSwan told HT at the fair. “The Chinese have a fixed idea that English is best taught by the Americans and British, so we have to explain that English is like a second-language for Indians.”

Books on Buddhism, Rabindranath Tagore and Jawaharlal Nehru are the centrepiece of India’s pavilion so that past cultural linkages strike a bond with China. But the Chinese publishers are mainly interested in India’s legacy of English education, to see if the books could be adapted to modernise Chinese teaching.

Several Indian publishers told HT that English was proving the biggest barrier to selling English books to the Chinese.

“We’re trying to interact but we can’t express ourselves,” said Subhabrata Deb, a publisher from Tripura.

Millions are learning English in China but outdated textbooks and rote-learning methods can leave even graduates with English majors tongue-tied at the workplace.

China needs a vast new English-speaking workforce to realise its ambitions to expand the service sector.

India exporting English to China - Hindustan Times

I found it a bit funny.

this is one area where a joint collaboration can yield tremendous results......the number of proficient english speakers in India is staggering.......we could encourage chinese students to visit India on student visas periodically tfor english training ....resulting in greater earning for our tourism industry....and cheaper and affordable standard english lessons with emphasis on service sector and industry oriented english for the chinese......I invite the views of the chinese members on this.......

[Ghostwhowalks]

Lol- No offense, but can you imagine the outcome if a south Indian teaches spoken english to a native Mandarin speaker (just imagine a confluence of the two accents )

[Coltsfan]

Lol- No offense, but can you imagine the outcome if a south Indian teaches spoken english to a native Mandarin speaker (just imagine a confluence of the two accents )

It would be either too offensive or too funny

[Urbanized Greyhound]

Lol- No offense, but can you imagine the outcome if a south Indian teaches spoken english to a native Mandarin speaker (just imagine a confluence of the two accents )

people have different accents all over the world even in places like texas or scotland or wales....hardly a fraction of the world english speakers would speak BBC world style english....this is why accent training is so tedious and cumbersome....neither is it practical to adopt it universally in the service sector.....by english I mean limited to fluency in speaking with a strong grammatical base......

[Paladin]

The days of receptive pronunciation are long gone. Watch BBC News and you will know what i mean. Besides China has invested tons of money in hiring foreign English experts for TSOL and IELTS.

My Friend was a teacher at a further education college and was snapped up by a Chinese college in Shanghai for x3 the salary he got in England, just to teach busy executives English in the evening.

Talk about committed to excellence. My last work related visit to china, i was surprised, the Chinese have really improved in both verbal and written English. I remember the days when communicating in English was a struggle unless they had a Hong-Konger... Now mainlanders are experts too.

[Agnostic_Indian]

people have different accents all over the world even in places like texas or scotland or wales....hardly a fraction of the world english speakers would speak BBC world style english....this is why accent training is so tedious and cumbersome....neither is it practical to adopt it universally in the service sector.....by english I mean limited to fluency in speaking with a strong grammatical base......

But i think in call center jobs accent is very important..you should learn your customers accent..right ?

[Ahmad]

But i think in call center jobs accent is very important..you should learn your customers accent..right ?

It is very important if the customers are from english speaking country. alot of people in the UK have problems with call centers cuz they have a very difficult accent to understand. I think most of these call centers(or many of them) are located in India.

[Paladin]

It is very important if the customers are from english speaking country. alot of people in the UK have problems with call centers cuz they have a very difficult accent to understand. I think most of these call centers(or many of them) are located in India.

The Sky and BT ones are located in Pakistan and i laugh every time i call Sky Customer Services and "John" answers... Sorry mate but you sure as hell ain't John.

I use to be with 3, their contact centre is in India, and yes i agree accents are very important. You have to understand the psyche of customers. If they think your foreign you have just created a concrete barrier between you and your customer's rapport.

[Ahmad]

The Sky and BT ones are located in Pakistan and i laugh every time i call Sky Customer Services and "John" answers... Sorry mate but you sure as hell ain't John.

I use to be with 3, their contact centre is in India, and yes i agree accents are very important. You have to understand the psyche of customers. If they think your foreign you have just created a concrete barrier between you and your customer's rapport.

yes, a few mins ago i paid my ASDA Credit card bill and an indian lady picked the phone, a very good grammatical english by the lady, but accent was a bit difficult, since i have got a funny accent myself, i understood the lady, but a person english as his first language will have some difficulties.

[Ahmad]

The Sky and BT ones are located in Pakistan and i laugh every time i call Sky Customer Services and "John" answers... Sorry mate but you sure as hell ain't John.

I use to be with 3, their contact centre is in India, and yes i agree accents are very important. You have to understand the psyche of customers. If they think your foreign you have just created a concrete barrier between you and your customer's rapport.

could be a christian pakistani. btw, what have you got with Sky? have you got the whole package or just the phone? i personally dont pay my money to go to mordoch's pocket. i find virgin alot better, this time i am gona change it to Talk Talk. with talk talk, you can get free calls to europe, north america, aussie and n.zealand.

[Paladin]

could be a christian pakistani. btw, what have you got with Sky? have you got the whole package or just the phone? i personally dont pay my money to go to mordoch's pocket. i find virgin alot better, this time i am gona change it to Talk Talk. with talk talk, you can get free calls to europe, north america, aussie and n.zealand.

Yeah your right could be a Christian...

With regard to sky, i have the news channels and a few entertainment ones. My Calls and Broadband is from BT, SKY fire optic sucks balls!

Talk Talk is awesome!

[Bamxa]

Desi + Chiniese accent = sorry, what did you say?

[Paladin]

If anyone has seen UK comedy "Little Britain" this scene comes to mind:

Marjorie Dawes: What advice can we give to Babara, to turn her tragic life around? Paul?

Fat Fighter: [sighs] Cut out biscuits?

Marjorie Dawes: Cut out biscuits! erm... Mary?

Meera: Instead of sugar, use artificial sweetener in tea.

Marjorie Dawes: Something about sugar, but I think the best advice any of us can give you, is to look at the person on the inside, because you're obviously a very unhappy person...

LOL... Classic!

[Ahmad]

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^^^ do you watch Eastenders? Zainab's accent is a better version of the SC accent.