From the Wall Street Journal’s China Real Time Report “Mandarin Overtakes English as Hong Kong’s Second Language” (here):
…..Hong Kong’s latest official census report reveals Mandarin has eclipsed English as the language second most commonly spoken by residents of the special administrative region.
The proportion of Hong Kong residents who report they can speak Mandarin – referred to in mainland China as Putonghua, or “the common language” — clocks in at 48%, according to census figures released this week, narrowly surpassing the 46% of Hong Kongers who can speak English. In 2001, the last time Hong Kong conducted a census, only a third of Hong Kong residents reported being able to speak Mandarin….
…..Hong Kong residents — 96% of whom speak Cantonese, according to the census — may be speaking more Mandarin, but many appear to have conflicted emotions about it. A survey conducted by Hong Kong’s Center for Communication Research found that the number of Hong Kongers who describe themselves as feeling “proud” of Mandarin dropped to 29% in 2010, down from a high of 34% in 2006.
Comments