Hong Kong, as a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China, has two official languages, viz., Chinese and English. When Hong Kong was a British crown colony, administration was done primarily in English, with Chinese not being granted official status until 1974. After the transfer of sovereignty from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China in 1997, both Chinese and English remained the official languages of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. After the addition of Chinese as an official language, most signs in public areas and government documents in Hong Kong are in both languages.

The majority of the population in Hong Kong have ancestors that were immigrants including immigrants from the rest of China, and from countries such as India, Nepal, United Kingdom and the Philippines. This has led to a diversity in the languages that can be heard in Hong Kong.

A significant number of Indians and Pakistanis can be found mainly in Tsim Sha Tsui. Signboards written in Hindi or Urdu can be seen in the area, and conversation in South Asian languages including Nepali, Sindhi and Punjabi, as well as Urdu and Hindi, can be heard.

The Indian and Pakistani populations are more integrated into Hong Kong culture than Westerners dwelling in Hong Kong, at least linguistically. While few Westerners and "bananas" in Hong Kong can speak fluent Cantonese, many Pakistanis and Indians speak almost-perfect Cantonese.

English is the major working language in Hong Kong, and is widely used in commercial activities and legal matters. Although the sovereignty of Hong Kong was transferred to the PRC by the United Kingdom in 1997, English is still one of the official languages of Hong Kong, and its official status is enshrined in the Basic Law. For most of the population who are ethnic Chinese, though, it is a second language acquired from school education, taught from the kindergarten level. About a quarter of secondary schools use English from Form 1 to Form 3 as the medium of instruction for all subjects except Chinese language and Chinese history, and a higher proportion of schools use English for instruction at Form 4 and above. Many courses in the local universities are taught in English, while some are offered by the British Council; sometimes professors are "strongly encouraged" by the schools to use English as the instruction language. Average Hong Kongers who do not frequently use English speak it with some accent, which is largely considered inferior and regarded as incorrect. Nevertheless, English enjoys a prestige and respected status in the Hong Kong society and by many Chinese people in Hong Kong.

additional information from Wikipedia

11/29/06 by visitEarth
Tags: