How come Asian students achieve A/A* at GCSE Language?

Maybe they "barely speak english" to people because they get made fun of their accents, when in fact their written english is perfect.

Just for the record, I have absolutely nothing against chinese people. I even admire them for their outstanding attitude towards learning and everything and find it really inspiring that many chinese students, who arrive to England can barely speak english at first, and still manage to achieve an A/A* at GCSE English? What's their secret?

Just for the record, I have absolutely nothing against chinese people. I even admire them for their outstanding attitude towards learning and everything and find it really inspiring that many chinese students, who arrive to England can barely speak english at first, and still manage to achieve an A/A* at GCSE English? What's their secret?

Is this not due to foreign language teaching in China? I've heard they teach English from quite a young age.

Not that it has made any difference at all with the Chinese students in my lectures, who can't speak English with the requisite degree of fluency necessary to get by, IMO.

Universities just cram as many foreign students in for the £££. It's a shame really.

No it's actually quite good. Whatever they pay helps to keep fees for home students down. Secondly, from what I've seen (I'm Chinese, however I'm a third gen) most of them tend to take Maths/Science/A&F courses as these subjects require little use of the English language. So it's a win win for everyone. If they're struggling, they usually work out between them what they need to do. The downside to this is that they usually don't socialise as much, and this is mainly because they're shy. I feel for them, I'd feel exactly the same if someone stuck me in a Spanish university where most of the students spoke Spanish and I was there with a couple of Brits who could speak English - I'd just chat to them :yup:

I think its a shame. Firstly, its a waste of their own potential if they come over and can't do well because of the language barrier. I mean, if your English is poor, why study in English? Why not study in Mandarin?

Why come over here if the grasp on the language is poor. I mean, I wouldn't go to university in Paris or Madrid - I can't speak French or Spanish, and I certainly wouldn't want to study in a language I only half know.

I know we need their big money to fund our own courses but I'd much rather we weren't reliant on foreign students and could provide more places for our own students. I know someone will see this as racism, its TSR, everything is racist, but I'm not going against someone on the basis of their race, more their citizenship. The girls in my lectures just sit around and play on their iPads or PDAs. They don't integrate, they just sit and talk amongst themselves and don't contribute to the classes.

I know that is probably because they feel isolated but really they should be studying in their home country if they feel isolated and out of place here.

Is this not due to foreign language teaching in China? I've heard they teach English from quite a young age.

Not that it has made any difference at all with the Chinese students in my lectures, who can't speak English with the requisite degree of fluency necessary to get by, IMO.

Universities just cram as many foreign students in for the £££. It's a shame really.

I can see this really; a mate of mine got sent to Paris to study Engineering, and he wonders now, once he got back home, would he even use the language he has to study there (they don't use English). I wonder whether it's worth the loneliness and isolation, as well as the struggle to adapt to the country.

Regarding the Chinese girls, what's the point coming all the way from China but can't speak a word of English?

Just for the record, I have absolutely nothing against chinese people. I even admire them for their outstanding attitude towards learning and everything and find it really inspiring that many chinese students, who arrive to England can barely speak english at first, and still manage to achieve an A/A* at GCSE English? What's their secret?

I think its a shame. Firstly, its a waste of their own potential if they come over and can't do well because of the language barrier. I mean, if your English is poor, why study in English? Why not study in Mandarin?

Why come over here if the grasp on the language is poor. I mean, I wouldn't go to university in Paris or Madrid - I can't speak French or Spanish, and I certainly wouldn't want to study in a language I only half know.

I know we need their big money to fund our own courses but I'd much rather we weren't reliant on foreign students and could provide more places for our own students. I know someone will see this as racism, its TSR, everything is racist, but I'm not going against someone on the basis of their race, more their citizenship. The girls in my lectures just sit around and play on their iPads or PDAs. They don't integrate, they just sit and talk amongst themselves and don't contribute to the classes.

I know that is probably because they feel isolated but really they should be studying in their home country if they feel isolated and out of place here.

Parental influence maybe? Degrees from UK and the US are seen as prestigious over there and parents often want the best for their children. It could also be an attempt to encourage their kids to "improve their English", but this backfires as they end up banding with others from their country and speaking their own language as they can't properly communicate with other peers to be accepted by other social groups.

Well the Chinese I know from friends and family tend to do very well. They may not understand every word, but when they group together, they manage to work things out between them.

Lastly you need to remember how prestigious a UK degree is seen in the East. This is the most important factor for coming to study in the UK. They're very highly valued - a good Top 25 degree will earn you a nice salary when you go back home. UK universities are world leaders for undergraduate education. You say you wouldn't go to France or Spain to study, but if you could understand French or Spanish to a reasonable level and Britain had much weaker educational institutions, I'm sure you'd jump at the chance to have a better education (or a more prestigious brand on your CV and thus a greater salary).

You have a lot of Chinese students on your Sociology course? I find this rare, as I said, they tend to take things in Maths/Science where they can get a book, study it hard and get good grades without having great English. A Sociology degree would hold little value back home. Whereas if they did Accounting&Finance/Maths/Economics/Management/Sciences/IT, they'll earn big salaries in China/HK and in the Tiger economies if they so wished.

As for the part about becoming less reliant. That would perfectly possible. Just expect more of the rich kids filling university places. The bulk of the population won't vote to pay higher taxes to fund university educations for students. As for funding more places for our students...I don't see how this comes into the equation. There are hundreds of thousands of places for UK applicants. If you get AAB, places are unlimited, I believe this goes to ABB for the next cohort. So if you achieve well, there aren't any barriers.