I AM opposed to the new proposal from the Education Department which suggests children should only start learning English when they are promoted to Primary Four.
I agree that children should first have a basic grounding in their mother tongue. However, no one can deny that English is becoming increasingly important, especially in the world of business. English is now the most widely-used language and a knowlege of it will, in some degree, improve a person's status and job prospects.
When children are still young, they learn things quickly and effectively. It is more difficult for them to learn English when they are older.
Learning English is no easy task. It takes most Chinese people many years of study to have a good grasp of English.
Practice makes perfect. The sooner we start, the better our chances of improving our English and becoming proficient in the language. Chinese and English are equally important nowadays.
I do not want to find that the English stardard of Hong Kong students will decline in the future. VANESSA CHAN New Territories