Jake's View | Investing in English fluency a misallocation of resources

Academics and politicians took issue with a global study of English language skills that ranked Hong Kong adults marginally lower than residents of major mainland cities including Shanghai, Beijing and Tianjin.

Then followed the usual harrumphing about whether the test did or did not accurately reflect the level of English language skills and the usual lament about Hong Kong's declining language standards. Singapore and Shanghai beat us again. Ain't it terrible?

I say the usual harrumphing and usual laments because that is what they are. We feature them every few months and the story never changes. Hong Kong is headed down because people just don't want to speak English no more. Ain't it terrible?

So let me once again present the case for why I think it's all nonsense and why we are just where we ought to be in English language skills.

It's simple. Fluency in a language is a skill with commercial value and can take a great deal of time and effort to acquire. Before people acquire such a skill they ask themselves whether it is worthwhile. If they intend to put it to commercial use, the answer is normally phrased in terms of how much they will be paid for it.