This year, many secondary schools have used Chinese as the medium of instruction.
However, most parents are unhappy with this policy as they believe it lowers their children's English standards. But I think the policy has its advantages.
First of all, I feel very comfortable with my mother tongue. When people speak in Chinese, I understand them totally. Similarly, when lessons are taught in Chinese, students fully understand them. Because of this, they are much more eager to learn and may get better academic results.
Before the implementation of the policy, most textbooks were in English. Some English words in these textbooks were very difficult for students and they had to look them up in the dictionary.
But now, textbooks, except those for the English language, are in Chinese. Therefore, students spend less time checking words in the dictionary and can concentrate on studying or reading books or magazines.
The introduction of the policy has also helped students acquire a stronger national identity, which they might not have had before the handover.
English is still a very important language for international trade.
