23 December 2010


China Bans English Text.

First they came for the Roman letter acronyms. Now all Chinese newspapers, publishers and website owners are barred from using English script. The order extends existing warnings that applied to radio and TV. Loan words and non-Chinese names can still be used, but should be written in Chinese characters. Meanwhile, as Language Log notes, Chinese students are learning English from Kindergarten, and there are more people in China who speak English than there are in America.