Editor's Note: Where's you ha ha point? Do not Oh Yeah. You bad bad. Jiayou! The article reports on the charmingly silly Chinglish phenomenon and it's rise in usage across both China and English-speaking countries 

Chinese-Canadian Bart Li recently started a course for Chinese businesspeople and others wanting to work in the West in Winnipeg, Canada. The course name? Advanced Chinglish.

The course covers features of Chinglish, the value of Chinglish and so on. Li currently has 20 students including five from the United States and five from the United Kingdom. The course lasts four weeks, with 30 hours of classes. It costs 2,000 Canadian Dollars.

Li is confident about the prospects for the future. “As English is more popular around the world, this type of training will be more and more common."

An Objective Reality
Chinglish is a variant of English, with Chinese characteristics. Chinese linguistic expert Wang Rongpei wrote in 1991 that “Chinese English” is an objective reality. Wang defined Chinglish as Standard English at its core with Chinese characteristics. He believes that Chinglish is a unique social and cultural product when used in English-speaking countries.

Chinglish is a contribution to the English language itself. It not only enriches the content of the English language, but has helped expand the sphere of influence of English. Over the last 10 years, Chinglish has become very popular within China and has begun to influence the rest of the world.

Director of the Global Language Monitor Center in Austin (GLM) Paul Pailhac spoke highly of the development of Chinglish. Pailhac claimed that Chinglish has had a profound change on the English language, and has paved the way for a large number of Chinese words to enter the English language. Almost 20% of new English words have come from Chinglish or Chinese words, more than any other source. Well-known British linguist David Crystal said that with the rapid development of the Chinese economy, Chinglish is bound to have a tremendous impact on the world.

Chinglish in the Media
The New York Times published an article during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and used the Chinese pinyin phrase “jiayou,” instead of “come on,” several times throughout the article.

Walter McDonough, executive vice president of the United States’ Education Services Examination Center (ETS) said to China Daily that, “If more and more Chinglish emerges in academia and higher education, ETS will put Chinglish in the TOEFL exam.” He believes that the English TOEFL test should truly reflect international changes in language and education.
Chinglish words are slowly becoming internationally mainstream. The interesting linguistic phenomenon is being recognized by more and more people. In 2010, the British Economist published an article about the sex ratio imbalance in China. The article used the world “guanggun (bachelor),” when referring to some of the older single men.

In 2013, The Wall Street Journal used the word “dama (aunt),” in an article. The same year, the BBC did a show on the origin and usage of the term “tuhao.” The terms “no zuo no die (if you don’t seek death, you won’t die),” “you can you up (if you can do it, you should do it),” “no can no BB (people who talk too much and say useless and silly things),” and “you ask me, me ask who? (you ask me, who do I ask?),” are included in Urban Dictionary. The term “guanxi,” has also been included in a number of media sources included The Guardian.

Chinglish in the Dictionary
Not long ago, Oxford University Press bilingual dictionary project manager Julie Finkleman told Beijing Youth Daily reporters that “tuhao,” “dama,” and “hukou,” are already in the Oxford English Dictionary. The Oxford English Dictionary has actually included nearly 250 Chinglish words including “Maotai,” “ganbu (cadres),” “feng shui,” and more. The U.S.’s Webster New International Dictionary is also considering adding Chinglish words to its newest edition.
Influential Chinglish phrases that have become accepted standard English include “paper tiger,” and “long time no see.” Experts say that the charms of Chinglish are constantly increasing as the language gains influence throughout the English speaking world.

Source: Wenxue City

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Keywords: language influence Chinglish Chinese English Chinglish