W hen you say "you bet" it means you are so sure about something that you are even willing to bet money on it. The latest study of English standards around the world by the language learning company EF Education First showed Hong Kong's ranking had dropped from 22nd to 31st out of 63 places where English is not the first language. Denmark was ranked first, followed by the Netherlands and Sweden. They were in the "very high proficiency" category. Malaysia was found to have the best standard of English in Asia and was ranked 12th followed by Singapore. They were in the "high proficiency" category. Hong Kong ranked last in the "moderate proficiency" category, with a lower standard of English than even South Korea, Japan, Indonesia and Taiwan.
China ranked 37th and was put in the "low proficiency" category but the study found that Shanghai, Beijing, and Tianjin now have a better standard of English than Hong Kong. The Education Bureau and some university professors are refusing to own up（admit） that Hong Kong's standard of English has dropped. They said the study is not entirely accurate. They are only cheating themselves. I know standards have dropped simply by listening to Hong Kong people speak English. It is time for Hong Kong to decide if English is still important or if we should now focus more on Putonghua.
香港的英語水平正在下降嗎？確實無疑（You bet）吧。普通話是否已經取代英語，成為香港第二語言？那肯定（You bet）是吧。香港的英語水平會否持續下降？當然（You bet）會！俚語 you bet 解作當然、肯定、毫無疑問。香港的英語水平當然正在下降，普通話亦肯定已經取代英語，成為這裏的第二語言。而這地方的英語，毫無疑問將會繼續下降。習語 you bet來自 bet 這個字，即是在某事上打賭。你在賽馬中下的賭注就是 bet（名詞）。有些香港人去澳門賭場會賭（bet，動詞）很多錢。
當你說 you bet時，即是說你很確定某事，甚至願意為此押下賭注。由語言學習公司英孚教育就着世界各地英語水平所做的最新研究顯示，六十三個非以英語作為母語的地方之中，香港排名由二十二降至三十一。丹麥居榜首，其次是荷蘭和瑞典。他們都屬於「非常熟練」的級別。馬來西亞則是在亞洲中英語水平最高的地方，排名十二，其後是新加坡。他們都屬於「熟練」的級別。香港在「中度熟練」的級別中排最尾，英語水平甚至比南韓、日本、印尼和台灣還要低。
中國排名三十七，被放在「低級熟練」級別，但研究卻又發現，上海、北京和天津現在的英語水平都比香港好。教育局和某些大學教授都拒絕承認（own up）香港英語水平已下降。他們說，研究並不完全準確。他們只在自欺。我單是聽聽香港人說英語，都已知道水平已經下降了。香港是時候去決定，英語是否仍然重要，抑或我們現在應該更專注在普通話之上呢？
mickchug@gmail.com
Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻
Source: http://news.stheadline.com/dailynews/headline_news_detail_columnist.asp?id=309541§ion_name=wtt&kw=126