In the proposal, Xu said that English should not be a core subject like Chinese and math during compulsory education and more course hours should be given to improving students’ skills in physical education, music and art.许进在主张中标明，责任教育期间，英语等外语课程不再设为与语文和数学平等的主课，添加体育、音乐、艺术等本质教育课程占比。

【单词说明】

Compulsory这个词咱们都很了解，标明“强行的，责任的，有必要做的”意思，除了标明“责任教育（compulsory education）”以外，学校里设置的“必修课”是compulsory courses，再比方，It is compulsory for all motorcyclists to wear helmets.（一切骑摩托车的人都有必要戴头盔。）

Xu said English and other foreign languages should also not be included as compulsory subjects for the national college entrance exam.不再将英语（或外语）设为高考必考的类别。

许进的说明是：

While English takes up about 10 percent of class hours, less than 10 percent of university graduates use the language at work, he said.英语教育课时约占学生总课时的10%，但英语只对不到10%的大学结业生有用。

Moreover, smart translation devices can offer sophisticated translation services and in the age of artificial intelligence, translators will be among the top 10 professions to be eliminated, he added.此外，如今的翻译机可以供给口语翻译效能，技能非常老到。在人工智能年代，翻译作业位居即将被选择作业的前10名。

这番话当即引发网友热议。有些网友认为这一主张值得参议。

复旦大学中文系教授严锋也在微博发文标明对立：

不过，也有网友标明，花了许多时刻学英语，往常日子中却用不到，的确有点浪费时刻。

According to a online poll by China Youth Daily, more than 110,000 respondents opposed the proposal and said English should be taught

early at schools to enable China to compete with other countries. However, around 100,000 people supported the proposal and said it would be better to spend more time learning Chinese language and culture.《我国青年报》一项在线查询闪现，参加查询的人傍边，有跨越11万对立这项主张，并标明学校大约早开英语课，前进我国在全世界的竞赛力。约有10万人撑持该主张，认为大约花更多时刻学习中文和文明。

许进3月4日在承受采访时进一步说明称，

“I’m not saying that we shouldn’t learn English. I’m saying that we shouldn’t let the whole population learn the language while only a few can use it, and this just doesn’t make sense. According to data released in 2019, there are about 40 million students learning English in preschool and compulsory education, but probably less than 4 million will use it at work. They learn English for nine years and in the end only 1/10 of them will use the language. It is a waste of educational resources to make children shoulder such a heavy burden and ask them to learn a course that they may not use in the future.”

“我不是说不要学英语，我是说不要让全民都去学而只需少量人能用到英语，这个就不合理了。根据2019年数据，学前教育和责任教育期间约有4000万学生学英语，但作业后用得到英语的可以还不到400万。责任教育期间学9年，最终只需1/10的人有用，让孩子担负那么重的担负，让孩子学一门将来可以用不上的课程，是对教育本钱的浪费。”

学英语究竟是不是浪费时刻？

北京外国语大学教授张连仲此前承受采访时标明，

The Ministry of Education made English a compulsory course from third grade in 2001. The decision had proved to be a smart one as hundreds of millions of Chinese students have broadened their horizons and improved their cultural awareness and critical thinking ability through learning the language.教育部2001年抉择从小学三年级初步将英语设为必修课，实际证明这是一个正确的抉择，让近亿的孩子初步触摸英语，对开阔学生视界，培育文明知道、思维练习等起到杰出的作用。

21世纪教育研讨院院长熊丙奇标明，

The key is to reform China’s exam-oriented education system so that English teaching will focus on improving students’ language skills, not exam-taking ability.要害是要变革应试教育体系，让英语教育专心于前进学生的言语水平，而不是考试才能。

Removing English as a core subject will only result in greater imbalances between urban and rural students in English proficiency as urban students will more likely resort to costly after-school training to learn the language.假定撤消英语主课方位，只会致使城乡学生英语水平更大的差异，因为城市学生很有可以会花钱报课外培训班学英语。

（我国日报网英语点津 Helen）