The Chinese radio operators are reading off of a script sheet that most likely provides the original Chinese phrasing followed by an English translation.
It's entirely possible that some of them couldn't even order a hamburger at McDonalds in English. It would make sense that the radio operators would be able to speak English, but judging from the recording of the conversation, it's entirely possible that they don't or that there skill level is extremely beginner.
Chinese government employees are not permitted to have any foreign contacts at all. I have some adult students who come to my class, but cannot exchange contact information with me because they work for the government. They probably aren't supposed to even be talking to me.
I think it's safe to assume that anyone in the Chinese military would be a few steps removed from anyone resembling a native English instructor.
There are many Chinese, who despite having horrific grammar, think their grammar is good because they can get all the questions right in their English textbook.
The thing about English textbooks in China is that they are written by Chinese people who are far from being fluent in English. They are uniformly full of mistakes. The idea of having a native speaker double-check the accuracy of a Chinese written English textbook has never occurred to any Chinese person anywhere.
They all operate from the understanding that Chinese people are far more intelligent than all non-Chinese and for matters concerning China or Chinese people in anyway, nothing of value can be learned from a foreigner, including English.
The only reason why native speakers are employed in China at all, is because they think that having a native-English speaking teacher is the only way to pick-up the correct pronunciation of words (and to show how rich you are, since not everyone can afford a white-faced teacher).
They don't even want the foreign teacher to teach grammar or explain how the language works to students. They just want them talking in English as much as possible.
Chinese parents tend to freak the fuck out if a foreign teacher breathes as much as one word in Chinese during a class. They could care less about the professional judgment of the foreign teacher regarding which teaching methods will have the best result, as they've already concluded that the teacher has nothing to contribute other than correct pronunciation.
The Chinese dudes on the radio probably think that they are doing an stellar job communicating with the evil American interlopers.
To their credit, if 99.5% of American airman attempted to read Chinese off of a script, the result would be a lot worse than the Chinese military personnel's poor attempts at English.
It's entirely possible that some of them couldn't even order a hamburger at McDonalds in English. It would make sense that the radio operators would be able to speak English, but judging from the recording of the conversation, it's entirely possible that they don't or that there skill level is extremely beginner.
Chinese government employees are not permitted to have any foreign contacts at all. I have some adult students who come to my class, but cannot exchange contact information with me because they work for the government. They probably aren't supposed to even be talking to me.
I think it's safe to assume that anyone in the Chinese military would be a few steps removed from anyone resembling a native English instructor.
There are many Chinese, who despite having horrific grammar, think their grammar is good because they can get all the questions right in their English textbook.
The thing about English textbooks in China is that they are written by Chinese people who are far from being fluent in English. They are uniformly full of mistakes. The idea of having a native speaker double-check the accuracy of a Chinese written English textbook has never occurred to any Chinese person anywhere.
They all operate from the understanding that Chinese people are far more intelligent than all non-Chinese and for matters concerning China or Chinese people in anyway, nothing of value can be learned from a foreigner, including English.
The only reason why native speakers are employed in China at all, is because they think that having a native-English speaking teacher is the only way to pick-up the correct pronunciation of words (and to show how rich you are, since not everyone can afford a white-faced teacher).
They don't even want the foreign teacher to teach grammar or explain how the language works to students. They just want them talking in English as much as possible.
Chinese parents tend to freak the fuck out if a foreign teacher breathes as much as one word in Chinese during a class. They could care less about the professional judgment of the foreign teacher regarding which teaching methods will have the best result, as they've already concluded that the teacher has nothing to contribute other than correct pronunciation.
The Chinese dudes on the radio probably think that they are doing an stellar job communicating with the evil American interlopers.
To their credit, if 99.5% of American airman attempted to read Chinese off of a script, the result would be a lot worse than the Chinese military personnel's poor attempts at English.
I'm the King of Beijing!