China blogger ashamed after flunking national English exam, shuts down language learning site, apologises to 92,000 followers
- Undergraduate creates English-learning blog, is confident will pass exam
- Gets very low marks, surprised, disappointed, closes Xiaohongshu account
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A Chinese blogger from an English language learning site, who flunked the national exam and stopped updating English content to his account, has trended on mainland social media.
The 23-year-old, surnamed Zhou, who is in his second year of university in Beijing, created a Xiaohongshu account to propel him to learn English.
Within a year, he had accumulated 92,000 followers, Bailu Video reported.
He felt so ashamed at not passing China’s national College English Test Band 4 (CET-4), that he decided to stop uploading English content to his account.
“Notice of stopping the update. I’m sorry, but please unfollow me,” Zhou posted on March 3, adding: “The English learning blogger failed the CET-4”.
He confessed he had a poor performance record in English learning and lacked discipline, and had been worried he would fail the CET-4 exam.
In China, the CET-4 is a compulsory nationwide English proficiency test for non-English major university students in China.
The test contains writing and speaking elements with scores ranging from 425 to 710. Passing the test is a requirement for many employers.
In April last year, he came up with the idea of creating a Xiaohongshu account for English learning, which he thought would help motivate him to pass the test in December last year.
Zhou constantly uploaded texts and videos about ways of learning English and was happy when he realised they were becoming popular.
He insists that instead of aspiring to be a blogger, he was genuine in his desire to further improve his English.
The effort he put into updating the blog’s English learning content regularly, boosted his confidence when it came to his own learning and ability to pass the test.
So, he was disappointed when he saw he had only achieved 411 marks when the test results were announced on February 27.
“I’m surprised,” a clearly crushed Zhou said.
“I will no longer update any English learning content. In the next half year, I will work harder to pass it next time,” he added.
Zhou’s story divided opinion on mainland social media.
“Keep it up. He is a man of independent thinking and action,” one online observer said.
“Oh no, now I’m starting to doubt those who teach English online,” said another.
Many parents in China consider English to be an important tool in helping their children connect with the world.
This meant there was widespread concern when the government launched education reforms that included cutting back on language classes in school.
China’s authorities also imposed a crackdown on language tutors in 2021, leaving worried parents to find solutions to offset any impacts this has on their children’s education.
