(Source: "Global Times" 2026-04-25)
Recently, we often see scenes like this on overseas social media: foreign bloggers use their newly learned or adapted "Chinglish" (Chinese English) in their videos, such as "I morning eat eggs and fruit" (I ate eggs and fruit in the morning), "you see see you, one day day only know eat eat eat" (you look at you, one day day only know eat eat eat), etc., and have a lively chat. From the time when "add oil" (come on) was included in the Oxford English Dictionary, to now "you can you up" (you go up, you go up) and "you swan, he frog" (the toad wants to eat swan meat) are popular in the English world, "Chinglish" is undergoing an identity reversal. Expressions that were considered "wrong" and "non-standard" in the past have now become a social language that overseas netizens actively accept, create and enjoy.
Compared with the previous popularity of "Chinese memes" overseas, the special thing about the "Chinglish" trend is that foreign netizens are no longer satisfied with borrowing ready-made Chinese vocabulary, but try to break English grammar and use Chinese grammatical logic and expression habits to "transform" English. In their view, this method of "Chinese-style logical reorganization of English" is both unique and interesting, and even particularly concise and vivid in certain scenarios.
Foreigners actively learning “Chinglish” actually sends a signal. This shows that cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries are moving from the superficial symbol borrowing stage to the deep mutual learning of ideas. Linguists Sapir and Whorf once proposed that language can shape people's cognitive styles. The creative use of "Chinglish" by foreign netizens has developed to the point of actively absorbing the Chinese "meaning combination" thinking feature - that is, relying on the association of semantics to organize sentences, rather than relying on strict connectives in English. When this mode of thinking is accepted by more people and even played with tricks, "Chinglish" will no longer be synonymous with "non-standard", but will become a logical and expressive cross-cultural expression.
Linguistic "overlapping" is a kind of cultural "proximity". By imitating and understanding the other party's way of speaking, it can shorten the psychological distance and express a willingness to take the initiative to get closer. This reflects the profound transformation of cross-cultural communication from "monologue" to "dialogue". As the Russian scholar Bakhtin said, real communication is not one person speaking and others listening, but both parties speaking and responding. Today, foreign netizens are not passive recipients of Chinese culture, but strive to become active creators and interlocutors through their own understanding and internalization. They integrate the logic of Chinese language into their daily expressions, which will allow Chinese culture to continue to grow in conversations around the world.
Behind this craze, there is also the accumulation of years of intensive development and enhancement of global influence through projects such as “Chinese Bridge”. In recent years, the "Chinese Bridge" scoring system has placed more and more emphasis on creative expression and cultural understanding, and many contestants' overseas content has reached tens of millions of spreads. For example, the Russian young man David and the Egyptian young man Liu Zhengxi have now become active cross-cultural communicators. They continue to share and disseminate Chinese cultural content in a way that native speakers understand and like to watch, helping overseas netizens understand and become familiar with China.
Faced with this new trend of evolution from "symbol acceptance" to "logical internalization", the practice of international Chinese education in promoting exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations also needs to be adjusted accordingly. Future advancement paths can focus on the following three aspects.
First, change communication from “telling stories” to “building a platform”. The popularity of "Chinglish" is a spontaneous and creative response among the people to the logic of Chinese culture. In the future, we can follow this trend and build a dialogue platform that allows more people to participate. For example, a special area for "Chinese Thinking and Creative Expression" can be opened on social platforms to turn individual creation into a co-created cultural phenomenon; "Chinese Bridge" can also add related tracks to reward participants who flexibly use Chinese logic to create cross-cultural creations.
Second, let culture be integrated into daily life. Learning a foreign language is not just for exams. The fundamental motivation is to feel that it is "useful" and "interesting". “Chinglish” is popular precisely because it brings the pleasure of communication in real social situations. In the future, we can encourage more activities similar to the "Chinglish Creative Challenge", and at the same time explore common human emotional themes such as humor, struggle, family, etc. in the content, so that cultural connections can occur through laughter and resonance, not just in the classroom.
Third, cultivate cross-border thinkers who can freely shuttle between two cultural thinkings. Linguistic learning is a transformation of the way of thinking. When foreign netizens find that Chinese expressions are more vivid and concise, it is an opportunity for international Chinese education to upgrade from "teaching language" to "inspiring thinking." International Chinese education should strengthen content such as "Comparison of Chinese and Foreign Rhetoric" in the curriculum, allowing learners to consciously analyze the differences in narrative and reasoning between Chinese and English. At the same time, we should give full play to the bridging role of communicators who have internalized Chinese thinking, so that these young people with out-of-the-box thinking and strong curiosity can become nodes that release vitality in civilized dialogue.
Foreigners take the initiative to learn "Chinglish", not only to comply with the cool trend of "Chinamaxxing", but also to fall in love with the expressive wisdom of "understanding is greater than words" in Chinese. When the exchanges between countless individuals gradually sublimate into dialogue among civilizations, exchanges and mutual learning between civilizations will better realize the commonality of global values.
(The authors are professor at the w88 casino of International Relations, w88 casino, director of the Center for Public Diplomacy and International Communication Research, and researcher at the Center for Public Diplomacy and International Communication Research)
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