English Language Teaching and Linguistics Studies ISSN 2640-9836 (Print) ISSN 2640-9844 (Online) Vol. 7, No. 4, 2025 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/eltls 25 Original Paper A Study on The Chinese and English Instructor Deying Yu1 1 School of Foreign Studies, Zhaoqing University, Zhaoqing City, Guangdong Province, China Received: May 22, 2025 Accepted: July 29, 2025 Online Published: August 05, 2025 doi:10.22158/eltls.v7n4p25 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/eltls.v7n4p25 Abstract The Chinese and English Instructor, or Ying Ü Tsap Ts’ün, published in 1862, is an English textbook with the English words’ pronunciation annotated in the Cantonese dialect. This study mainly focuses on the compilation background, structure, content, and key features of the Chinese and English Instructor, exploring its value and significance for the development of English textbooks in contemporary China. T’ONG Ting-Kü, the compiler, was one of the earliest students to receive a Western education and a beneficiary of English language instruction. Well aware of the importance of mastering English, he compiled the Chinese and English Instructor with a clear purpose to provide some convenience for Canton people who have transactions, or are connected with foreigners. The structure of the textbook consists of four parts: prefaces, a treatise on articulation, a guide to pronunciation, and the body part, which is divided into six volumes, containing 58 major categories and 122 subcategories, with a total of 9,333 entries. The textbook manifests the following features: It focuses on teaching English pronunciation through qieyin, a Chinese phonetic notation, emphasizes the instruction of standard English and includes a wealth of English loanwords. It blends international and localized features, marking the transition from "Chinese-style English" textbooks to formal "Standard English" teaching materials. It holds pioneering significance in the history of modern English education in China. Keywords the Chinese and English Instructor, English textbook, T’ONG Ting-Kü, Cantonese-dialect annotation, background, contents, features 1. Introduction The English language has long been referred to as the devils’ speech, the red-haired speech, the barbarian tongue, the foreign tongue, etc. by the Chinese folks, especially Cantonese people. In 1862, T’ONG Ting-Kü (or Tong King-sing) published the English and Chinese Instructor (also known as Ying Ü Tsap Ts’ün) in Canton, which marked the earliest recorded use of the term "Yingyu" (meaning "English language") in Chinese history. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/eltls English Language Teaching and Linguistics Studies Vol. 7, No. 4, 2025 Published by SCHOLINK INC. 26 This textbook employed Cantonese dialect to annotate English pronunciation while using romanized letters to transcribe Chinese pronunciation. It served a dual purpose: on the one hand, enabling Chinese learners to study English and on the other, assisting foreigners in learning Chinese. It was the first bilingual, phonetically annotated English textbook compiled by a Chinese scholar, featuring parallel Chinese and English notations. 2. T’ONG Ting-Kü and the Compilation of the Chinese and English Instructor T’ONG Ting-Kü (1832-1892), also known as Tong King-sing, was born in Tangjia Village, Xiangshan County, Guangdong (now Tangjiawan Town, Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province). He was a renowned comprador, national bourgeoisie representative, and an outstanding figure in the Westernization Movement in modern Chinese history. T’ONG Ting-Kü was born in a poor family and enrolled in the Morrison Education Society School in his youth, where he studied for six years and received formal English education, acquiring proficiency in English communication, expression, and comprehension. After graduating in 1848, he continued his studies at a missionary school run by the British missionary James Legge (1815-1897). Upon completing his education, T’ONG remained in Hong Kong to pursue his career. He first worked as an assistant in a foreign auction house for three years before joining the Hong Kong Magistracy as an interpreter. Two years later, he was promoted to "Chief Interpreter" and later transferred to the Supreme Court in the same capacity. His years of western-style education and experience as an interpreter not only honed his fluent English but also sharpened his business acumen, earning him the admiration of Horatio Nelson Lay (1833-1898), then the Cantonese interpreter for the Hong Kong government. In 1859, when Lay assumed a key position at the Shanghai Customs as Inspector-General, he invited T’ONG to join him. Upon arriving in Shanghai, T’ONG initially served as an assistant clerk at the customs before being promoted to chief clerk and head interpreter the following year. Later, he was invited to be the chief commercial officer, participating in the establishment and management of capitalist enterprises such as the China Merchants' Steam Navigation Company (1873) and the Kaiping Mines (1876). He thus became an active advocate and practitioner of the Westernization Movement. As one of the earliest students to receive a western education and a beneficiary of English instruction, T’ONG was well aware of the importance of mastering English. He compiled the Chinese and English Instructor with a clear purpose to provide some convenience for Canton people who have transactions, or are connected with foreigners. He wrote in the book: “Though I do not presume it will save the world, I hope it may offer some convenience to those engaged in foreign affairs." (T’ONG, 1986) 3. The Structure of the Chinese and English Instructor The Chinese and English Instructor was published in June, 1862. It consists of several prefaces, a treatise on phonetic notation (qie zi lun), a guide to pronunciation, and the main body, which is divided www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/eltls English Language Teaching and Linguistics Studies Vol. 7, No. 4, 2025 Published by SCHOLINK INC. 27 into six volumes. The overall structure is as follows. The prefaces comprise three sections: prefaces by Zhang Yutang and Wu Xiangzhi, as well as that of T’ONG Ting-Kü. These prefaces provide a clear understanding of the book's compilation rationale and the process of its creation. The treatise on phonetic articulation first introduces the 26 letters of the English alphabet, noting that six are "resonant sounds" (vowels) and 20 are "mute sounds" (consonants). It then compares English and Chinese characters, likening English letters to the "strokes" (Zi Ban) of Chinese characters while highlighting their differences: "Chinese character strokes form meaning without inherent sound, whereas foreign letters each have fixed sounds, combining to form words. Thus, in Chinese speech, many sounds lack corresponding characters, whereas in foreign languages, sound and script are inseparable—where there is sound, there is script." Then, T’ONG discusses the feasibility of using Cantonese dialect to annotate English pronunciation: "The method of phonetic notation originated in the Western Regions. The Chinese learned it from the Western Regions, so the phonetic principles are the same for both Chinese and foreign languages. The eight strokes of Chinese characters allow infinite variations, just as the 26 letters of foreign scripts do—their underlying logic is identical." (T’ONG, 1986) He justifies his use of traditional Chinese fanqie phonetic methods to transcribe English sounds. Additionally, T’ONG points out the challenges of using Chinese characters to approximate foreign pronunciation: "Often, there are sounds without matching characters, so one must choose the closest available characters, mark them with a radical “mouth” (kou), and systematize the notation method to aid comprehension. Thus, by studying the transcription, one may deduce the sound; by studying the sound, one may grasp the meaning—and so achieve more than half of understanding." (T’ONG, 1986) From T’ONG’s preface, one learns not only of the difficulties in using Chinese characters to transcribe English but also that this approach was a pragmatic compromise. Following the "Treatise on Phonetic notation", there is a 13-page guide to pronunciation, covering pauses, liaisons, dental sounds, retroflex sounds, and other articulatory features, along with phonetic annotation methods. T’ONG emphasizes: "The art of transcribing sounds was challenging even for the ancients. Using Chinese sounds to transcribe English is especially difficult. This published work contains many characters and un-transcribable sounds; errors in transcription are inevitable. I humbly hope to discuss and refine this with diligent learners." (T’ONG, 1986) The body part of the textbook is divided into six volumes. Each volume is further divided into categories and subcategories. Volume I, II & III contain vocabulary of nouns, following the classification method of traditional Chinese encyclopedias, and are organized by heads such as "astronomy, geography, seasons, etc. Volume IV consists of phrases or short sentences frequently used in everyday conversations and basic Q&A. Volume V includes all the other words and phrases except nouns, what is categorized by T’ONG as “Affairs”, including common-used verbs & verbal phrases, adjectives, adverbs, etc. Volume VI focuses on thematic dialogues, covering trade-related topics such as textiles, compradors, morning greetings, errands, evening instructions, and hiring., including www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/eltls English Language Teaching and Linguistics Studies Vol. 7, No. 4, 2025 Published by SCHOLINK INC. 28 vocabulary and dialogues. The text employs a parallel translation format, pairing English words, phrases, and sentences with Cantonese equivalents, complete with phonetic annotations for both languages. Each entry of word, phrase or sentence consists of four components: the Chinese term, the English term, the Chinese phonetic transcription, and the English phonetic transcription. Entries of vocabulary are arranged in two columns: the right column lists the English, while the left column displays the Chinese translation above and the phonetic transcription below. Entries of sentence and thematic dialogue employ a hybrid layout, combining the traditional Chinese top-to-bottom reading direction with the Western left-to-right format. 4. The Contents of the Chinese and English Instructor The Chinese and English Instructor is divided into 6 volumes and consists of 58 major categories and 122 subcategories, containing a total of 9,333 entries. Volume I contains 8 categories, concerning astronomy, geography, times & seasons, ranks & titles, body, edifice & building, musical instruments and armament, amounting to 1444 entries. Volume II is divided into 8 categories, relating to ships & appendages, carriages, implements furniture, stationery & forms, agricultural implements, works, wearing apparel & ornaments and food, wine, tea &c, with a total entry of 1865. Volume III is composed of 1088 entries, which are divided into 10 heads, namely, plants, fruits, flowers &c. stone & jade, minerals， coins &c, tariff of imports, tariff of exports, duty free & contraband goods, sundry goods, opium, tobacco &c, lacquered & ivory ware &c, and piece goods. Volume IV includes 9 heads, such as numbers, colors, one-character word, situations & shapes, measurement, weights, tea table, law suit, single words, and sentences, adding to 1041 entries. Volume V is made up of 2708 words & short sentences, ranging from one to four Chinese characters. Volume VI contains 22 conversations used in different trading situations, such as buying piece goods, selling tea, poultry, sundry goods; dialogues between brokers, butchers, compradors, shroff, godown men, coolies, etc., conversations in the morning, on charting ships, on the breakfast & dinner table, on getting orders for dinner, on a visit, on nosology, healing and medicine. The above contents can be summarized as the following four aspects: 4.1 Vocabulary Related to Trade Volumes 1–3 and part of Volume 4 of the Chinese and English Instructor cover vocabulary from various aspects of trade. Volume 1 primarily focuses on peripheral trade vocabulary, such as astronomy, geography, seasons, imperial systems, the human body, music, and military affairs. Volume 2 mainly includes core trade vocabulary (e.g., tools, crafts, clothing, plants) as well as some semi-core trade terms, such as boats, carriages, etc. Volume 3 encompasses semi-core trade vocabulary and most of the central trade terminology, including imports, exports, duty-free goods, and contraband items. The first half of Volume 4 contains semi-core trade vocabulary, such as numbers, colors, measurements, and weights, while the latter half consists of short phrases constructed from related terms. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/eltls English Language Teaching and Linguistics Studies Vol. 7, No. 4, 2025 Published by SCHOLINK INC. 29 4.2 Everyday Conversational Phrases The "Sentences and Phrases" section in Volume 4 of the Chinese and English Instructor includes two parts: "Short Phrases" and "Long Sentences", adding to 531entries of phrases and sentences related to daily life, which T’ONG referred to as "the vulgar language." These everyday expressions include fundamental English sentence structures, such as imperative sentences, special interrogative sentences, general interrogative sentences and declarative sentences. Most sentences are in the simple present tense, though some use the past tense or present perfect tense. Among them, imperative sentences appear most frequently. This is likely because, during that period of foreign trade, many Chinese with some knowledge of English worked as employees or servants in foreign firms or households, where employers often used commanding tones when speaking to subordinates. Examples of different types of sentences are shown in Table 1. Table 1. Typical Sentence Patterns from the Chinese and English Instructor Imperative sentences General interrogative sentences Special interrogative sentences Be still. Does he read? What is that? Speak louder. Does he know shroffing? Where are you going? Stand up. Are you not shamed? What for? Sit still. Do you like Jack fruit? How old are you? Come here. Dare you swim? Who sends you here? Open the door. Will this do? When will he come? Take that away Do you allow him to go? Why don't you come sooner? Do it now. Did you hear the gun fire? How much does each man want? Don't let it get wet. Complex sentences Declarative sentences Inquire of him Do you know how to dance? I am busy. Don't tell lie Give us a call when convenient. I cannot tell you. Don't mix it up Let me know if you like it. It is not so. Open the gate When do you expect ships arrive? He struck me. Pass the bottle round If you break it，you have to pay for it. You better not go. Row the boat Don’t come back without an answer. He has gone on shore. 4.3 Contents Related to "Affairs" In the fifth volume of the Chinese and English Instructor, T’ONG devoted a full 114 pages to listing word and sentence entries related to "affairs", including commonly used verbs, adjectives, abstract nouns, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions, interjections, and related phrases, totaling 2,705 items. Among www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/eltls English Language Teaching and Linguistics Studies Vol. 7, No. 4, 2025 Published by SCHOLINK INC. 30 them, there were 1,635 verbs and verb phrases, 537 adjectives and adjective phrases, 357 nouns and noun phrases, 155 adverbs and adverb phrases, 8 pronouns, 4 prepositions, and 2 interjections. These entries were arranged in alphabetical order. The verbs and verb phrases serve as an important benchmark for assessing English proficiency, as the formation of coherent sentences relies heavily on verbs or verb phrases. It is worth noting that the 2017 edition of the English Curriculum Standards for Senior High Schools issued in China included an appendix with a vocabulary list of 3,500 words (Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, 2018), of which only 837 were verbs and verb phrases—merely half the number listed under the "affairs" category in the Chinese and English Instructor. In terms of specific content, many of these verbs listed in the Chinese and English Instructor are high frequently used words required for College English Test (CET), or even the Test for English Majors (TEM) in China, such as abandon, abash, abduct, abscond, abstain, accommodate, adore, and adorn, and so on. All the words, phrases or sentences in Volume V are arranged in alphabetical order, making it convenient for learners to memorize them. For instance, phrases related to “look” are listed in sequence：take a look，look down，look up，look back，look over，look after, etc. Similarly, phrases related to “put” are listed in succession：put away，put by，put down，put in order，put into，put more， put on a cap，put on clothes，put out fire，etc. It can be seen that T’ONG compiled these commonly used verbs, adjectives, nouns, adverbs, and other high-frequency vocabulary together, arranging them in alphabetical order rather than categorizing them by the number of Chinese characters, like "Single-Character Words," "Two-Character Words," "Three-Character Words," "Four-Character Words," and so on, which symbolizes a great leap forward in the history of the compilation of English textbooks in China. 4.4 Contents Related to the Conversations in Trade Scenarios In the sixth volume of the Chinese and English Instructor, T’ONG dedicated 20 conversations commonly used in trade scenarios through a Q&A format. In the conversation of “Buying Piece Goods", the dialogues are related to the trade of silk textiles, covering greetings, stating intentions, inquiring about purchase quantities, prices, colors, patterns, quality, bargaining, and payment methods. In the section of “Broker’s Conversation”, or dialogues between trade intermediaries, the topic primarily focuses on procurement. It involves greeting the "Taipan" (i.e., the foreign firm manager), inquiring about goods, evaluating products, discussing prices, purchase quantities, delivery and shipment times, purchasing methods (wholesale or retail), bargaining, and trade conditions. The “Dialogue on Selling Tea” pertains to dialogues about the tea trade, including inquiries about the "brand" (i.e., tea varieties), packaging methods, storage locations, tea quality, pricing, delivery times, quantities, payment methods, market conditions, tax payment methods, and credit guarantees. "The Butcher's Stall Conversation" involves dialogues about purchasing various types of meat, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/eltls English Language Teaching and Linguistics Studies Vol. 7, No. 4, 2025 Published by SCHOLINK INC. 31 including prices for different animal parts such as mutton, lamb legs, forelegs, and heads, as well as the freshness of the meat, how many catties to buy, and transportation arrangements. The dialogue "On Selling Poultry" contains topics related to buying chickens, including chicken breeds, fat or lean condition, feeding methods, price per chicken, bargaining, chicken weight, and so on. The dialogue “On Selling Sundry Goods” covers conversations about the price, weight, variety, and bargaining of items such as rice, candy, pickles, ginger, and flour, as well as how to politely decline a purchase, etc. The conversation of “Charting Ships” includes the topics of the purpose of rental, rental qualifications, rental guarantees, rental duration, tonnage, cargo and passenger capacity, number of cabins on board, rental price, bargaining, related services and fees, loading procedures, payment methods, and so on. "Conversation in the Morning" refers to the employer directing servants on morning tasks, which include: fetching water for washing the face (with requirements on cleanliness and temperature), shaving, brewing tea, fetching hats, scrubbing shirts, going out to mail letters, preparing sedan chairs, inquiring about shop management, instructing to return early, greeting guests, moving chairs, adding coal to the stove, taking the dog out for a walk, and so on. "On the Breakfast Table" includes preparing tea, inviting guests to be seated, uncovering dish covers, serving plates, eggs, curry, toast, milk, etc., to guests, refilling tea, changing tablecloths, bringing hand-washing basins, and more. "On Getting Orders for Dinner" involves conversations such as inquiring what the "boss" (i.e., the employer) would like to eat, including options like pigeon pie, chicken, drumstick chicken, grilled chicken, curry, shrimp, beef, deer tendon, soup, as well as asking about cooking methods such as roasting, boiling, frying, braising, or blanching. "On Tiffin" includes roast goose, cold cuts, beer, water, and the placement of related foods. "On the Dinner Table" covers banquet preparations, seating arrangements, guest seating, serving dishes (including gravy, beef, chicken, oysters), cooking techniques, serving wine and water, clearing tableware, and evaluating the chef, among other things. "On Supper" includes tea preparation timing, serving tea accompaniments (pancakes, coffee, chocolate), fetching the tea caddy, inquiring about tea varieties, the strength and flavor of the tea, and clearing tea utensils, etc. "On Getting Servants" refers to employing attendants, typically young boys, and the topics of the dialogue covers wages, the servant's prior experience, reasons for leaving the previous employer, whether there is a guarantor, and other relevant requirements. "Evening Orders" consist of the conversations between the employer and the servant in the evening, including tasks such as trimming candle wicks, extinguishing lamps, cleaning lanterns, refilling lamp oil, wiping windows, hiring a locksmith, bargaining, laundry, and more. The conversation of “Comprador" involves steward's duties, such as collecting payments, checking silver, making up shortages, writing receipts, keeping accounts, placing orders, reconciling accounts, www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/eltls English Language Teaching and Linguistics Studies Vol. 7, No. 4, 2025 Published by SCHOLINK INC. 32 making payments, using an abacus for calculations, depositing silver into the treasury, etc. The conversation of “Shroff" or “Assaying Silver" involves asking the silver assayer to identify the quality of the silver, such as copper-mixed silver, selective refining, hook money, discounting (i.e., price reduction), lead-inserted silver, burned silver, smooth-surface silver, salt-charcoal silver, locally cast silver, silver exchange and exchange methods, silver storage, silver sealing, silver interest (i.e., interest rates), and so on. The dialogue “Godown man” refers to conversations with warehouse supervisors, covering topics such as orders, booking ships, handing orders to shipowners, transporting goods back (e.g., rice, iron hoops, cotton, foreign yarn), unloading goods, storing them in warehouses, weighing goods, delivering goods, settling accounts, hiring packers, making payments, packing methods, box storage methods, personal delivery, locking the warehouse, and more. The conversations of “Coolie” refers to the questions and the answers between shop workers, mainly including cleaning items, adjusting tables and chairs, securing doors and windows, refilling ink, notifying the comprador, going out to mail letters, paying postage, delivering letters to shipowners, renting small boats, going to certain places to find someone, and so on. “On a Visit” means "Conversations with Friends", which concerns topics discussed when meeting and interacting with friends, including greetings, small talk, exchanging compliments, inquiring about elders, chatting with elder brothers, inviting them for meals, urging them to drink, offering tobacco, serving tea, and casual conversations. The above carefully selected 20 typical conversational scenarios comprise 1,000 sentences, covering various thematic exchanges in the field of trade. The contextual sentences within these conversations possess logical connections, forming concise discourse segments. Learners can selectively choose relevant study materials based on their actual needs. 5. Key Features of the English and Chinese Instructor As a bilingual English textbook with phonetic annotations, the English and Chinese Instructor exhibits the following characteristics: 5.1 Emphasis on "Chinese Phonetic Notation" in English Pronunciation Teaching It is widely acknowledged that formal English pronunciation instruction began in the late 19th century, marked by the breakthrough establishment of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) in 1886. The IPA not only provided a solid foundation for English pronunciation teaching but also standardized phonetic notation and systematized phonetics scientifically. However, the English and Chinese Instructor predates the IPA by over two decades. In the absence of a standardized phonetic system, T’ONG Ting-Kü developed a unique theory and methodology for teaching English pronunciation with Chinese characteristics—namely, by drawing on the traditional Chinese linguistic concept of “qieyin” (Chinese phonetic notation) and employing visual teaching aids to address the abstract and challenging nature of English pronunciation. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/eltls English Language Teaching and Linguistics Studies Vol. 7, No. 4, 2025 Published by SCHOLINK INC. 33 T’ONG’s “qieyin” theory imitated ancient Chinese phonetic methods such as pikuang (analogy), zhiyin (direct sound matching), duruo (approximate pronunciation), and fanqie (reverse notation). He formulated corresponding qieyin rules and selected approximately 200 Chinese characters for phonetic notation. If a suitable qieyin character could not be found in the Guangzhou dialect, he specifically indicated the use of other regional dialects for pronunciation. Through this qieyin system, T’ONG theoretically resolved the challenge of English pronunciation for Chinese learners. While similar qieyin methods had been employed in earlier English textbooks, yet none had been elevated to the level of pedagogical theory. Additionally, T’ONG utilized visual aids such as straight lines, dots, circles, and triangular symbols to effectively address the teaching of English phonemes, syllables, stress, and rhythm. This innovative approach to English pronunciation instruction remains relevant today, offering valuable insights and reference for contemporary pedagogy. The publication of the English and Chinese Instructor marked a shift in Chinese-annotated English textbooks from a focus on learning to an emphasis on teaching. 5.2 Emphasizing the Teaching of "Standard English" From the early compiled English textbook such as the Red-Haired Devils’ Talk, it is seen that the English taught at that time adopted a Chinese linguistic framework in terms of pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and pragmatics, forming a variant known as "Canton English," which diverged significantly from standard English. Even foreigners coming to China for trade had to spend time learning this peculiar "trade jargon." In the Annotations on English Speech by Feng Zefu, it can be seen that this distinctive "Canton English" had evolved into "Ningbo Pidgin English." For example, in the "Two-Character Phrases" section, " cannot " was rendered as "no can", "can" as "can do", " do not want" as "no want", " all are" as "all proper". In the "Four-Character Phrases" section, "this cargo has a new mark" was rendered as "This cargo new mark", "Do not want old cargo" as "No want old cargo", " Both sides are the same" as "Both sides all same", " Some are broad, some are narrow" as "Have broad have narrow." (Feng, 1860) Such Chinese-style English was often regarded by foreigners as "vulgar, awkward, and inferior." Historical records indicate that "ninety percent of the enormous trade between foreigners and local Chinese was conducted using this bizarre language. Chester Holcombe once mentioned that “nine tenths of the enormous business done between foreigners and natives in China is done by means of this grotesque gibberish.” (Holcombe, 1909) Without it, one simply couldn’t get things done. This sufficiently demonstrates the significant role these "Chinese-style English" varieties played in history. In the English and Chinese Instructor, these "Chinese-style English" expressions began to be replaced by "Standard English." However, considering the conventional use of the Chinese-tyle language in China, T’ONG adopted an annotation approach, marking the "Canton English" expressions in the page headers above the "Standard English" for learners' reference. The table below presents a comparison between some "Chinese-style English" and "Standard English" from the English and Chinese Instructor. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/eltls English Language Teaching and Linguistics Studies Vol. 7, No. 4, 2025 Published by SCHOLINK INC. 34 Table 2. Comparison of "Chinese-Style English" and "Standard English" in Volume 6 of the English and Chinese Instructor(T’ONG, 1862) Standard English Chinese-style English Have you any fine broad cloth? You get fine broad cloth? I have none just now. Just now no get. For people here would not pay what it cost me. Because here man no get proper price. Therefore it was difficult to get rid of them. So fashion no get selling. Have you any fine calico? You get fine broad calico? No. I have some fine linen. No get. Me get some fine linen. What do you want for them? You want what price? Do you go by so much a yard or so much a piece? You sell so much one yard， so much one piece? How many yards are there in each piece? One piece get how much yard? I will tell you the true price. Me talk true price. How can you charge such a price? How fashion you can charge so much? That is what I paid for it. This belong me bring cash. You better add a little to your price. You more better add little more. You better abate a little from your price. You more better sell little more cheap. Well then，let us split the difference. Well，one to split get the difference. But I want ready cash. Me want money just now. That will never do. So fashion no can. I want one month’s credit at least. One month me borrow you. You give me a receipt. You get me one piece receipt. You send the bill to me in due time. What me borrow send me bill. And I will pay you. Me give you money. Please pay me in Mexican dollars. I thank you borrow me Mexican dollars. No. I will pay you in sterling money. No. Me borrow you English money. I lose too much by the discount. I lose too much discount. Well，I will pay you one half in Mexican dollars. So fashion, Me borrow you one half Mexican dollar. and one half in sterling. one half English money. Do you want anything more? You want buy something more? I want several articles more. I want something more. But your things are so dear, Because you so much dear. I will not buy any more just now. Me no can buy any more just now, How can good things sell cheap? Good cargo how can sell cheap? www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/eltls English Language Teaching and Linguistics Studies Vol. 7, No. 4, 2025 Published by SCHOLINK INC. 35 My piece good are good and strong. My piece good Number one good and strong. Come and patronize me another time. Next time you come along me buy. Well，good bye. Very well，good bye.. From the comparisons of the above-mentioned English expressions, it can be seen that there are significant differences between standard English and "Chinese-style English" in terms of pronunciation, word choice, grammatical structure, and expressive thinking. Judging from the "standard English" provided by T’ONG, there is little difference from the English expressions we use today. This shows that using Chinese characters to annotate English pronunciation was a "last-resort" teaching aid under the English education conditions of that time. Excluding the "Chinese-character phonetic annotations" in the textbook, the other content surpassed contemporary ordinary high school English textbooks in both depth and breadth. Thus, it is evident that the English and Chinese Instructor had already progressed from teaching "Chinese-style English" to "Standard English." 6. Conclusion The publication of the English and Chinese Instructor marked a milestone in the history of English education as well as the history of English textbook compilation in China. As an influential advocate and practitioner of the Westernization Movement, T’ONG compiled the English and Chinese Instructor, to certain extent, elevated the status of English in China, transforming it from a language despised by the Chinese into an important subject within the school education system, greatly advancing the development of English education in China. Soon after publication, the English and Chinese Instructor became one of the most widely circulated English textbooks in the second half of the 19th century. To this day, copies are preserved in libraries such as Waseda University in Japan, as well as in the United States and other foreign libraries. The book also appears in the 1935–1936 acquisition catalog of the Jiangsu Provincial National Studies Library, demonstrating its extensive use and profound influence in the field of English education in China. Acknowledgement This work was supported by Research and Practice Project on Promoting High-Quality Development of Basic Education through the Construction of New Normal University in Guangdong Province——Research and Practice on Improving the Information Literacy of Middle School English Teachers from the Perspective of Digital Education (Certified by Guangdong Education Department in 2023, No. 29, Item 34) References Feng, Z. F. (1960). The Annotations on English Speech. Ningbo: Shouzhuo xuan. Holcombe, C. (1909). The Real Chinaman. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/eltls English Language Teaching and Linguistics Studies Vol. 7, No. 4, 2025 Published by SCHOLINK INC. 36 Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China. (2018). English Curriculum Standards for Senior High Schools (2017 Edition). Beijing: People's Education Press. T’ONG, T. K. (1862). The English and Chinese Instructor. Canton: Jingweitong.