Queen's English refers to standard British English, and it can be further defined as the standard pronunciation and intonation of British English. Its opposite is American English.

英语普通话是指标准的英国英语，进而可被定义为标准的英语语音和语调，与其相对立的是美国英语。

Mandarin as the standard Chinese pronunciation has already been accepted widely and advocated throughout China. However, as its counterpart, Queen's English is still little known and never promoted in China, where English has been designated as the first foreign language and a compulsory subject for all students in primary and secondary schools and even universities. In fact, students learning English nowadays in China basically have no concept of what Queen's English is and how it differs from the American version.

汉语普通话作为标准的汉语发音，在中国已得到普遍推广，并已在全国范围内得以公认。然而，作为与汉语普通话有同等地位的英语普通话，其知之者却甚少，并从未在中国得以推广，尽管在中国英语已被指定为大、中、小学的第一外语和必修课。实际上，今天学习英语的中国学生根本不知道什么是英语普通话，也不知道英语和美语究竟有何不同。

As is known to us all, mandarin originates from the dialect spoken in northern China and is based on the Beijing accent. In analogy, Queen's English originates from England and is based on the educated London accent. American English is derived from Queen's English. In China, only mandarin is accepted as the standard Chinese pronunciation. But as to the standard English pronunciation, some students would think it must be the American version.

众所周知，汉语普通话源于中国北方方言，以北京口音为基础。同汉语普通话一样，英语普通话源于英国，以伦敦口音为基础，而美国英语是从英语派生出来的，属于英语的音系分支。在中国，只有普通话被视为标准的汉语发音，但对于标准的英语发音，许多英语学习者甚至会认为是美语。

The Chinese government has been trying to popularize mandarin across the country in the past five decades, because there are 56 ethnic groups in China who speak different languages, and Chinese language alone is spoken in seven main dialects, each of which, in turn, has several local varieties. This has caused great misunderstandings and difficulties for people to communicate in their daily life. The same situation exists in the English-speaking world, where native speakers of English from different parts of the world speak different forms of the language. Even in London, people from the western part sometimes find it difficult to understand the people from the eastern part. Therefore, for a better understanding among the people who speak different forms of English, it is highly necessary to uphold Queen's English as the standard pronunciation in not only the English-speaking countries but the other parts of the world as well.

在过去的五十年中，中国政府一直在大力推广汉语普通话，因为中国有56个说不同方言的民族，仅汉语就有七大语系，各语系自身也极具变化，这给人们的日常生活和交流带来极大不便。同样的问题在英语世界亦广泛存在，来自不同英语国家的人们用不同的英语口音讲话。即使在伦敦，东西部之间的人也时常会有交流的困难。所以，为使讲不同英语口音的人们能够无障碍地交流，在英语国家里以及世界其它地区都十分有必要倡导英语普通话。

The English pronunciation varies mainly in the sound of vowels, while the consonants are pronounced in very much the same way wherever English is spoken. A language is first of all to be spoken. Good pronunciation comes from a good command of phonetics. In order to standardize pronunciation of vowels, phoneticians invented a diagram illustrating the side view of oral cavity and showing clearly the pronouncing positions of different vowels. Queen's English also serves as the foundation of the International Phonetic Alphabet promulgated by the International Pronunciation Association (IPA) established in 1886.

英语口音的不同主要体现在元音上，而辅音的发音在世界各地都大致相同。语言首先是用来说话的，好的发音源自对音标的良好掌握。为了规范元音的发音，语言学家发明了语音图，即语音口腔剖面图，使看不见、摸不着的不同元音有了明确的发音定位。国际语音协会于1886年成立，其制定的国际音标也是以标准英语，即英语普通话为基础的。

For about 50 years, until the end of last century, teachers and students of English in China regarded Queen's English as the sole standard, and the IPA was a compulsory course in schools and an independent item for the annual national university entrance English examinations. In the 1970s, China imported the "Linguaphone English Course" with sound effect, and in the 1980s followed this with the introduction of the "Follow Me" TV English teaching program and the "New Concept English Course" with tape-recordings. The oral standard and elegant Queen's English courses have helped at least two generations of Chinese learners of English develop the basic skills of English pronunciation.

直到上世纪末，大约五十年以来，中国的英语老师和学生都把以国际音标为依据的英语普通话视为英语的唯一标准。国际音标是学校的必修课，也曾是高考英语试卷中不可缺少的内容。在上世纪七十年代，中国引进了《灵格风英语教程》，八十年代引进了《跟我学》电视英语以及至今仍十分流行的《新概念英语》。通过这些标准优雅的英语普通话的学习，至少有两代中国学习者掌握了基本的英语发音。

However, along with introduction of the US TOEFL course into China in the late 1980s, Queen's English gradually lost its dominant position. Consequently, more and more students nowadays never stop complaining that English has no unified standard and different teachers teach different forms of English, which dampens students’ interest in learning the language and in a certain sense damages the teachers’ image in the hearts of their students.

然而，在上世纪八十年代末，随着美国托福考试系统的引进，英语普通话逐渐丧失了其在教与学中的主导地位，最终导致今天越来越多的学生抱怨英语没有标准，不同的老师讲不同口音的英语。这不仅极大降低了学生们学习的兴趣，也影响了老师在学生心目中的形象。

Although different Chinese teachers may pronounce Chinese differently, few students complain that there is no standard pronunciation. That is because most Chinese people know very well what the standard is and they can easily consult dictionaries whenever they are uncertain about the pronunciation of a particular word. Within a Chinese dictionary every word is marked with the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, which is the only standard for Chinese people to follow.

虽然不同的汉语老师也讲不同口音的汉语，但却没有学生抱怨汉语没有标准，因为中国人都知道汉语的标准是什么。当他们对一个字的发音感到不确定时，可随时查字典找标准。在汉语字典里，每个字都有明确的拼音标识，这是汉语的唯一标准。