The recently opened Englishtown, China branch, at www.21copy.com is product of a joint initiative between the global EF Education Group and the Tianjin Fox Hi-Tech Co. The website provides a new channel for the Chinese to study the English language.

Englishtown's online schools were founded as an independent subsidiary of EF Education in 1997. EF Education is involved in the delivery of services for language education, educational travel, and cultural exchange.

"The aim is to let even the most remote children enjoy the quality of Harvard education through our website," said President Zhao Guangyi of the Fox Co., who is extremely ambitious about the website's prospects.

Englishtown has arrived in China at precisely the right point in time. The country is experiencing English fever since its entry to the WTO and successful bid for the 2008 Olympic Games. It is estimated that over 100 million people have already started learning English, and is predicted that China will need at least 5 million people with English expertise while hosting the Olympic Games.

The website provides complete English language instruction with solutions online. The site uses the Internet to show live classes and lessons delivered by 10,000 English teachers throughout the world. Its various programs serve students at all levels, from beginners through to advanced, enabling learners to interact with their favorite teachers on-line.

For the convenience of students, Englishtown has so far set up agencies in China in the following places: Shanghai, Tianjin, Zhejiang, Hebei, Shandong, Guangdong, and Liaoning.

(china.org.cn by Guo Xiaohong September 18, 2002)