"Hello, may I help you?" a traffic police officer on Chang'an Avenue says, offering assistance to a foreign tourist who holds a map and is looking around, seemingly at a loss in this most bustling part of China's national capital.
It is normal for any of the 120 police officers who are directing traffic, which includes cars, bikes and pedestrians, on the street everyday. All of them are now able to speak 30 of the most frequently used English sentences.
Since last August, local people in this national capital have been learning English at the request of the city government to increase Beijing's bid for hosting the 2008 Olympic Games and the city's international image.
While July 13, the date of the International Olympic Committee' s Moscow meeting, when the selection of the host city will be made from the candidates, draws nearer, Beijing residents have enhanced their English speaking skill.
When you stroll to the northern gate of the Workers' Stadium, neighboring the "Bar Street" in Sanlitun, in the morning, you would find a group of aged people who are speaking loudly after their English tutor, Mrs. Guan Shuyue, a retired school teacher.
If foreign passengers happen to meet Liu Bo, a local taxi driver, what may surprise them is not his driving skill but his English fluency. He has studied English for years and recently won the "Taxi Gentlemanship Award" at a local contest on spoken English used by taxi drivers.
The Beijing People's Radio Station has lured back its long-lost listeners by offering on-air English classes, four times a day.
Last December, the organizing committee of the Beijing Residents' English Learning Program announced it would recruit volunteer English teachers. It drew a large number of applicants, at ages ranging from 18-82. The first group of 30 volunteers has been recruited by the board so far.
Lots of residents have bought textbooks, attended live TV or radio forums, joined part-time classes to learn English. Some community schools have employed English teachers to meet the demands of their students during their leisure time.
According to Mayor Liu Qi, currently more than 600,000 local residents in Beijing, whose total population stands at 13 million, are learning English in various ways. "I hope that after a period of time, a large number of Beijing residents can speak English," said the mayor, who is also chairman of the Olympic Bid Committee of Beijing.
(People's Daily 06/25/2001)
