Some 400 traffic policemen in Nanchang, capital of east China's Jiangxi Province, joined a training program over the weekend to pick up their English after years of absence from classrooms and textbooks.
Earlier this year, the city called on all traffic policemen under 35 years old to study English in order to render direct help to the increasing number of foreign investors and tourists.
The call was answered by police officers of different age groups and over a half of them registered for an immediate training on weekends and evenings.
The training, given by professors from a local university, aims to help the police officers acquire basic communication skills including how to greet and console those who have lost their way, answer questions and show them directions.
In an effort to arouse and sustain the learners' interest, traffic police authorities in Nanchang will organize oral English contests and salons between different brigades on regular basis.
More Chinese have started to learn foreign languages as China maintains closer contacts with the world. Beijing's successful bid for hosting the 2008 Olympic Games and China's accession to the world's largest trading body, in particular, have spurred a nationwide English language fever.
As part of its preparation for the 2008 Olympiad, Chinese capital Beijing has worked out a seven-year training program for police officers, who are expected to speak English, Japanese, Russian and Arabic on duty.
(Xinhua News Agency March 4, 2002)
