Beijing Police Start Olympics Foreign Language Training

Home>>Sci-Edu

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, November 23, 2001

Beijing Police Start Olympics Foreign Language Training

In a seven-year training program Biejing's police will be equipped with four foreign languages, English, Japanese, Russian and Arabic, to offer help to 2008 Olympic visitors in situations as traffic control, safety checks, first aid and others, the city's police head Ma Zhenchuan announced Wednesday.

80-year-old Man Learns Tourism English

Biejing's police will be equipped with four foreign languages to help visitors to the 2008 Olympic Games, the city's police head Ma Zhenchuan said Wednesday.

He made the remark at a ceremony to donate 10,000 volumes of "Police English" to the police by the local Foreign Languages Press.

According to Ma, a seven-year foreign-language training program for Beijing police officers is part of the force's preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games.

Police officers will be trained in English, Japanese, Russian and Arabic, to enable them to handle traffic control, safety checks, first aid and other situations, he said.

China's English Education Industry Promising

"All officers, no matter what their age, job, or rank, will receive foreign-language training," Ma said.

600,000 Beijing Residents Learning English

Some 600,000 residents in China's capital are learning English in all forms, according to Beijing Mayor Liu Qi.

Local people have been conducting the English-learning program since the beginning of last year in support of Beijing's bid for the holding of 2008 Olympic Games.

More and more people, from government officials, taxi drivers, shop assistants to senior female neighborhood committee workers regard it as an honor to be able to speak a little English. They hope their efforts can help Beijing win the bid.

In order to improve people's English, the Beijing TV Station has been running an educational program on how to learn English. Also, Beijing Radio and Beijing Foreign Studies University have jointly produced two educational programs, "100 English Sentences for Beijingers" and "300 English Sentences for Beijingers", which are broadcast on three radio frequencies four times every day.

These programs have evoked wide repercussions in Beijing. Many people have bought the teaching materials and have been listening to and watching the programs, and taking an active part in the hotline live programs.

Some work units are organizing their employees to learn together, and some schools invite teachers to give English lessons to nearby residents. English learning has become a major component of Beijingers' spare-time cultural life.

Now the ratio of Beijingers with a fairly good knowledge of English is 15 percent. The Beijing Municipal Government wishes to increase the ratio substantially by encouraging more residents to learn and speak English.

Bidding Success Spurs Learning Fever

Tens of thousands of people across China, from kids to the mayor of Beijing and even senior state leaders, have discovered new and more practical reasons for learning English -- and have logged some serious study time in their effort.

The catalyst was the decision made on July 13 by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) awarding Beijing the right to host the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.

Jiang Ming, a seven-year-old student at Wu Yi Primary School in Beijing who used to hate learning English, gave his parents a pleasant surprise last week when he grabbed his Olympic English handbook and accompanying cassette tape from his bookshelf and sat down for an evening of hard work.

His change of mind was apparently influenced by several boys and girls who recently appeared on Chinese TV saying they wanted to be good English speakers so they could serve as volunteers for the games.

Bruce Connolly of Britain, who has been associated with China for many years and described Beijing as his second home, said Beijing's successful bid brings a great opportunity for the young Chinese people to improve their language skills.

A Zambian student who gave his surname as Kasanda, said China must train lots of workers and volunteers in English as part of the efforts to make the games a success.

"Language is a bridge, and you can make foreigners feel at home with a good command of foreign languages", said Kasanda, who is studying at the University of International Business and Economics.

While some kids' motives for learning English may be directly linked to parental persuasion, adult learners of English -- including senior government officials -- are taking the plunge independently.

Olympic Bidding Success Spurs English Language Fever in China

Olympic Bid, WTO Entry, APEC Boost Beijing "English Economy"

Beijingers Learning English for City's Olympic Bid