English Study Popular in Northeast China CityEnthusiasm for learning the English language is currently sweeping through most cities of China, boosted by both Beijing's successful bidding for the 2008 Olympics and China's imminent entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO).In Anshan, a heavy industrial city of northeast China's Liaoning Province, lots of working adults are taking English classes at night schools. Sources from Lingyun Foreign Languages School based in Anshan City said that currently, adults account for 20 to 30 percent of all the school's total number of students who are studying English. Many of the adults are prompted to study English because of their present work demand, while others are making preparations for finding well-paid jobs in overseas-financed ventures in China or for studying or working overseas, said the sources. Teacher Hao with the school explained that some enterprises have listed the level of English as an important criterion in recruiting new workers because the executives of the enterprises believe that a lack of English-speaking personnel will make them miss opportunities for edging into the international market competition. According to Hao, a growing number of ordinary citizens who have limited English abilities have taken the initiative to improve their level of English at their own expense at the Lingyun Foreign Languages School. The market is also flooded with various kinds of English study software which suit the demand of people with different levels of understanding of English. Software retailers revealed that more and more office workers who are busy at work prefer to buy English language software for self-study at home. |
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