Marching toward the Olympic opening ceremony in August, the Chinese government is working overtime to finish up the stadiums constructions. The officials seem to be confident about the readiness of infrastructure. Being face-conscious and wanting to be a good host, however, they have a bigger challenge on hands, according to this Reuters report:
Worried that its citizens’ notoriously poor command of the language will embarrass the country and lead to unfortunate misunderstandings, the Chinese government has embarked on a massive program to teach the population basic English.
How can they get million locals to speak English in such a short period of time? Their solution sounds unconventional:
Some of the preparations, though, can look a little odd to foreigners.
Dressed up in a big blond wig, sunglasses, gold earrings and silk scarf, Zhi, 63, pretends to be a Canadian tourist while her classmates take turns talking with her.
“I am from Canada. This is my first time to China,” she intones in a thick Beijing accent.
“Welcome to Beijing, the host city of the 2008 Olympic Games,” another replies to her, standing in the front of the classroom.
Will it work? We’ll see in several months, when Zhi and her fellow residents meet a lot of real blonds, some of whom will definitely get lost in the streets of Beijing, and many can speak no more than two Chinese words Ni Hao.
January 17, 2008 at 8:57 am
It will be a good opportunity for beijing citizens to practice their english, or perhaps other languages