In 2001, Shanghai taxi companies started providing classes for their drivers - taxis
were equipped with mini-textbooks and cassettes with English phrases so that
the drivers could practise their English in between picking up their customers.
The Shanghai police were also given booklets with English phrases and a detailed
glossary, and were ordered by the local government to learn "practical" English
phrases. The national newspapers carried reports of English classes starting up in
small towns, in the countryside and fishing villages, as a preparation for the
2008 Olympics. These examples illustrate again the enormous energy and enthu-
siasm in China for learning English in both formal and informal contexts.
Knowing English is seen by many Chinese to reflect well upon their professional
learning and, as a world language, it is a bridge to their aspirations for the future.
The Chinese saying "An army crossing a one-log bridge" is said to describe current
ELT in China (Ma, 2001). Many are involved in a mass movement of what is actu-
ally a difficult enterprise and not all will reach the goal of proficiency. Yet we
believe the "army" will create new bridges - new Chinese ways to learn English
that will undoubtedly be developed, from which other nations can learn.