[lg policy] China: Civil servants must learn English

[Harold Schiffman]

Civil servants must learn English
Updated: 2012-02-16 08:01
By Ma Lie (China Daily)
  	

XI'AN - A new policy requiring civil servants in Xi'an, capital of
Northwest China's Shaanxi province, to be able to speak basic English
by 2015 has sparked a debate between those who say it will make the
city more international and opponents, who find the measure burdensome
and unnecessary. In a meeting held by the city government on Monday, a
new policy that aims to improve foreign language skills in the city
was approved. The policy document said the city will provide better
language services in the future for foreigners visiting and living in
the city.

After completing government training, all civil servants in the city
who have a university degree and are younger than 40 will be expected
to know how to say more than 300 commonly used English sentences by
the year 2015. The training programs will also cover bus drivers and
conductors, taxi drivers, police officers, waiters in restaurants,
hotels, post offices and banks as well as doctors and nurses.
Around 80 percent of the people under the age of 40 in the
aforementioned service industries should be able to pass the English
exams in 2015 and be able to converse with foreigners in English well
enough to perform their services, according to the policy document .

The 120 emergency call platform will also provide multilingual
services to foreigners in the city. The city government's data showed
that some 1 million foreign tourists visited Xi'an in 2011, and there
are more than 5,000 foreigners living in the city for work and study.
Zuo Liping, a taxi driver who took part in training classes in 2008
for the Beijing Olympic Games and again in 2010 for the Xi'an
International Horticultural Expo, said she is excited about the new
policy.

"From the two training classes given free to our taxi drivers, I
learned some English, which has helped me in my business," she said.
"Once, I took four foreigners who told me they wanted to go to Bell
Tower and asked me how much, I felt so glad that I understood what
they had said." Rob Rogers, a tourist from New Zealand, said he was
surprised upon hearing peddlers in the city using English to drum up
business. He said it will be easier for foreigners to communicate with
local residents who can speak some English.

However, the policy was not without opposition. Some questioned if the
government was requiring too much. Wang Zhouxiong, a lawyer, said this
policy will cause an undue burden on a large number of people and has
no legal basis. And a police officer who just retired from the army
said he worries that he will lose his job as a policeman if he is
unable to pass the English exams.

China Daily

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2012-02/16/content_14619099.htm

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