Following is the article written by a British expert, Patter Adler, telling her aspirations for doing something for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
When the 2008 Olympic Games comes, the attention of the whole world will be attracted to China. It is imaginable how large a scale of Beijingers' reception work will be by the time.
As a person who had been working for a long time in China, it is necessary and duty-bound for me to do something for the Olympic Games within my power.
But what I can do for it?
I think English is my strong point. I know the Olympic reception work requires large numbers of English-speaking personnel and I'm aware that many Beijingers are learning English. So, I think I can do something in this respect.
For this, in 1991 I cooperated with a psychologist of Chinese children Liu Jinghe in compilation of an 8-volume book titled "Modern English for Children" intended for children aged between 9 and 12.
Why did I compile this series of books at that time? Because I contemplated that Beijing would succeed in its bid for the 2000 Olympic Games, and children would be encouraged to spend ten years (1991-2000) to learn this set of books, by then they would definitely be useful for the Olympics.
China's education TV station broadcast the first three volumes of our book, both parents and their children said this to be very effective.
Of course, I also had my own purpose in compiling the book.
I once taught at the China Foreign Affairs Institute, I also worked in Xinhua News Agency and the China Foreign Languages Publishing and Distribution Administration, later in 1973 I went to work at the Beijing Foreign Studies University, by now 40 full years have passed.
In publishing books, emphasis should be placed mainly on reality and children be encouraged to ponder over matters. I think in compiling books for children, we must put out books children are interested in.
A teacher shouldn't ask children to learn things for the adults or force a method of study on them, instead, they should be allowed to study on their own, to speak out things to their own concerns and how they are proceeding with their studies. This is also one of my purposes for compiling this set of books.
Now that Beijing has succeeded in its bid for hosting the 2008 Olympic Games, I still want to take advantage of my strong point in English to do something for the Olympic Games.
Currently, numerous Chinese are learning English, so are many taxi drivers in Beijing, they are making preparations for greeting the 2008 Olympic Games.
But I discover there are only few books suitable for children. Many Chinese fall short of the standard in their use of English.
Considering this situation, I'm now collecting some non-standard English words and sentences and note them down, and plan to compile them into some sort of a booklet; at the same time, I'm also collecting meaningful works done by some renowned writers and revise them into English readings which youngsters, including beginners, like to read, and which are comprehensible to them.
In this way, I hope those learning English through these readings will be able to use correct English in their communication with foreigners during the 2008 Olympic Games.
English has become an international language for human communications, for instance, many Chinese friends I met in Beijing almost all could use English to talk with me.
China boasts rich and glorious, 5,000-year-old culture. I think, whether it is at present, in 2008 or an even more distant future, every Chinese is duty-bound, by means of the language, to enable foreigners to appreciate China's great culture and understand her history and civilization.
To this end, I'll spend some energy after my retirement to compile some books suitable for children during my remaining years, so that I can make come contributions to China's English education, that is my real intention.
( May 31, 2002)
