[etni] Wanna learn English, anyone?
- From: ETNI list <etni.list@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: Etni <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 11 Jun 2011 07:46:57 +0300
Wanna learn English, anyone?
CNN - June 10, 2011
Beijing, China (CNN) -- One of my first jobs in China was teaching
English through songs on CCTV, China's national television station.
That was in 1979, when the People's Republic was just coming out of
the tumultuous Cultural Revolution. Ordinary Chinese still wore drab
Mao tunics, and top officials debated whether the foreign cultural
influences seeping into China were "spiritual pollution."
Still, the CCTV station producers wanted to use national television to
popularize English language, and they wanted a light program.
I was recruited to join a group of amateur musicians to produce "Let's
Sing," a series of 30-minute specials to complement its weekly
program, English on Sunday. Along with three Chinese performers, I
would strum my guitar and sing English songs, including "Clementine",
"Puff, The Magic Dragon" and "El Condor Pasa." Viewers learned new
words, grammar and syntax as they learned the songs.
Station producers closely vetted the lineup of songs and narration we
prepared. They vetoed a few, including Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the
Wind." We produced 10 shows, which aired for weeks and replayed many
times. We became local celebrities, occasionally recognized and
stopped in Beijing's shops and alleys. Even today, the odd Beijing
resident occasionally stops me and says he or she first learned
English through my TV show.
** To read the whole article, go to -
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/06/10/china.english/
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