Beijing Olympics 2008

At the national mountain-climbing training base in the suburbs of Beijing, Zeng Ji gets up every morning at seven, eats breakfast at eight and is in English class by nine.
Zeng is one of some 4,000 2008 Beijing Olympic National Technical Officials (NTOs) trying to polish their English-language skills heading into the Olympics this summer.
Due to a lack of proper language training and little exposure to international tournaments, most Chinese NTOs are not confident with their English skills.
“It is a big challenge for many Chinese technical officials to conduct an effective communication in English,” Zeng, a swimming NTO, said. “Chinese referees have no problem with the technical stuff written in English, but we really need to improve our spoken English to make a better impression in front of the world.”
Zeng does six hours of English lessons and another two hours of homework every day. He takes weekly written tests and an extra course on Wednesday nights. He is only allowed to speak Chinese on Sundays.
He and his classmates will have to pass an oral exam to finish the 10-week language crash course for the big event in August.
The 2008 Olympics will see more Chinese technical officials since it is common practice for the host country to provide local staff for event operation. These “technical officials” typically include judges, referees and other sport-specific officials.
An event may have both international and national technical officials, depending on the rules and regulations of each particular sport.
Zeng said many NTOs need to deal not only with athletes and coaches, but with other referees and officials if controversies occur.
In order to help the NTOs clearly communicate with people on and off the court, Beijing Games organizers last year hired a language company to run intensive training camps for 120 NTOs.
At the training camps, NTOs are divided into three groups according to their language levels. They first work on pronunciation and study basic sentence structures. Then they practice listening and oral skills in Games-related situations. In the final phase, they focus on technical terms and vocabulary.
The language training will continue after the 10-week camp as each student is required to take monthly online tests in listening, oral, reading and writing.
“My goal is to pronounce the names of swimmers properly and announce the results correctly at the Olympics,” Zeng said.

from: chinadaily.com.cn 

A English-Chinese edition of first aid guidance has been issued to help athletes and tourists at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
The pamphlet translates medical expressions on different types of allergies, diarrhea and fever, and contains a map of hospitals and first aid centers in the Chinese capital.
In case of emergency, the brochure can also be used as an SOS sign, as the bright red color of its cover is easily seen.
Sources claim other seven-foreign-language versions of the pamphlet will be released during the Beijing Olympic Games in this summer.
Beijing has launched a series of campaigns to ensure food safety and the health and personal security of foreign athletes and tourists for the Games.
From January to May this year, local police will beef up campaigns against organized crime, robbery, murder and other severe criminal offenses as well as collect illegally-held explosives, guns and ammunition, and strengthen control over bows and crossbows.
The police will also step up surveillance of entertainment venues to fight pornography and gambling, and remove safety hazards within 200 meters of Olympic venues.
The city expects to welcome more than 500,000 visitors from overseas during the games, with the largest daily visitor-inflow estimated at 300,000. It has 806 star-ranking tourist hotels offering 130,000 guest-rooms or 220,000 beds. Other public lodging houses and inns will serve another 646,000 beds.
Beijing is also expected to solicit around 1,000 local households as “Olympic Family Hotels” to receive foreign visitors in effort to increase the city’s guest room supply.
Also, it is estimated that 450,000 tickets for this summer’s Olympic Games have been allocated, accounting for about a quarter of the tickets available for sale in the second phase.
More than 700,000 orders for 4.2 million tickets were received, but only 123,000 bookings were confirmed after a computerized random draw.

Just 200 days away, the Beijing Olympics is poised to be the most memorable Games in history.

China has waited almost 100 years for the Olympic Games and sees the Aug. 8-24 sports spectacle as an opportunity to showcase itself to the world.
“The Olympic Games is not simply a sports event and its meaning is beyond sports itself,” said Wei Jizhong, a former vice president of the Chinese Olympic Committee and currently a senior consultant with the Beijing Organizing Committee (BOCOG).

Nothing shows the ambitions better than the large scale of infrastructure construction. China has spent billions of dollars on a makeover of the capital city that includes new highways, an extended subway system and a new airport terminal as well as massive construction on sports facilities.

After seven years’ preparations, the hour of reckoning is soon to come.

“Under the full support of our government and people, all types of preparation work for the Games are going smoothly, according to schedule,” said BOCOG executive vice president Liu Jingmin. “The conditions for Beijing holding a successful Olympics are almost mature.”
Work on the 37 competition venues is coming to an end with 36 already inaugurated and the showpiece National Stadium, known as the “Bird’s Nest” for its giant latticework structure of metal girders, is expected to be put into operation next March.
The public are obsessed with a massive hunt for a chance to be part of the greatest show on Earth.
More than 800,000 people have applied for a volunteer’s post, while hundreds of thousands of candidates chased the 19,400 domestic torchbearer berths available, all keen to join in a historical relay that will see the flame travel an unprecedented 137,000 kilometers around the world, including in an awe-inspiring ascent of Mount Qomolangma.

Three construction worker walked past the the National Stadium, nicknamed “Bird’s Nest,” in Beijing, Jan. 17, 2008. (Xinhuanet Photo)

Old habits are also being demolished.

Etiquette campaigns were launched to stamp out bad manners like queue-jumping, spitting, littering and cursing in public. Millions of brochures were sent out to individuals to introduce a new code of conduct, while polishing courses are being offered to all civil servants and the people working in the service sector, such as cabdrivers, shopping assistants, waiters and waitresses, and bus conductors.
English translations popularly known as “Chinglish” is also out. Hotlines have been set up for citizens who spot an English-language-related mistake on a public sign to call and notify the authorities.
China’s financial goals have also been met with revenue from the Games expected to exceed original target. The Beijing Olympics has 60 sponsors and suppliers, almost 50 percent more than Athens in 2004.
However, despite the enormous efforts that Beijing has made, some preparations for the Olympics are proving harder to control.
There are persistent concerns about the level of air pollution in Beijing and International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said twice publicly last year that some endurance events might be rescheduled if the air is too dirty during next August. But local officials believe it will improve significantly by the time the games start.
Du Shaozhong, deputy director of the municipal bureau of environmental protection, said the city will order at least one third of 3.3 million vehicles off the road during the 16-day Olympics and close dust-spewing construction sites and polluting factories.
“I am confident that Beijing’s air quality in August will meet the World Health Organization’s standards,” he said.

Almost a year out, at least one verdict is there.

“For many reasons, political, social, historical, there will be more focus on these Olympic Games in China than there has been on any others for many, many years,” Steve Roush, head of sports performance for the U.S. Olympic Committee, said during his visit last August.

“It will be a spectacle that will grip the world.”

from: xinhuanet.com

When Zhi Lijiang first signed up to be an Olympic volunteer for the 2008 Beijing Games, she could hardly have imagined she would be playing the role of a Canadian tourist in English and etiquette classes.
The classes are all part of Beijing’s effort to get its population to speak English to welcome the millions of foreigners expected to flood to the city in this Olympic year.
Worried that its citizens’ poor command of the language will embarrass the country and lead to unfortunate misunderstandings, the Chinese government has embarked on a massive programme to teach the population basic English.
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 said.
“Welcome to Beijing, the host city of the 2008 Olympic Games,” another replies to her, standing in the front of the classroom.
Zhi rehearses three times a week with a class of over 100 citizens, all over the age of 50, to practise English phrases and etiquette to help foreign guests visiting Beijing for the Games.
Zhi and her friends all live in Beijing’s Dongsi Olympic Community, the only one of its kind in the city, not far from the Forbidden City. By teaching the residents English, it’s expected they might be able to give directions to lost tourists.
The neighborhood of traditional courtyards and alleyways was specially renamed for the Games, and is what the organisers hope will become a model for other parts of the city during the Olympics.

OLYMPIC DRIVE
The oldest couple in the classroom are Lu Baoli and Wang Xiuqin, aged 72 and 65, who have lived just around the corner from the classroom for most of their lives.
They attend a two-hour class every Saturday and attend an English corner and salon every Wednesday.
“I recommend visiting the Great Wall; it is one of the Seven Wonders of the World,” Wang patiently teaches her husband Lu out of a government-issued manual.
Lu struggles to follow.

“I cannot remember the words sometimes, I am too stupid,” he adds bashfully.
But both religiously attend their classes, and complete homework and other exercises at home together.
“I always keep a notebook in my pocket, so I can take a look whenever I have the time. I also memorize words when I am walking,” said Wang.
Wang and Lu even cut out and collect the Fuwa doll stamps and stickers, the official Olympic mascots, to keep for their grandchildren.
“I want my grandson to see his grandmother in the Olympics,” said Wang, flipping through her Chinese postal book.
The Olympic drive has spurred an English learning frenzy all over the country. People are learning English to be more “internationalized“, as organizers put it.
Most of the elderly residents living in the alleyways around Dongsi Olympic Village are excited to be part of the preparations as Beijing gears up to show China off to the world.
“Many changes have taken place. The alleyways are being repainted and renovated,” said a government official in the community, surnamed Zheng. “We want to look our best.”

ENTHUSIASTIC STUDENTS
The residents are more than happy to attend the Public Welfare English Class for Citizens in the Olympic community and role-play as foreigners and volunteers.
Jian Jia, a graduate student at a Beijing university who is part of the Olympic Volunteer Programme, has been teaching the class for more than three years.
“You cannot see them as students. Their English may not be as good as that, but their enthusiasm is better. Actually some of them can speak very good English and have no problem conducting simple conversations,” Jian told reporters.
Besides regular English courses, they also learn Olympic-related English, since most of them will be volunteers during the Games, which open on August 8.
As an Olympic volunteer, the elderly volunteers are supposed to offer help to any foreigners they may encounter.
They learn English songs too, with titles such as “Smiling Beijing“.
Beijing’s Olympic organizers have amassed 400,000 English speaking recruits in preparation for the influx of foreigners.

from: chinadaily.com.cn