A retired teacher, who said he couldn't sleep because of a noisy foreign languages school under his apartment, has won a lawsuit against the institution.

Chen Zhiwen filed the suit after he was unhappy with the school's attitude in Shenyang, Liaoning province.

He reasoned with the school about the students' continuous recitation of foreign words and sentences in the daytime and bright lights at night.

He signed an agreement for 14,000 yuan (US$2,060) in compensation last year but has only received a fraction of the money.

He took the school to court and also asked the court to fine the school for breaching the pact. The court agreed.

(China Daily April 9, 2009)