Thousands and thousands of visitors from abroad have come to Beijing for the Olympic games. Most don't speak Chinese. Maybe they speak only English. As it happens it's fashionable to learn English in China. It's hardly a surprise that many of the city's young people are dedicated students of English.

What's not so widely known is that many senior citizens in Beijing also speak fluent English. And they're using their skills to welcome new friends from all over the world.

 

Zhi Lihong, a Beijing citizen, says "good morning. welcome to my home."

many senior citizens in Beijing also learn to speak English

Zhi Lihong is almost sixty-six. She signed up for an English course in her community six years ago. Starting from the letters of the alphabet, Zhi and her classmates learned to speak the language.

She says "I learned Russian when I was a little girl. So English was quite difficult for me, especially the pronunciation and the spelling. I started with no understanding of English at all."