Nearly 15 years after Hong Kong was returned to China, the Wall Street Journal reports that the new census results show the former British colony is now replacing English with Mandarin as the city's most commonly spoken second language. more ›

Slogan for a school in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province:
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Elyse Ribbons shares with us this cute little video featuring snippets of Outlook English, an English-language talent competition organised by national broadcaster CCTV for young people, where she appeared as a "celebrity judge". Which "talents" are your favourites? more ›

Hilarious: more ›

Ever since Expo blasted through town stripping us of food streets, pajamas, and chinglish (basically everything fun) we've found few if any chucklz amongst Shanghai public signs. So you can imagine our delight at this wonderfully pure specimen spotted by the escalator in the Shanghai Long-Distance Coach Terminal. more ›

From TechWeb via TheNextWeb Asia comes the news that Sina's going to launch an English-language version of Weibo in less than three months to compete head-on with Twitter. We hate to be a party-pooper but we really don't see this working out -- why would anybody out there in the free world want a heavily censored microblogging platform? On the bright side, those of you looking for a way out of your English-language teaching jobs can now look forward to being part of Sina Weibo's English-language moderation team. more ›

Spotted in a Shanghai hotel by the guys from Engrish.com: "Foot-soaking in spring time will strengthen Yang and reinforce vital energy, in summer it will dispel disease caused by heat and dampness, in autumn lubricate intestines and in winter warm the pubic region." more ›

We're not exactly who's behind these literal English translations of Chinese songs, but they seem to have gained quite a following! Youku user Ouzi (欧子, which could be literally translated into "Euro kid") has 27 videos of literal translations up on his page. The most recent one, about Chinese children's songs, was published 8 hours ago but has already garnered over 20,000 hits. more ›

This is an advertisement. Disney is looking for experienced individuals to instruct children aged 2-9 at Disney English Language Learning Centers in Shanghai. Trainers will use an innovative and immersive Disney program, leveraging Disney’s beloved characters, stories, songs, animation and other materials, to provide a highly engaging and effective premium learning experience. The English Language Trainer reports to the Language Learning Director (LLD) in the Disney English Language Learning Center. more ›

Three months have passed since the infamous implosion of Kai En English sent shock waves throughout the community of English language teachers here in Shanghai, and now Danwei has revisited the subject with an excellent report by Shanghai-based writer Tessa Thorniley that sought to answer the question: "Why are so many foreigners fleeing China in the wake of language school bankruptcies?" more ›

Shanghai Daily's recent article about the city starting a new phase in its campaign to wipe out those hilarious Chinglish signs reminded of something: this sign we snapped earlier this year at the Pearl Tower. more ›

• The USA pavilion has gotten a spankin' new online update now that it's finally official. [USA Pavilion]
• Who knew that the Shanghai metro was filled with so many explosives! According to China Daily, "The city's police have confiscated more than 6,000 flammable and explosive items from subway commuters since March," [China Daily]
• It's reining-in men in Shanghai's only gay English corner. [City Weekend]

This is an advertisement. Disney English, a private English language learning center, will be hosting an educator recruiting open house on Thursday, April 9, 2009 from 11:00am-2:00pm. They are looking for ESL, EFL educators with a Bachelor's degree and a minimum of one year experience teaching English as a foreign language. They seek candidates who will bring creativity and excitement to the Disney English classroom. Visit their first center in Shanghai, talk to staff and learn more about this exciting opportunity to join in the magic of The Walt Disney Company! Contact: Rene.e.dubose.-ND@Disney.com. Thursday, April 9, 2009, 11:00am to 2:00pm, Disney English Center, 165 Maoming Nan Road (Close to Nanchang Road), Shanghai 200021. More job ads. Place a job ad. more ›

Biology student Xu Peng from Shanghai's Fudan University has emerged winner of the CCTV Cup English Speaking Contest, China's top English-language oratorical competition. more ›

The world's biggest children's entertainment company now also wants to play a part in educating your children too — and to be more specific, to teach them how to speak proper English. When we found an ad in the taxi we were in yesterday drawing our attention to DisneyEnglish.com, we thought this was some fake school that had ripped off Disney's name, but when we got home to check it we realised that not only was this a genuine Disney English school, this was the world's very first Disney English school. And it's right here in Shanghai, located on Maoming Lu. For some strange reason, we think this is going to be a huge success in the Chinese market. What do you think?
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We heard that Beijing has made an effort to rid the city of Chinglish in all public places. Finally the public education banners are also in English so the foreigners can get some proper education too! more ›

In an article about official Olympic protest areas, the Wall Street Journal linked to some scanned pages from Olympic Security English, a training manual for Olympic police. We have reproduced those pages for your enjoyment. more ›

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As if there weren't already enough people studying English in China, Reuters finds that the Olympics has also been yet another factor in the English-language frenzy. Actually, if we didn't know better, this clip would have led us to believe that only retirees study the language in China.
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In yet another dose of Shanghai street sign news, we spotted this gem near the junction of Wuding Road. Okay okay we all know Xizang Lu is supposed to be Tibet Road, but does anyone know why Jiaozhou Lu would translate as Jurong Road? Random English translation (we actually know of an actual road by the same name elsewhere in Asia) aside, we are also not sure why the letter "g" is switched to another font instead of Helvetica. more ›