Enthusiasm for learning the  English language is currently sweeping through most cities of  China, boosted by both Beijing's successful bidding for the 2008  Olympics and China's imminent entry into the World Trade  Organization (WTO).

   In Anshan, a heavy industrial city of northeast China's  Liaoning Province, lots of working adults are taking English  classes at night schools.

   Sources from Lingyun Foreign Languages School based in Anshan  City said that currently, adults account for 20 to 30 percent of  all the school's total number of students who are studying English.

   Many of the adults are prompted to study English because of  their present work demand, while others are making preparations  for finding well-paid jobs in overseas-financed ventures in China  or for studying or working overseas, said the sources.

   Teacher Hao with the school explained that some enterprises  have listed the level of English as an important criterion in  recruiting new workers because the executives of the enterprises  believe that a lack of English-speaking personnel will make them  miss opportunities for edging into the international market  competition.

   According to Hao, a growing number of ordinary citizens who  have limited English abilities have taken the initiative to  improve their level of English at their own expense at the Lingyun Foreign Languages School.

   The market is also flooded with various kinds of English study  software which suit the demand of people with different levels of  understanding of English.

   Software retailers revealed that more and more office workers  who are busy at work prefer to buy English language software for  self-study at home.