bodyType

customContents

entityId

printArticlePageQuery

filter

article

body

urlAlias

articleSectionsContent

articleSeoArticle

articleSourceHeaderArticle

contentSchemaRenderContent

contentSubHeadlineContent

contentHeadlineContent

mainImagePrintArticleArticle

authorBlockPrintArticleArticle

contentSponsorTagContent

articlePianoPaywallContent

scmpYoutubeContent

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

query printArticlePageQuery(
  $entityId: String!
  $customContents: [CustomContentInput]
  $bodyType: BodyFormatTypeEnum
) {
  article(filter: {entityId: $entityId}) {
    entityId
    body(customContents: $customContents, type: $bodyType) {
      json
    }
    urlAlias
    ...articleSectionsContent
    ...articleSeoArticle_3o8td4
    ...articleSourceHeaderArticle
    ...contentSchemaRenderContent
    ...contentSubHeadlineContent
    ...contentHeadlineContent
    ...mainImagePrintArticleArticle
    ...authorBlockPrintArticleArticle
    ...contentSponsorTagContent
    ...articlePianoPaywallContent
    ...scmpYoutubeContent
    ...hooksTrackPageViewArticle
    id
  }
}

fragment articlePianoPaywallContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...hooksPaywallPromiseContent
}

fragment articleSectionsContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  sections {
    value {
      ...helpersCheckIfNewsSectionInFirstIndexSection
      ...entityLink
      name
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment articleSeoArticle_3o8td4 on Article {
  ...hooksArticleSeoArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersGetArticleTypeArticle
  entityId
  publishedDate
  updatedDate
  summary {
    text
  }
  subHeadline {
    text
  }
  body(customContents: $customContents, type: $bodyType) {
    text
  }
  keywords
  sections {
    value {
      name
      id
    }
  }
  topics {
    name
    entityId
    id
  }
  urlAlias
  authors {
    name
    id
  }
  images {
    style(filter: {style: "768x768"}) {
      url
    }
  }
  readingTime
}

fragment articleSourceHeaderArticle on Article {
  urlAlias
  ...entityLink
}

fragment authorBlockPrintArticleArticle on Article {
  ...defaultArticleDateContent
  ...authorNamesArticle
}

fragment authorNameAuthor on Author {
  ...entityLink
  name
  entityUuid
}

fragment authorNamesArticle on Article {
  authorLocations
  authors {
    entityId
    location
    ...authorNameAuthor
    id
  }
}

fragment blockquoteQuoteContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...contentShareWidgetContent
}

fragment checkersCheckContentContainsStarlingImageContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment contentHeadlineContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  headline
  socialHeadline
  ...contentHeadlineTagContent
  ...helpersUseContentSponsorContent
}

fragment contentHeadlineTagContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...hooksContentHeadlineTagContent
}

fragment contentNewsletterWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    relatedNewsletters {
      ...helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter
      id
    }
    id
  }
  sections {
    value {
      relatedNewsletters {
        ...helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter
        id
      }
      id
    }
  }
  ... on Article {
    relatedNewsletters {
      ...helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment contentSchemaRenderContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...blockquoteQuoteContent
  ...imageContent
  ...inlineWidgetContent
  ...photoGalleryWidgetContent
  ...scmpYoutubeContent
}

fragment contentShareWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  entityId
  urlAlias
  shortUrl
  socialHeadline
  headline
}

fragment contentSponsorTagContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...helpersUseContentSponsorContent
}

fragment contentSubHeadlineContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  subHeadline {
    json
  }
  summary {
    json
  }
  ...contentSchemaRenderContent
}

fragment defaultArticleDateContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...hooksArticleDateUtilsContent
}

fragment entityLink on BaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias {
  __isBaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias: __typename
  __typename
  entityId
  entityUuid
  urlAlias
  urlRedirect {
    toUrl
    id
  }
  application {
    entityId
    id
  }
  ... on Section {
    fullSectionPath {
      entityId
      id
    }
    parentSection
  }
  ...helpersAppBarVariantBase
  ...helpersApplicationBase
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusArticle
  ...helpersStyleSectionContent
}

fragment helpersAppBarVariantBase on BaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias {
  __isBaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias: __typename
  ...helpersCheckIsLiveArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusPage
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesPage
  ...helpersCheckIsPostMagazineArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsStyleArticle
  ...helpersSectionContent
  ...helpersStyleSectionContent
}

fragment helpersApplicationBase on BaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias {
  __isBaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias: __typename
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesPage
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusPage
}

fragment helpersCheckIfNewsSectionInFirstIndexSection on Section {
  name
}

fragment helpersCheckIsAmpEnabledArticle on Article {
  entityId
  types {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
  disableOffPlatformContent
  sponsorType
  published
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
}

fragment helpersCheckIsLiveArticle on Article {
  flattenTypeIds
  liveArticle {
    status
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsMainTopicContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPlusArticle on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ... on Article {
    paywallTypes {
      entityUuid
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPlusPage on Page {
  urlAlias
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPostMagazineArticle on Article {
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle on Article {
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPostiesPage on Page {
  urlAlias
}

fragment helpersCheckIsStyleArticle on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersGetArticleTypeArticle on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ... on Article {
    types {
      value {
        entityId
        id
      }
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter on Newsletter {
  entityId
  name
  alternativeName
  description {
    text
  }
  summary {
    text
  }
  homepageDescription {
    text
  }
}

fragment helpersSanitizeArticleTypeEntityIdsArticle on Article {
  types {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersSanitizeAuthorTypesArticle on Article {
  authors {
    types
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersSanitizedAuthorEntityIdsArticle on Article {
  authors {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersSectionContent on Section {
  fullSectionPath {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersStyleSectionContent on Section {
  fullSectionPath {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersUseContentSponsorContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    entityId
    sponsor {
      ...sponsorTagSponsor
      name
      type
      id
    }
    id
  }
  ... on Article {
    sponsorType
  }
  ...helpersCheckIsMainTopicContent
}

fragment hooksArticleDateUtilsContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  createdDate
  publishedDate
  updatedDate
}

fragment hooksArticleSeoArticle on Article {
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostMagazineArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsStyleArticle
  ...hooksContentHeadlineTagContent
  ...helpersCheckIsAmpEnabledArticle
  entityId
  headline
  socialHeadline
  types {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
  authors {
    entityId
    id
  }
  images {
    generic_og: style(filter: {style: "og_image_scmp_generic"}) {
      url
    }
    styles(filter: {styles: ["og_image_posties_article", "og_postmag", "og_image_style", "og_image_scmp_analysis", "og_image_scmp_explainer", "og_image_scmp_editorial", "og_image_scmp_fact_check", "og_image_scmp_debate", "og_image_scmp_live", "og_image_scmp_obituary", "og_image_scmp_opinion", "og_image_scmp_review", "og_image_scmp_series", "og_image_scmp_generic"]}) {
      url
      style
    }
    type
  }
  urlAlias
}

fragment hooksContentHeadlineTagContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  __typename
  ... on Article {
    types {
      value {
        name
        entityId
        description {
          text
        }
        id
      }
    }
    ...helpersCheckIsStyleArticle
  }
  flag
  sections {
    value {
      name
      id
    }
  }
  ...hooksContentHelperContent
}

fragment hooksContentHelperContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...helpersSanitizeArticleTypeEntityIdsArticle
  ...helpersSanitizeAuthorTypesArticle
  ...helpersSanitizedAuthorEntityIdsArticle
  flag
}

fragment hooksPaywallPromiseContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  entityId
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
}

fragment hooksTrackPageViewArticle on Article {
  entityId
  publishedDate
  headline
  sections {
    value {
      name
      id
    }
  }
  urlAlias
  authors {
    name
    id
  }
  entityUuid
}

fragment imageContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  headline
  ...checkersCheckContentContainsStarlingImageContent
}

fragment inlineWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...contentNewsletterWidgetContent
}

fragment mainImagePrintArticleArticle on Article {
  images {
    title
    url
    isSlideshow
    size_652x446: style(filter: {style: "652x446"}) {
      url
    }
  }
}

fragment photoGalleryDialogContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  __typename
  ...contentShareWidgetContent
}

fragment photoGalleryWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...photoGalleryDialogContent
}

fragment scmpYoutubeContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  entityId
  urlAlias
  publishedDate
}

fragment sponsorTagSponsor on Sponsor {
  name
  type
  images {
    url
  }
}


sections

types

disableOffPlatformContent

sponsorType

published

headline

socialHeadline

authors

images

publishedDate

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

keywords

topics

readingTime

authorLocations

entityUuid

Paul Moon

Paul Mooney

Dressed in a neat blue blazer,  grey slacks and a crisp white shirt with a red-striped tie, the man sweats as he moves back and forth on the stage, waving a small booklet in his hand. He's shouting English, working the crowd, pumping it up, part preacher, part motivational speaker, and part stand-up comedian. The crowd of hundreds shouts back on signal, at the same time waving their hands in the air.

This is no southern Christian revival. Li Yang, the man on  stage, has become something of a legend in China for having a big mouth, and he  is in Chaoyang Park to promote his trademark Crazy English, based on the belief that shouting helps  you to concentrate and remember better.

The Xinjiang native jumps off the stage and walks among the audience, sticking his microphone into  people's faces, challenging them to shout out English words. Occasionally he uses one of the hand signals he's developed to teach pronunciation. Back up on the stage again, he whips off his  blazer and puts it on the  floor as he continues to teach English as a shouted language. The audience is having a great time.

Recently, his unorthodox method was given an official stamp of approval when the Beijing Olympic committee hired him to teach staff and athletes English for the 2008 Olympics.

Mr Li's popularity is partially the product of what is known locally as Yingwen re, or English fever, a phenomenon that has seen English-language learning permeate all levels of society.

'It's nothing less than a revolution,' says Bruce Liu, director of Studio Classroom, a Taiwan company that teaches English on local television and radio.

English replaced Russian as the country's second language at the end of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), when China cracked the door open to the outside world. In recent years, entry to the  World Trade Organisation, winning the 2008 Olympic bid, growing foreign trade and investment, and globalisation have given English-language studies another  boost.

Compared with Hong Kong, where English-language learning has drifted in recent years, the gap is narrowing rapidly. 'China is catching up fast,' says Mary Ma, who formerly ran the China operations for Studio Classroom in Taipei.

'Hong Kong is not emphasising English as much as before,' she says. 'People are paying more attention to learning  Putonghua now. People need to make a choice and many prefer to learn  Putonghua.'

Another teacher doing English training in Beijing for major multinationals for the past decade, who declined to be named, sums it up another way: 'There's a lack of willpower in Hong Kong.  There's a lack of continuity in the learning of English.'

English can be seen  all across the mainland today. Turn on the TV at  any time of day, flip the channels and you're bound to find someone teaching English. Beijing People's Broadcasting has been offering language classes since the 1970s, and has just launched a new 24-hour English-language radio station, 774 AM. The station says there are about three million people in the capital with basic to advanced fluency in the language, and so programming is aimed not only at foreigners living in Beijing, but also English learners.

Sister station FM 99.4 produces eight programmes, including Take this,  Check It Out and English Express. The programmes can be heard at any time  on the station's website, or lessons can  be sent  over mobile phones for a small fee. China Radio International broadcasts Rainbow English  for children in Taiwan, at 8am each morning.

English-language learning is fast becoming  big business with about 400 foreign companies keen to break into the local market, said to be worth several billion dollars a year. 'Everyone wants  a bite of the cake,' says Zhou Min, the host of several popular English-language radio programmes. 'They're flocking to China.'

The reason is simple. People are willing to dig deep into their pockets to learn English.  Beijing's Xinhua Book Store  is just one example of what the market has to offer.

Bao Gaiping, 21, stands on the third floor looking perplexed as she stares at a pile of English books on a table. 'There's so many,' she says. 'I don't know what to choose.'

She glances at some of the 50 books and boxed sets on the table, including the popular  US series Family Album, Mr Li's  Crazy English, Speak English Through Football and a Japanese-style comic book with the catchy title, English Teen Teen Unplugged. She picks up a few books, flips through them, and then puts them down  before turning and disappearing down the escalator.

She didn't even bother to look behind the table at the more than 40  shelves weighed down with more titles including recordings for popular  US and British television shows and movies,  or the half dozen shelves loaded with English-learning CD-Roms, MP3s, VCDs and DVDs.

The Wall Street Institute declined to be interviewed, but students say tuition can run as high as US$2,500 for a six-month course, or US$15,000 for the complete set of courses - three to four years' salary for an average office worker in Beijing. Wall Street, which had just one facility in 2002, now has seven schools in Beijing and five in Shanghai, all in upmarket commercial centres.

The New Oriental School started by offering crash-test preparation courses to help people pass exams such as the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)  in 1992. The company has seen its business soar with a growing number of students heading abroad  to study. New Oriental has waiting lists for its courses  which can seat up to 300 students,  with some sitting on windowsills or standing in doorways.

Many Chinese newspapers have English pages for language learners. The 21st Century, published by state-run China Daily, targets English-language students with news articles accompanied by Chinese explanations of key English terms.

The newspaper carries numerous advertisements for English-learning materials and for language schools. English Weekly, aimed at middle and high school students, is printed on cheap paper, but has the highest circulation of any newspaper in China, selling about 10 million copies a week. 'It's all designed for the exams,' Mr Liu says. 'The teachers love it.'

Studio Classroom,  which publishes three monthly magazines for beginning, intermediate and advanced students, broadcasts its lessons on 44 TV stations as well as on China Radio National, reaching Chinese  across the country. It sells 100,000 copies of its magazine each month, but Mr Liu says 'a couple of million' Chinese listen to its programmes, which are also available on the internet 24 hours a day.

English is popular among all age groups. College students are taking classes at coffee shops where they watch and discuss popular  US television programmes. English corners, where Chinese  practise their English on one another, have sprung up in parks all over the country.

In the city of Hefei, in Anhui province, Chinese gather once a week at a bar in the Novotel Hotel to  practise English with one another, and possibly strike up a conversation with foreign guests.

In Beijing's Chaoyang District, two  septuagenarian Chinese set up the Golden Years English Salon at a local community centre, where elderly members gather each Saturday to  practise their spoken English. When the numbers hit 100, they had to separate into morning and afternoon groups.

Meanwhile, Chinese are beginning to learn English at younger and younger ages.  Zhou tells of some women who begin speaking and reading English when they become pregnant. 'Children are starting to learn even before birth,'   the broadcaster says. 'We call it taijiao, or fetal education.'

More and more parents are sending  pre-schoolers off to learn English at one of  the growing number of locally run schools. One English school admitted a student at the age of one - before  she could speak Chinese. Last year, primary schools in major cities began offering English in the third grade -  previously, it wasn't part of the national curriculum until middle school.

It's not uncommon for Chinese parents to nudge their children towards a foreigner on the street, urging the child to  practise his or her English.

Niu Yu says his nine-year-old daughter  had not spoken to a foreigner before meeting this reporter recently at an English-language contest in Beijing. Little Niu Yangjun, from the small city of Fuyang in Anhui province,  speaks  English well.

Mr Niu says he encouraged his daughter to start learning English as a toddler and that she needed little prodding.  The fourth grader has  already surpassed her dad, a primary-school English teacher, who turns to her for help  while speaking.

Pu Chen, who calls himself Arren, rode 35 hours from his native Chengdu, in southwestern Sichuan province, to take part in the contest. He says he learned English with a local college student, and visited a weekly English corner in his home town. Arren, 12, explains in an American accent that he likes the sound of English.

'The world is developing so rapidly and English is becoming more important,' he says, sounding like an adult. 'If you can't speak English, it's like  you're deaf and dumb.'



Saying it loud