The International English Network (IEN) center, the first English language training center in northeast China, under the cooperation of China and a foreign country, opened in Shenyang Sunday.
The center, with the support of Australian-based IEN, will launch programs on English communication, English for academic purposes, business English, test-oriented English and training programs for local English teachers.
It will help managerial personnel working in local high-tech industries and those who are to study abroad to improve their English, and thus pass related exams such as TOEFL (test of English as a foreign language), a necessary English level test for Chinese to apply to study abroad.
IEN, composed of well-known universities and institutes overseas, has so far cooperated with China in intensifying the country's English teaching in over 30 higher-educational institutions in more than 10 provinces, municipalities and cities including Fujian, Shanghai, Qingdao, Hangzhou and Nanjing.
(Xinhua 02/11/2001)