Who's afraid of an alien tongue?

Some days back a leading London paper carried a preview of the preparations Beijing has made for the Olympics. I have no problem with the comments about Beijing or the Chinese - good and bad - the writer makes. After all, everyone sees in a country what he or she wants to see.

But I'd like to make a point or two about one of his complaints. He is frustrated that the Chinese haven't done enough to learn English. He actually makes fun of the kind of English he encountered on drives around the city. This, he moans, is sure to make things difficult for foreigners coming to Beijing for the Games.

No great revelation that. Everyone knows the language barrier is one of the big challenges on travels to other shores. Everyone also knows that learning foreign languages can both be a practical advantage and an intellectual joy.