English-language teaching professionals know that the place to be right now is China. NHK's documentary program, "Chikyu Dramatic" ("Dramatic Earth") (NHK-E, Wednesday, 7 p.m.), looks at English-learning in the world's most populous country, particularly during its orgy of internationalization leading up to last summer's Beijing Olympics.
The show zeroes in on a few colorful examples, including an 11-year-old girl who joins a retreat full of adults taking a course in "Crazy English" that's run as if it were a military boot camp. The regimen is punishing for everyone, and it's not clear if this little girl will be able to make it to the end.
There's also a profile of a taxi driver who studied to take an English test. The Beijing authorities proclaimed that city cab drivers who hadn't mastered basic English conversation would not be able to operate during the Olympics. This one cabbie, who spoke no English before, studies with the help of a radio program.