Learning English the new rage

It is 6.30pm in Beijing. Thousands and thousands of office workers are jamming buses and underground tubes, rushing home after a day’s work as evening darkens into a chilly, wintry night. Not for Helen Ming, though.  

Helen, 28, unlike her colleagues, is locked in a lively discussion in a small classroom, trying her best to learn from the English teacher who speaks with a heavy American accent.