LONDON (Reuters) - Visitors to the Olympic Games (news - web sites) in Beijing in 2008 might be forgiven for thinking they have turned up in the wrong city as a London taxi driver has been recruited to teach the Chinese idiomatic English.

Cabbie Tony Arnold was hired by Pearson Broadband to drive two winners of a television competition 11,000 miles from the Chinese capital to London, combining a televised travelogue with English lessons in the back of his taxi.

"There will be 13 episodes. This is part of a drive by the Chinese to teach their population English ahead of the Olympic games," spokeswoman Rebecca Seymour told Reuters.

On the trip the trio drove through China, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium and France as Arnold taught his pupils a selection of some of the choice phrases for which London cabbies are renowned.

"He taught them phrases such as 'you look a million dollars, doll', 'It's not my cup of tea', and 'I don't know you from Adam'," Seymour said -- all of which might make for an interesting welcome at hotels and restaurants across China.

source: yahoo! news

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