Brief review of the book.

 
Many people today study English, but for what?  Why?  Why?  Why?  They chase English with the voracity of locusts, and the single-mindedness of arctic lemmings.  The attrition rate, especially in the “lesser developed areas”, is very high.  Not everyone can capitalize on their English knowledge: only a few make it from Bole, Xinjiang all the way to Wuxi, Jiangsu and then to Shanghai so as to reap the linguistic (and financial) rewards; many are “pickled” for life as middle-school or primary-school English teachers; many fall through the cracks to jobs where the use of English is minimal; many lose their English language abilities altogether, and die linguistically.  Let’s face it: many people lose their English skills, the skills they bled and suffered for to attain. 
       By now it is obvious to you that this is first and foremost a “philosophy” book; it is not really a “how-to” book.  I say this because the central problem facing the learning of English in the People’s Republic of China today is a problem having to do with philosophy and attitudes.  This needs to be corrected.  To this end, I gave some answers—answers that followed a “reactive” format, answers that followed a “pro-active” format, as well as some other suggestions.  This is only a small thing; I do not claim to have all the answers!  Rather, we are left with questions, a “riddle inside a mystery inside an enigma”.