Book for officials on foreign language learning published

A book designed to teach Chinese officials basic language skills useful for diplomatic occasions was released in Beijing Saturday. The book, compiled under the proposal of former president Jiang Zemin, contains a brief introduction about China and language use in Chinese and nine other languages. Jiang wrote its foreword. Officials could better learn from the world and let the world better understand China if they speak a foreign language, according to Jiang. Jiang said he felt himself that "direct verbal communication," even if it is about the simplest things, would achieve a better result than "indirect verbal communication," referring to use of translators. He asked officials to set an example in language learning and told them to be persistent.