Beijing, China (CNN) -- One of my first jobs in China was teaching English through songs on CCTV, China's national television station. That was in 1979, when the People's Republic was just coming out of the tumultuous Cultural Revolution. Ordinary Chinese still wore drab Mao tunics, and top officials debated whether the foreign cultural influences seeping into China were "spiritual pollution." Still, the CCTV station producers wanted to use national television to popularize English language, and they wanted a light program. I was recruited to join a group of amateur musicians to produce "Let's Sing," a series of 30-minute specials to complement its weekly program, English on Sunday. Along with three Chinese performers, I would strum my guitar and sing English songs, including "Clementine", "Puff, The Magic Dragon" and "El Condor Pasa." Viewers learned new words, grammar and syntax as they learned the songs.
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In 1979, CCTV producers sought to use national television to popularize English
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Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind" was among vetoed songs
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English had been virtually taboo when FlorCruz first arrived in China in 1971
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Rush to learn English has created a shortage of good English teachers
Until the launch of 'English on Sunday,' I did not have the opportunity to watch people speaking English without any @placeholder translation."