Can taxi driver speak English in Beijing?

in a word NO, no english,

learn where you want to go ahead of time and memorise it, or have it written down.

nope , you'd better write the place down where you want to go. or point on the map

yes, some drivers know english ,but not standard,you need have a map

The best thing to do is to have the address written(better on a map) because the 99% of them cannot speak English even though they had to learn it for the Olimpycs..Lol

no. they normally don't speak english,so u need have the address written in chinese...

i used google map on my phone.... input chinese or english address, then it gives driving instructions in chinese.  can also check if taxi driver is ripping u off!!!  feels safer for me!

If the taxi drivers speak English that should rase teh taxi fare no???

Imagine a Chinese who will go to Canada or the States and asks if the taxi drivers speak Chinese hehehe

Drivers can't speak English.  What i have been doing is give them the address to where I am going written in Chinese.  It would also be helpful if you know how to say Left, Right, Turn around, there, U-turn in Chinese should you find yourself in a situation where you need to give the driver an instruction..

Hanna

Use the subway system..very quick and cheap.

most of taxi driver dont speak english! .. hahai!!

some people i know basically calls the place they are going, hands the cell to the driver and have the people on the other end give the driver directions/locations etc.   
its actually really funny how expats deal with this none english speaking world

^^ sometimes that's what I did : I called a chinese friend who explain to the taxi driver where I want to go !

Sometimes I don't need cause my direction is too obvious and at this time, I try to "speak" chinese... Most of the taxi drivers are cool with foreigners, they propose you cigaretts, try to communicate even if they don't know english. but okay, sometimes, you pick the wrong taxi and the guy has a bored face and doesn't want to be kind...

telling them where you come from is the key of a good trip ^^

The other thing to remember is not only that they do not speak English they do not know the English names of the places.

One of the famous confusions is that the Hilton Hilton (forgetting the fact that there are now 4 Hiltons)in Chinese sounds like the way we would say Sheraton Hotel.