In the past decade, the learning of English in Taiwan has been fast becoming a national sport. There has been an increasing demand for English-proficient citizens both in the public and private sectors, and the craze with English-learning was given an added incentive with the government’s announcement in 2004 that all government employees seeking promotion will be awarded extra credit if they can demonstrate English proficiency at a specified level. This paper provides a comprehensive survey of the status quo of English language education on the island. Critical issues at different stages of English learning are identified and discussed, including, for instance, the heterogeneity of students’ proficiency of English as well as the lack of qualified teachers at eh primary level, the bipolar distribution of junior high graduates’ English scores on the Basic Competence Test, and the imposition of an exit requirement on college graduates’ English language proficiency. In view of the issues discussed in the paper, it is apparent the ELT scholars and researchers in Taiwan must shoulder greater responsibility in order to help the government resolve these thorny issues.