The Charm of Chinese
Confucius Institute opens a world of opportunities for foreign students of Chinese language
In Cameroon, Confucius Institute has built cooperative relationships with many local Chinese enterprises to help excellent students get internship opportunities and be employed in these enterprises.
Yu Guoyang, Chinese Director of the Confucius Institute at University of Yaounde II, Cameroon
When Amadou Thera stepped on the stage and
started live webcasting from the Kunming International Convention and Exhibition Center, he immediately caught the attention of Chinese and foreign visitors alike, who were all eyes and hears for the young man.
The 26-year-old university student from Mali was one of the four hosts of a webcasting program aimed at covering the 11th Global Confucius Institute Conference, which was held on December 10-11, in southwest China’s Yunnan Province. The annual conference is organized by Confucius Institute Headquarters, a Chinese public institution committed to promoting Chinese language worldwide. More than 2,200 delegates attended the conference, including university presidents and representatives of Confucius Institutes from 140 countries and regions.
Apart from the Malian’s friendly demeanor, what really charmed the Chinese audience - which burst into applause many times during his presentation - was his almost perfect mastery of the Chinese language. For that, Thera can thank the Confucius Institute in his home country, where he first started to learn Chinese some 10 years ago.
Fruitful achievements
Thera’s China dream started in 2006, when the then 16-year-old boy enrolled in his first Chinese language class at Lycée Askia Mohamed in Mali’s capital Bamako.
In 2010, Thera’s adventure in China continued when the young man was offered a Confucius Institute Scholarship to study Chinese linguistics at Southwest Forestry University in Kunming. Nowadays, more and more people in Africa are following in Thera’s footsteps and learning Chinese at Confucius Institutes around the world.
In Southern Africa’s Zambia, the University of Zambia-based Confucius Institute has met with resounding success and was awarded two honors last year: the 2016 Advanced Confucius Institute and the Global Demonstration Confucius Institute.
“These two honors are recognition of our efforts. Currently, Chinese teaching has been rolled out in more than 10 provinces across Zambia. Chinese language has been fully introduced into our national education system,” Luke Evuta Mumba, President of University of Zambia, told ChinAfrica.
In view of this success, the Confucius Institute has been looking to extent its activities and has set up teaching sites in two of Zambia’s well-known public universities - Copperbelt University and Mulungushi University.
“Zambia’s education authority has just approved the Chinese syllabus. Chinese is very popular in our country. There are 19 Chinese teaching schools in Zambia,” said Sande Ngalande, Zambian Director of the Confucius Institute at University of Zambia. “Chinese has gained popularity in Zambian primary schools. The country’s secondary schools require all students to learn a foreign language, either French or Portuguese, and now Chinese has also been added.”
Thousands of kilometers from Zambia, in Cameroon, a similar enthusiasm for Chinese language is also visible. The Confucius Institute at University of Yaounde II was established in 2007, and has been growing rapidly since then. As of November 2016, the institute had taught more than 13,000 students over the years.
“Chinese is very popular in Cameroon. Public high schools in Cameroon have included Chinese language education into their national education curriculum. A total of 80 secondary schools in Cameroon have opened Chinese classes,” said Yu Guoyang, Chinese Director of the local Confucius Institute.
According to statistics from Confucius Institute Headquarters, China had established 511 Confucius Institutes and opened 1,073 Confucius Classrooms in 140 countries as of 2016, benefiting a cumulative total of 2.1 million students worldwide. In 2016 alone, more than 240 Confucius Institutes in 78 countries provided courses on Chinese culture, such as Chinese traditional medicine and taijiquan, to 350,000 enrolled students.
COURTESY PHOTOS
Preliminary rounds of the “Chinese Bridge” competition are held around the world, like here in Zambia
The HSK (Chinese language proficiency test for foreigners) test being held in Cameroon
Promoting localization
Ru Yi, from Hungary, was the first non-Chinese teacher hired by a Confucius Institute in Europe. Her interest in Chinese language and culture goes back to her childhood and led her to participate twice in the “Chinese Bridge” competition organized by the Confucius Institute Headquarters.
Nowadays, Confucius Institutes are more and more relying on local teachers around the world. Only in Cameroon, there are more than 100 local teachers proficient in Chinese working in the field of Chinese language teaching. “Enhancing the development of local teachers is important to promote mutual understanding among different cultures,” Yu said.
Li Qingjun, Chinese Director of the Confucius Institute at University of Zambia, said that localization of textbooks is another important aspect of their successful integration.
“The Confucius Institute Headquarters encourage countries to publish Chinese teaching textbooks adapted to local conditions. For example, Zambia is known for its famous Victoria Falls, and so we are compiling a Chinese textbook on tourism in Zambia which will include the Victoria Falls,” Li said.
In view of Londoners’ interest in Chinese Kunqu Opera - one of China’s most popular operas - the Confucius Institute in London held Kunqu Opera performances and related lectures throughout October 2015. The institute invited the famous opera performer Wang Fang and an English expert who had worked in the Suzhou Kunqu Opera Academy to explain Kunqu culture. This kind of activities made it easier for Londoners to understand Kunqu culture.
Always improving
Going forward, Confucius Institutes will continue to develop and improve themselves by using their unique advantages, according to Yu. One of them is improved employment prospects for their students. Indeed, students’ enthusiasm for Chinese language is not purely cultural, but partly owes to the fact that mastery of the Chinese language can pave the way for better employment opportunities, said Yu.
With the high demand for students with good Chinese proficiency, the Confucius Institute in Cameroon has acted to promote students’ employment. “In Cameroon, the Confucius Institute at University of Yaounde II has built cooperative relationships with many local Chinese enterprises to help excellent students get internship opportunities and be employed in these enterprises,” Yu told ChinAfrica.
Another promising area for further development of the Confucius Institute are the joint degree programs between Chinese and foreign universities.
“The Chinese Language Department of the University of Zambia has set up a ‘2 + 2’ program, which allows students to study Chinese for two years at the University of Zambia and then go to China to study Chinese for another two years,” said Li. Many of the students find a job in Chinese language teaching upon returning in Zambia, where more and more students are studying for the HSK, the Chinese language proficiency test for foreigners.
“Confucius Institute is a window of China’s education reform and opening up. With 12 years of development, it now enters a new era,” said Hao Ping, then Vice Minister of Ministry of Education of China, at the closing ceremony of the 11th Global Confucius Institute Conference. “Confucius Institutes will further promote two-way communications between Chinese and foreign cultures.” CA
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