“As China-Africa friendship grows, more and more Africans have started to learn the Chinese language, which has become the trend among local young people. The Chinese language has connected Chinese and African people, especially the youngsters.” Even though losing the chance of winning the 17th “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students, Ding Jiaming, who comes from Nigeria, was not upset. He said that he would share what he has seen and heard in China with his friends after returning to his country, igniting more Africans’ interest to understand China.
In recent years, with the in-depth development of China-Africa relations, especially the deepening exchanges and cooperation in economy, trade, education, and culture, the “Chinese craze” is sweeping across Africa, a promising continent tens of thousands of miles away from China. Up to May 2018, 54 Confucius Institutes and 30 Confucius Classrooms have been established in 41 countries in Africa, with a total of more than 1.4 million students.
Many African college students have come to understand Chinese culture by learning the Chinese language. Ding Jiaming, a junior majoring in education at Nnamdi Azikewe University in Nigeria, is one of them.
“The reason why I learn the Chinese language is that I want to be an ambassador and promote diversified cooperation in various fields between China and Africa.” Ding Jiaming, who had passed HSK level V, said that his “secret” of learning the Chinese language is to practice. He has always carried a notebook with him to write down new vocabularies. Every morning, he will also spend two hours reading Chinese because "the brain can better receive new information in the morning."
With a solid Chinese proficiency and authentic pronunciation, Ding Jiaming made it to the final of the 17th "Chinese Bridge" Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students and became the champion of the competition in Africa Group.
During his learning of the Chinese language, the 21-year-old also learned how to use WeChat. He shared the Beijing roast duck, crayfish, the Great Wall and Fuxing bullet trains in the WeChat Moments. “All my relatives and friends could see a modern and civilized ancient country that is sincere to African people though my pictures.” Ding Jiaming said.
Deng Ken, who comes from Ghana, can perform Bian Lian and cross talks, and he also likes Chinese poetry. He often performs for Chinese companies in Ghana for free.
Deng Ken told the journalist that he hopes to communicate with the Chinese people without language barrier and help Ghanaian people do business with Chinese people.
“Benefited from the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, people in Ghana who speak fluent Chinese could find plenty of job opportunities offered by many Chinese investors and Chinese-funded enterprises.” Deng Ken said that Chinese companies have built many large-scale infrastructure projects in the local area, and those local people who have mastered the Chinese language will have the edge over others in securing a job.
The Egyptian girl Mai Lena, born in 1996, is good at Chinese calligraphy and likes Chinese movies. After the college entrance examination, she chose to learn the Chinese language without any hesitation.
Mai Lena said that she wants to be a Chinese teacher to share the knowledge she has learned in Egypt and China with more people, helping the children of Egypt to understand the beauty of China and cultivating their interest in learning the Chinese language.
“We have an Egyptian-Chinese friendship school. I hope that China could build such a school to provide access for Egyptian children to understand China and inject new blood into the China-Egypt friendship in the future." Mai Lena expressed that it is the fruitful outcomes of China-Africa cooperation in various fields that drive the “Chinese craze” in Africa. She believed that with the exchanges, mutual learning and common development between China and Africa, more African people will speak Chinese in the future. (cited from Confucius Institute Headquarters, source: chinanews.com, Story by Tang Xiaoqing)
