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Hurdling language barriers

(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-09-05 09:56

For many people, studying Chinese is nothing more than a mild flirtation, but for others it is the Holy Grail, their very reason for being in China.

I'd like to say a foreigner's interest in learning Chinese stems from a deep-seated desire to understand China's ancient and mysterious culture but, frankly, the motivation is often more pragmatic. The temptation to cash in on this booming economy is irresistible. Learn the lingo and the world is your oyster.

Call it what you will, more foreigners are learning Chinese than ever before, many of us burying our heads in textbooks and homework for the first time in decades.

As growth industries go, it is a phenomenon. Only 20 years ago, less than 8,000 foreigners studied Chinese in this country. By the turn of the century it was up to 50,000. By 2004 it was 86,000, and the government estimated then that the number would be 120,000 by the time of the Olympics. Talk about an opening-up. This is a deluge.

If that isn't impressive enough, include the rest of the world in the picture. Even 10 years ago, it was estimated nearly 100 million people around the world were studying Chinese and about 100 countries were offering Chinese courses in various educational institutions. One result of this growing demand was a dire shortage of Chinese teachers and urgent requests to this country to send out more.

The burgeoning growth statistics are borne out by Zhao Changzheng, who has taught Mandarin at Peking University for seven years.

"When I came here we only had 300 foreign students learning Chinese," he says. "Now it's around 500-600 and we could have many more if we wanted.

"The university is keen to expand the department to 1,000 new foreign students each semester but we don't have enough room in the classes and dorms. Soon we will have a new building for foreign students and then the number learning Chinese will be as high as 2,000 each semester."

The geographical breakdown has also changed. "Ten years ago, it was just called the Chinese International College for Language Study and we mostly had Japanese and South Koreans," says Zhao. "In the last 4-5 years we've experienced such an surge of interest from the US that Americans are our biggest group, about 40 percent of all foreigners."

The benefit to the university has been more than merely financial. "Years ago, when we didn't have many applications to our department, we had no choice who we took," he continues.

"Many of the students from South Korea weren't that interested and weren't very good students. Now we have a big pool of students to choose from. We are able to select only the best ones and we have noticed their attitude to be getting better and better."

Chinese teacher Zhao Changzheng (front, second from left) with his students from all over the world. Courtesy of Zhao Changzheng

Courses last one semester, though students can apply to stay on longer. At the start of each semester, students are tested on their oral Chinese and put into the 34 classes, each with around 15 students, according to their results. There are also 34 parallel classes in vocabulary, grammar and script.

It may come as a surprise, but studying Chinese characters is a compulsory component of the program. For Zhao, this is essential. "If you don't study the characters you can't really know our language and our culture," he says. "The best students are also taught about Chinese society, culture, economics and law, and we find they are very interested in these extra subjects."

The rewards are mutual. "I am their teacher but also their student too, sometimes. Just as it is a culture shock for students coming here from Europe and America, so it is for us at the university. The students tell me things I never knew and I learn from them all the time, so life is much more interesting."

While Zhao is reluctant to guesstimate how well students can expect to speak after just one semester, he says the sky is the limit.

"We once had a student who spent one year in China - 6 months with us and 6 months in Shanghai - and at the end of the year he spoke Chinese very, very well," he says.

Usually, though, he reckons you'd need to study full-time for 2-3 years before you are likely to speak with any fluency.

If students need to work hard to achieve their dreams, the same is true for 110-year-old Peking University, which is constantly reviewing its course structures to cater to the ever-changing student roll.

"Having so many Americans and Europeans here spreads the word about Peking University around the world," says Zhao.

"This is already the best university in China but we want more. We want to be the best, most famous university in the world. That has been our dream for a long time."

"Bah, humbug!" I thought. Then I surfed the Net and discovered the Times Higher Education Supplement, published in London, rated Peking University the best in Asia in 2006 and the 14th best in the world. Maybe it isn't an impossible dream.