THERE is a saying ‘time changes and
we change with time’. This is becoming real in the Northern Zone as
people embark to learn a new foreign language.
After finding it common to learn English
as the only foreign language, there is something new in town: Chinese
language that keeps attracting youth as well as old people in their
quest to increase knowledge.
Chinese language lessons are becoming
increasingly popular in the Northern Zone as various people seek to tap
opportunities in tourism and business. The lessons are being conducted
at Majengo Secondary School, Tanzania Police School and Moshi
Co-operative University. Chinese language teacher, Ms Monica Long
Guizhen is heartened by public response in learning the language.
“With the increasing number of students,
more volunteers are expected to come here in the future. Chinese
short-term course has six levels altogether and each level lasts for
about three months,” Guizhen said.
So far, there are 50 students at the
Cooperative University, 24 at the Tanzania Police School and 60 at
Majengo Secondary School. On Sunday, February 21, the HSK level 1 Test
will be held at the Cooperative University for the first time.
Eighteen students have registered for
the test. There was much enthusiasm at the university’s Nyerere Hall on
February 5, this year, where the Chinese New Year celebrations were
held, and attended by more than 300 people.
The lessons are run under the Confucius
Institute that was established in 2004. Currently, 500 Confucius
Institutes have been established aimed at teaching Chinese and cultural
exchange in 134 countries. Guizhen says teaching Chinese in Kilimanjaro
Region will help boost the tourism industry by attracting Chinese
tourists.
“More and more Chinese companies and
businessmen come here, the demand of Chinese language teaching is
increasing. A manager of one Chinese companies in Moshi once told me
that if graduates can speak Chinese, he would pay them competitive
salaries,” she said. She initiated the classes in December 2015, at the
Cooperative University.
“It’s imperative for Tanzanians to
enroll in such classes because they can interact with Chinese in that
country if they go for business or other activities. “This is official,
there is Chinese Proficiency Test, this is an international standardized
examination organized by the Confucius Institute Headquarters in China,
a certificate is also issued by it.
After that students can apply for many
kinds of scholarship for studying in China,” she noted. Chinese
language has many dialects, but what is taught at Moshi is Mandarin, the
common speech or standard Chinese. “Chinese language is different from
English and Kiswahili, difficult but worth to learn,” Guizhen adds. “I
also learn Kiswahili. I try my best to do that.
I also like Kiswahili, and what is more,
it’s more convenient to communicate with students and local people, and
that helps me to know more about Tanzanian culture.” Why the festival?
Chinese Spring Festival is the most
important festival for the Chinese people and it brings together family
members like Christmas in the West. The Spring Festival falls on the 1st
day of the 1st Lunar Month. Many customs accompany the Spring Festival
that has a long history of more than 4,000 years in China.
Moshi Cooperative University
Vice-Chancellor, Prof Faustine Bee, says his institution would continue
to collaborate with the Confucius Centre and build good global citizens.
He says that in future the university
would establish a degree course in tourism and invite students from
within and outside the country, and that will see many tourists coming
from China as well. He is of the view that it is easy to prosper
economically by learning Chinese as one could easily access the Chinese
market.
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