Zim Must Learn Chinese

By Sifelani Tsiko
Harare

FOR a long time as Zimbabweans we had become accustomed to thinking that speaking and writing English was sufficient for all our needs.

This had also crippled us into believing that we could not learn any other language besides English. Early this year, talk about plans to introduce Chinese into the country's education system was met with resistance. I was also sceptical about learning Chinese, joining the bandwagon of people with a stunted view of the world. But travelling is seeing. When I was in Beijing recently, I realised the importance of learning a foreign language. I was mistaken to think that English as influential as it was, is spoken in every corner of the world. In Beijing, the Chinese speak in their native tongue. My failure to understand Chinese created barriers.

I couldn't enjoy the experience of being in China until I met a young Zimbabwean who was fluent in Chinese. Her language skills made a difference for me and made my stay in Beijing enjoyable. Linguists say a traveller who knows the language of the country not only has an easier time solving everyday problems associated with travel, but also has a more pleasant experience and greater understanding both of the people of a foreign country and their culture.

During my stay in Beijing, I realised that many business, political and educational leaders are belatedly realising that the whole world does not speak English. Whilst critics in Zimbabwe deride policies aimed at promoting the learning of Chinese, their Western counterparts -- the owners of the same English we boast about -- are busy opening up universities and other institutions to promote the learning of and understanding of Chinese culture.

Western universities are fighting for the Chinese educational market, to help prepare their own people as well as Chinese students for a role in a multilingual global society. Zimbabweans must be encouraged to learn Chinese, not by making it compulsory, but by communicating the benefits that go with it. Zimbabweans do not live in isolation.

They have to take their rightful place in this ever-changing interdependent w orld in which diverse cultural and linguistic groups converge. The Chinese prefer to converse, to do business and to negotiate in their native tongue. And by learning Chinese, Zimbabweans can develop the tools for dealing with various types of survival challenges, technical skills, interpersonal exchanges and to clinch better business deals with their counterparts.

It also leads to an expanded awareness of the need to conduct not only business, but also diplomatic relations in the language of the host country. Growing joint university programmes between Chinese and Western institutions combine global and local approaches to learning, something that if adopted here can help open up opportunities for young Zimbabweans who are increasingly becoming mobile. There is a growing desire among the young generation to travel abroad and learning Chinese can help them prepare for future opportunities.

Western countries are "looking East" in a big way as a result of increased activities in international business and the inflow of huge amounts of foreign capital into China. In the United States, there is a new foreign language policy that has now seen the Chinese language being taught at primary, high school and university level. It aims to prepare students to take up business opportunities in one of the world's fastest growing economies. The Americans now see sense in learning Chinese after years of mistrust and a stunted anti-communist world view.

Zimbabwe must also take up the challenge to promote joint university programmes between itself and China to prepare our young scholars for the future. Given the giant economic strides registered in China, there is no doubt that this giant Asian country will continue to play a prominent role in world affairs. This role demands that Zimbabweans be able to understand the language and culture of the Chinese to promote business and other bilateral relations. Learning a foreign language, of course, takes time and shoul d be started at an early stage.

And moves by Old Windsor Primary School to introduce Chinese are laudable and can open the doors for young Zimbabweans to the future. We should not discourage but interest students about learning Chinese in much the same way as we interest them to learn English, French, Afrikaans, Spanish and Portuguese. Learning foreign languages will also help to build our corps of foreign language translators and interpreters.

Other students can even open up language translation businesses in future. China is prepared to fund programmes that promote the learning of Chinese. Conversely, China is also benefiting from a small but growing army of Zimbabwean English language teachers who are going to China to teach English at a number of institutions in the giant Asian nation. These Zimbabweans are now mastering Chinese while at the same time using their skills to teach the English language to the Chinese. And, I believe every language Zimbabweans master will en hance their enjoyment and reduce their frustration and isolation as they travel around

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright © 2006 The Herald. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------