A Chinese teacher at Kasama girls’ secondary school has expressed happiness with the improvement shown by pupils in learning the Chinese language.
Dai Po a teacher of Chinese language said that he has about five classes made up of 60 pupils each of whom he is teaching Chinese as a foreign language.
Mr. Po revealed that he started teaching the Chinese language at Kasama girls’ secondary school about a year ago.
ZANIS reports that the Chinese language teacher was speaking in an interview in Kasama District, today.
He said that he is overwhelmed with the positive response that the pupils have shown in the recent months.
Mr. Po added that so far majority of his pupils are able to not only converse but write in Chinese language.
He further encouraged Zambian pupils to take the Chinese language seriously as it is likely to benefit them in future when the need for bursaries to study in china arises.
Government has introduced Chinese language as a subject in certain schools around the country in order to equip pupils who would prefer to study in China in the near future with communication skills.
Currently, Zambian students studying in China are required to undergo a mandatory one-year orientation programme of Chinese language before commencing their planned studies.
Am tempted to use the low level areas of my brain and say this is colonialism reloaded, but I think it is a good thing for the girls and am envious and good to see government introduced Chinese in our schools. China is big and cannot be ignored.
My Greatest regret as a school going child is not having learnt French , German and Portuguese..it is hard to do deals with these people if you can’t speak their language. I wish I had learnt these language when my your brain was tolerant to gibberish or diatribe
Learning the Imperialist’s Language!!
@ Nubian Princess nothing out of the ordinary as it also starts at local level when tribes learn each others’ to encourage ease of mingling and understanding then the net is cast wider. China has increasingly become a giant world economic power thus there are advantages in learning its language as an alternative to one that has dominated Zambia both as the official language and business medium which has not given tangible gains since breaking the colonial chains. Actually it would be in the long run beneficial if Zambia encouraged learning of Afrikaans, Arabic, Dutch, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Pidgin, Portuguese, Spanish, Swahili and, Russian at its doorstep as opportunities would accrue in a world that is now one global village.
Yeah!
China is great!
Britain is great!
Russia is great!
France is great!
German is great!
….and we get to learn their languages.
I say
Solwezi is great!
Mongu is great!
Mosi-oa-tunya is great!
Mansa is great!
….but darn it we don’t want to learn our languages.
How ridiculous!
Every time learning our languages is brought up, some phony excuses are used. These countries did not garner the perception of greatness by being envious of other people’s cultures, but appreciating building their own!
China did not start offering bursaries by adopting other people’s languages…..
Kugona nikuzingwa!
Galamukani!
I fully agree with you!!
These are things i also thought were stupid and was blinded by the fact that learning more languages just merely widens your opportunity base! It’s only when i started seeing Accounting jobs which cited languages like Spanish, French and Russian as ‘added advantages’ in the press!! That said, i’m still going to learn at least three!! It’s never too late!!
I can say the same with pumping knowledge in our children today on how to do ‘Hands on jobs’… So, that by the time they are done with University, they won’t stand with Placards at a roundabout!! We must start doing these things to them while they are still young and fresh!!
@Bootlicker
You’re absolutely spot on and I can identify with you with those regrets. I think we were not given the options to choose the subjects (at least in my case), when you make it to Grade 8/10, the system (school) would enroll/register courses on your behalf. When you report, you are told you were to go in 8A, or 10B and take subjected offered in that class. We literary had no input or say in choosing the courses.
This is good news. The half Chinese kids who are now littering the streets will be able to communicate in their father tongue.
Our little brothers and sisters are learning local languages as well. Them Knowing Chinese is great, they shall be our ambassadors and business fronts to China and the world. People above at times it’s great to perceive outside the box and not to merely talk. Greatness awaits.
Given that there are many varieties of Chinese language, the article does not say which variety is being taught at Kasama girls Sec school. We should not just assume its Mandarin (spoken by a higher % of the population). What if other varieties like Hakka or Min nam are jostling for space for recognition internationally, especially Africa, and we are being used as guinea pigs?
So, assume nothing, check everything.
you makke a valid point,but im sure its mandarin i read an article about it sometime back
this is great news considering china is the 2nd largest economy in the world and this will a better advantage if you want to be a global business person , learning about ones language is also about learning about there culture as when we have future business deals with china business it will be more transparent
ps: top class schools in england and america already teach chinese
i personally know Japanese and french along with my cherished zambian languages
Now scholarships to china should be mainly eligible for these kids who studied chinese and not relatives of government officials who go and waste time in China, leaving China back to Zambia with 2 words, ni hao and xiexie after a 5 year tenure…I do regret not learning French and Spanish as today i’m surrounded by speakers of these languages and i’m usually left with my mouth open. This is good for business and culture integration, Chinese people respect individuals who speak their language, hopefully these kids get the respect they deserve. All the best. The world is changing, we need to keep up.
i wish the pupils will be excited learning Zambian languages than learning Chinese though it is good to learn Chinese too. but what bothers me is that most Zambians especially from Lusaka and Copperbelt would not be enthusiastic to learn other Zambian languages other than Nyanja and Bemba. yet they are excited to learn Chinese. it is time Zambians got excited learning Lozi, Tonga, Soli, Lamba, Lunda, Kaonde, Chokwe, Nkoya and Luvale etc in the same way they get excited learning non Zambian languages
Eh EH???
Imwe, Mandarin is Widely spoken in CHina, followed by Cantonese!!
You can’t ignore China
You still want to remain stuck in Zambia with PF leading things and continue this mediocre living all for the sake of National Pride???
I say i want to learn what they Chinese are doing!!!! Thinking Globally!
If i learn Kaonde, i will just be listening to ‘News in Local languages’….