STORY: Learning Chinese best way to build cultural bridge, says Spanish student
SHOOTING TIME: Feb. 20, 2024
DATELINE: Feb. 22, 2024
LENGTH: 00:01:49
LOCATION: BARCELONA, Spain
CATEGORY: CULTURE

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Albert Estrada at the Confucius Institute of Barcelona
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Catalan): ALBERT ESTRADA, Student at the Confucius Institute of Barcelona
3. various of Albert Estrada at the Confucius Institute of Barcelona
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (Catalan): ALBERT ESTRADA, Student at the Confucius Institute of Barcelona
5. various of the Confucius Institute of Barcelona
6. SOUNDBITE 3 (Catalan): ALBERT ESTRADA, Student at the Confucius Institute of Barcelona

STORYLINE:

For Albert Estrada, a Chinese language learner in Barcelona, studying the language is one of the best ways to get closer to Chinese culture.

On his first trip to China in 2018, Estrada was intrigued by everything in the country, which is thousands of kilometers away from Spain.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Catalan): ALBERT ESTRADA, Student at the Confucius Institute of Barcelona
"When I got to China, I saw it was a different place. It fascinated me. It seemed a wonderful place. I found everything I saw interesting. The people treated me well. And when I got back from that trip to China, I began studying Chinese."

After the trip, Estrada set himself the goal of working and living in China and started to learn Chinese.

He has been studying at the Confucius Institute of Barcelona for five years.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Catalan): ALBERT ESTRADA, Student at the Confucius Institute of Barcelona
"I wouldn't say I speak Chinese right now. I would say I'm a student of Chinese, which is not the same thing. But what's true is that the last few times I've been to China, I have been able to get by without resorting to English. I've been able to live, to shop, to buy food and to talk to Chinese people."

The Confucius Institute in Barcelona offers Chinese language courses at 14 different levels, as well as the HSK exams, a standardized test for non-Chinese speakers to certify their Mandarin language skills.

Estrada is currently doing the fourth of the six-level HSK exams. He said that learning the Chinese language has helped him make a lot of Chinese friends. 

SOUNDBITE 3 (Catalan): ALBERT ESTRADA, Student at the Confucius Institute of Barcelona
"Breaking the language barrier is the first step, to make the effort to learn Chinese, and once they see that you are learning Chinese, they feel more relaxed with you and then it is easy to form a friendship with them."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Barcelona, Spain.
(XHTV)