STORY: Zimbabwean students find passion in learning Chinese
DATELINE: Aug. 1, 2023
LENGTH: 00:03:19
LOCATION: Harare
CATEGORY: SOCIETY
 
SHOTLIST:
1. various of a student at a one-on-one learning session and a student reading from a textbook
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): TANATSWA TIZIRAYI, Chinese language student
3. various of students in class
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): TANATSWA TIZIRAYI, Chinese language student
5. various of students and teacher in class
6. SOUNDBITE 3 (English): LINDA ZIMHINDO, Teacher
7. various of student in the class corridor
 
STORYLINE:
 
Learning to read and write Chinese characters can be a daunting endeavor, but 19-year-old Tanatswa Tizirayi is in for the challenge. Motivation and attitude make him a distinguished learner.
 
He said his goal is to become a translator.
 
SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): TANATSWA TIZIRAYI, Chinese language student
"The reason why I want to learn Chinese well is because many Chinese business people come to Zimbabwe to invest, so if I can improve my Chinese proficiency, I will have many career opportunities. I want to become a translater."
 
He is a student at Zimgro Language Center in Harare. After learning Chinese for only 11 months, his grasp of the language is remarkable. The enthusiastic learner says the magic trick is on practicing every day.
 
As China's economic and cultural reach grows globally, the Chinese language is finding interest across oceans. But Tizirayi acknowledges that learning the language is not a walk in the park.
 
SOUNDBITE 2 (English): TANATSWA TIZIRAYI, Chinese language student
"The aspects of Chinese that are most difficult are grammar, writing characters. It is hard to recognize characters if you are not practising them. Characters are difficult, but I practice them each and every time, writing them three times. I will recognize it when I am reading, and most of the characters, I use them in conversations so that I will get used to those characters."
 
While English learners only need to deal with 26 alphabetical letters, Chinese learners need to master thousands of characters composed of many strokes to be able to read and write, Tizirayi said.
 
He does not see the learning process as a challenge. He said the pictographic background of some Chinese characters that have evolved over the course of thousands of years makes the characters fun to write.
 
One of his teachers, Linda Zimhindo, is proud of her student. She said learning Chinese widens one's horizons.
 
SOUNDBITE 3 (English): LINDA ZIMHINDO, Teacher
"The number of people who are learning Chinese in Zimbabwe is increasing on a daily basis. This is due to the fact that when one is in command of this language, employment opportunities are so many, considering that most of the investors in Zimbabwe are Chinese."
 
According to the Zimbabwe Investment Development Agency (Zida), China was the leading source of foreign investment for Zimbabwe in the first quarter of 2023, with the majority of China's investments being in the lithium sector followed by the manufacturing sector.
With the increased economic engagement between Zimbabwe and China, which has seen more young people choosing China as the preferred study destination, the popularity of Chinese among Zimbabwean students will likely continue to grow.
 
Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Harare.
(XHTV)