STORY: More Saudi students learning Chinese language
SHOOTING TIME: Sept. 5 and 7, 2024
DATELINE: Sept. 11, 2024
LENGTH: 00:02:24
LOCATION: Riyadh
CATEGORY: EDUCATION

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the Chinese language classes
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): SHI XIAO, Chinese teacher
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): ZHANG XINYING, Chinese director of Confucius Institute at Prince Sultan University
4. various of the Chinese language classes
5. SOUNDBITE 3 (Arabic): TAIM MOHAMED EKREMA, Student at Al Waleed bin Ubadah Middle School
6. SOUNDBITE 4 (Arabic): GHRMALLH AL ZAHRANI, Director of Al Waleed bin Ubadah Middle School
7. SOUNDBITE 5 (English): YOUSEF AL SHAIKH, Student at Confucius Institute at Prince Sultan University

STORYLINE:

In 2023, China and Saudi Arabia reached an agreement to enhance cooperation in Chinese language education.

Following this agreement, Saudi education authorities incorporated Chinese language education into the curriculum of primary and secondary schools.

Starting in August, the first batch of 175 Chinese language teachers arrived in Saudi Arabia to kick off Chinese language education.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): SHI XIAO, Chinese teacher
"I am currently a Chinese teacher at a middle school in Riyadh. I'm deeply impressed by the students' enthusiasm when I arrive at the school. They would greet me with a warm 'Ni Hao' (Hello) and look at me with eyes full of eagerness to learn. I hope that through this semester's teaching, the children will fall in love with the Chinese language, Chinese culture, and China. In the long run, I also hope that through my own efforts and the efforts of all 175 Chinese teachers, we can promote cultural exchanges between China and Saudi Arabia."

SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): ZHANG XINYING, Chinese director of Confucius Institute at Prince Sultan University
"Since the Confucius Institute was inaugurated in June last year, it has witnessed the spread of Chinese language teaching and the Chinese culture in Saudi Arabia. The number of students is visibly increasing. For example, the total number of registered Chinese language students for this semester is three times that of the previous semester. And our curriculum has expanded from a single level to three levels."

SOUNDBITE 3 (Arabic): TAIM MOHAMED EKREMA, Student at Al Waleed bin Ubadah Middle School
"I like Chinese, and studying Chinese is a lot of fun.
China is a beautiful country.
Unfortunately, I haven't been to China yet, but I will go there for sure."

SOUNDBITE 4 (Arabic): GHRMALLH AL ZAHRANI, Director of Al Waleed bin Ubadah Middle School
"Chinese has become a global language, and people are eager to learn Chinese.
The desire of students and society to learn Chinese is increasing day by day.
The Saudi government and the Ministry of Education have attached great importance to Chinese education.
Therefore, Chinese courses have been included in the curriculum starting from the first year of middle school."

SOUNDBITE 5 (English): YOUSEF AL SHAIKH, Student at Confucius Institute at Prince Sultan University
"I'm learning Chinese to help me to (do) negotiation with the Chinese people, and to learn Chinese to improve myself. When you learn a new language, they open to you new information. And actually, the culture of China is amazing. I'm interested in it."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Riyadh.
(XHTV)