Cuban students eager to learn Chinese to widen their horizons

HAVANA－Samuel Zayas, a 12-year-old secondary school student from the Plaza de la Revolucion district in Havana, is happy to start learning Chinese as an optional subject at school.

He is among nearly 130 seventh-graders from Fructuoso Rodriguez secondary school who will benefit from Chinese classes during the new academic year.

"I am opening doors for my future," he says. "China is a very important economic power in the international arena. Learning Chinese will be difficult in the very beginning, but I feel I have made a wise decision."

Marcelo Rodriguez, 12, says that the course will help him better interact with the world of technology and get insights into the impressive achievements of China over the past four decades.

"If I travel to China, I will be able to communicate with native speakers," he says. "No one knows what the future holds for me."

For the first time in this Caribbean nation, the Cuban Ministry of Education recently introduced a Chinese language course into secondary education.

Chinese Ambassador to Cuba Ma Hui says the two countries have taken a significant step to develop their relations through culture and education.

"Learning a foreign language is very important," he said at the opening ceremony of the course. "I am fully convinced that knowing about Chinese culture and language will bring many opportunities for students in the future."

The Chinese embassy in Cuba has provided the school with textbooks, dictionaries, handbooks, and traditional toys to be used as teaching aids during the Chinese language lessons.

School principal Carlos Camejo voices confidence in the success of the course, saying more educational centers across the country would join the initiative in the coming years.

"China and Cuba have a solid brotherhood. I do not doubt that Chinese language classes will be very positive for the intellectual development of our students," he says.

Over the past few years, the interest in studying Chinese has grown in Cuba as Cuba-China relations continued to strengthen.

Chinese language teacher Hou Jiaqi, 26, says that she feels honored to be working in Cuba as part of a new professional experience.

"I hope that my pupils can eventually become proficient speakers of Chinese and this course can continue to pave the way toward enhancing the bonds between China and Cuba," she says.

Xinhua