Chinese language changes South African students' lives

When Sanele Kervin Ntuli, a teacher of Chinese language at the Confucius Institute at Durban University of Technology in South Africa, received a letter from Chinese President Xi Jinping in August 2023, he could hardly believe it.

"When I was told that we had received the reply letter, I could not believe it. I thought it was a joke," he said. "We were very inspired by the letter, in which President Xi encouraged us to put more efforts to learn Chinese language and contribute to China-Africa friendship," Ntuli said.

The idea of writing a letter to President Xi came up earlier that year, as the institute was celebrating the 10th anniversary of its founding, he said. President Xi witnessed China and South Africa sign an agreement to jointly build the Confucius institute during his state visit to South Africa in March 2013.

"I was thinking my Chinese was good enough, and I wanted to write a letter to President Xi to show our appreciation for the decision to establish the institute, which has brought a lot of opportunities and changed the lives of many of us," Ntuli said.

wangxiaodong@chinadaily.com.cn