NZ Maori boy shares learning Chinese joy

WELLINGTON - Dressed in a traditional Chinese robe, Jimah Ruland-Umata, a 17-year-old New Zealand Maori boy, shared his experience of learning Chinese at the Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands Confucius Institute Conference recently.

Speaking in fluent Chinese, Ruland-Umata says: "I was introduced to Chinese in my first year of intermediate school (Year 7). It was not easy at the beginning because my primary focus was on expanding my vocabulary, completely ignoring the biggest challenge we all face when it comes to learning Chinese tones.

"I had no idea that there were tones in Chinese and grasping the concept took quite a while."