Xinhua News Agency, Dar es Salaam, 4 January Reporter Gao Zhu Li Sibo
"Sweet honey, you smile sweetly, like flowers blooming in the spring wind..."
In the packed classroom, a slightly shy Tanzanian girl, Imani Haji, stood at the podium and sang her favorite song with her skilled Chinese, winning applause from the students. Sweet songs echo through the windows to the campus of the University of Es Salaam (hereinafter referred to as Das Salaam).
If you hadn't seen it with your own eyes, it's hard to believe that the teacher who speaks fluently Chinese on the podium is a 28-year-old Tanzanian girl. "My Chinese colleague said that when you talk about Chinese it is exactly the same as Chinese, and it is difficult to distinguish it by listening to the sound." Haji smiled confidently.
Haji also has a nice Chinese name, Hanya. As a Chinese teacher at the Confucius Institute at the University of Dataka in Tanzania, she always prefers to be called by Chinese name, both in class and in her spare time with her Chinese colleagues.
Born in Zanzibar, Haji has loved to squat by the TV since she was a child to watch Chinese TV programs, whether it is the gentle Chinese songs or a variety of Chinese food. Every time his brother wanted to change the station, Haji held on to the remote control. Her mother laughed at her, "What do you want to do when you grow up?" Haji said emphatically, "I'm going to learn Chinese and then go to China." ”
When she was in college, Haji took the Chinese elective course offered by the Confucius Institute at her school and successfully passed the Chinese proficiency test. Inspired by Chinese teachers, Haji chose to go to Harbin Normal University in China to continue his studies after graduation.
"Harbin is cold, but the Chinese classmates are very enthusiastic." Haji said with a smile. Accompanied by chinese friends, she tasted the Chinese food she longed for as a child. "My favorites are pot bun meat and Peking duck." When it comes to these delicacies, Haji is a treasure.
In 2018, Haji, who returned from his studies, became a Chinese teacher at the Confucius Institute at The University of Da. For more than a year, Haji took the initiative to teach Chinese at a secondary school in Lindi Province, about 450 kilometres from Dar es Salaam.
She was relieved that the children were enthusiastic about learning Chinese and were always around her to ask about all aspects of China, of which the children were most interested in Chinese martial arts. "Teacher, I want to study hard Chinese, become a person like you, and also go to China to study and become a teacher when I grow up." A child's inadvertent words strengthened her determination to be a good Chinese teacher.
Haji's efforts were not in vain. In her first year of teaching, 20 students took and all passed the Chinese proficiency test. In recognition of Haji's contribution to promoting Chinese teaching in Tanzania and promoting cultural exchanges between China and Tanzania, in October 2020, the Chinese Embassy in Tanzania presented her with the Chinese Ambassador Award.
According to Liu Yan, the Chinese president of the Confucius Institute at Dada University, with the closer economic and trade exchanges and people-to-people exchanges between China and Africa, more and more young people in Tanzania are studying Chinese. The number of people who registered for the Chinese proficiency test through dapu has increased from 64 in 2014 to 1408 in 2019, and the number of people who registered for Chinese in 2020 reached 7920.
In Haji's view, behind this trend is the long-lasting and deep friendship between Tanzania and China, and the key word of this special friendship is cultural exchange. It is cultural exchange that allows people who are far away from thousands of rivers and mountains to understand each other and communicate with each other.
Haji hopes that in the future, there will be richer cultural exchanges in Tanzania and China, so that more Tanzanian young people will have the opportunity to appreciate the charm of Chinese and understand the profound Chinese culture. Haji also looks forward to continuing her studies in the field of international education Chinese, which she is interested in, and passing on more knowledge to tanzanian young people who love Chinese culture.