When Faith Wan jiku graduated from the Technical University of Kenya last year, she immediately enrolled (注册) at the Confucius Institute in Kenyatta University. She wanted to learn Chinese, as she believed that it would help her land a good job.
She has just completed the Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (HSK) 3 exam. HSK is a test of Chinese language level for non-native speakers, organized by the Confucius Institute Headquarters.
However, this level isn't enough for Wanjiku, who plans to pass HSK 6. She wanted to increase her level or Chinese and improve her spoken Chinese. And Wanjiku isn't alone. The number of people taking the HSK reached 6. 8 million in 2018 and went up 4. 6 percent from a year earlier, the Ministry of Education said on May 31.
Chinese is becoming an increasingly popular choice of language to study around the world. Currently, middle school students in Russia can take Chinese as an elective languages test in the country's national college entrance exam, Sputnik News reported.
In May, Zambia became the fourth country in Africa- after Kenya, Uganda and South Africa – to introduce Chinese languages to its schools.
Behind the growing popularity of Chinese language leaning is the international community's positive attitude toward China's future developments, as well as the peoples longing to learn about Chinese civilization and culture.
Indeed, it's as the former president of South Africa Nelson Mandela put it, "if you talk to a man in a langrage he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his in language, that goes to his heart. "
