HARARE, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- For a Zimbabwean student, learning to read and write Chinese characters can be a daunting endeavor, but 19-year-old Tanatswa Tizirayi is in for the challenge.
Motivation and attitude make him a distinguished learner with the aim of becoming a translator, a skill in demand given China's prominence in global commerce.
"The reason why I want to learn Chinese well is because many Chinese business people have come to Zimbabwe to invest, so if I can improve my Chinese proficiency, I will have many career opportunities," Tizirayi told Xinhua in Chinese.
A student at Zimgro Chinese Language Consultancy in Harare, his grasp of the language is remarkable after learning Chinese for only 11 months. The enthusiastic learner said the magic trick is practicing every day.
As China's economic and cultural reach grows globally, the Chinese language is finding ardent learners across oceans. But Tizirayi acknowledges that learning the language is not a walk in the park.
"The most difficult aspects of Chinese are grammar and characters. It is hard to recognize the Chinese characters if you are not practicing them," Tizirayi said.
While English learners only need to deal with 26 alphabetical letters, Chinese learners need to master thousands of characters composed of many strokes to be able to read and write, Tizirayi said.
But he does not see the learning process as a challenge. The pictographic background of some Chinese characters that have evolved over the course of thousands of years fills them with fun to practice, he said.
"Characters are difficult but I practice them each and every day. After writing them three times, I will recognize them. I use most of the characters in conversations so that I will get used to them," Tizirayi added.
One of his teachers, Linda Zimhindo, said learning Chinese widens one's horizons.
"The number of people who are learning Chinese in Zimbabwe is increasing on a daily basis. This is due to the fact that when one is in command of this language, job opportunities are so many considering that most of the investors (in Zimbabwe) are Chinese," said Zimhindo.
According to the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (Zida), China was the leading source of foreign investment for Zimbabwe in the first quarter of 2023, with much of China's investments in the lithium sector and the manufacturing sector.
As economic engagement between Zimbabwe and China flourishes, more and more young Zimbabweans are favoring China as their preferred study destination, and this popularity will continue to grow.
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