Tanzania, China chat ways to expand opportunities through Chinese language
Dar es Salaam. The Chinese Embassy has been asked to talk to investors and implementers of various projects in the country from China to recruit Tanzanians who have learned Chinese in order to continue attracting more people to learn the language that is spreading rapidly in the world.
The request was made by the Deputy Minister for Information, Communication and Information Technology Kundo Mathew yesterday during the ceremony held at the country's embassy in Tanzania with various demonstrations of the Chinese language proficiency from among students.
"There are many companies from China that have invested here and others are implementing various construction projects, I ask you (ambassador) to talk to these companies so that they can give priority to the graduates with Chinese language proficiency to increase motivation for others to learn the language," said Mr Mathew, who also speaks Chinese.
Mr Mathew, who has studied in China and worked with Chinese companies, said the Chinese language was spreading around the world as well as the spread of opportunities so those who learn and speak the language should be part of those opportunities.
However, he said in today's world, knowing a language is one thing but what is required is what the language carries, emphasizing that knowledge and understanding are important.
For her part, China's ambassador to Tanzania Ms Chen Mingjian agreed to the deputy minister's request, saying it was a good idea as with the understanding of language, even work efficiency would go smoothly.
She believed that in this situation, the investors would also be encouraged to learn Kiswahili in order to exchange culture.
Ms Chen said with the existing good and strong economic ties between China and Tanzania and the emerging talents in the Chinese language, it was clear that in collaboration with the Tanzanian government more young people will have opportunities to learn Chinese.
"The United Nations (UN) has set aside a special day for this language making it available to most parts of the world, where there are 20,000 students in Tanzania studying Chinese at the Universities of Dar es Salaam and Dodoma and thousands have already graduated," said Ms Chen.
The Chinese Day celebration was attended by government officials, Chinese embassy officials and students studying and continuing to study Chinese at various colleges in the country.
Students who study the language pointed out that it is difficult and requires a lot of effort to learn but they were striving to learn the language in order to take advantage of the opportunities available.
