Languages bind China, Russia closer

Great enthusiasm

Tens of thousands of young Russians share that sentiment, one that is reciprocated in China, where many young people are increasingly drawn to learning Russian, seeing the benefits it offers.

In Anastasia's hometown, the Confucius Institute at Novosibirsk State Technical University is at the forefront of promoting Chinese language and culture. The institute, established in 2007 in partnership with Dalian University of Foreign Languages in Liaoning province, is stepping up its efforts to reshape how Mandarin is taught to the city's young people.

It offers a wide range of learning methods, from large lectures to one-on-one tutoring led by a mix of Russian and Chinese staff. This year and the next have been designated as the China-Russia Years of Education. In that context, the importance of these teachers and what they do has never been clearer.

Igor Khripunov, who has directed the institute since 2013, said collaboration in education is the bedrock of the two countries' partnership.

"Over the next two years I foresee a profound acceleration in such collaboration," Khripunov said. "This will do much more than catalyze our collaboration on academics, language and talent development. It will lay a solid foundation for a new generation of professionals equipped to meet the evolving needs of our countries' partnership."

The teaching of Mandarin and the way it is offered have improved markedly in Novosibirsk, and the number of those studying the language has increased in each of the past three years, he said.

"In many schools, Mandarin is now included in the curriculum as a second language and is being included in a state exam program. An increasing number of schoolchildren are taking part in the annual All-Russian Chinese Language Olympiad," he said.

Yulia Shchepina, a Mandarin instructor at the Confucius Institute, who has eight years' classroom experience, said foreign-language learning for children is less about rigid memorization and more about visual storytelling.

She tells of a lively fourth-grade class of 9 and 10-year-olds who gasped collectively when they opened their textbooks to see a dense sea of Chinese characters. Many of them exclaimed, "This is impossible".

Seven months later the same children stood up to introduce themselves in Chinese, rattling off details about their families, hobbies and favorite colors.

Among them, three came to China to further their language studies. An ultimate test of their fluency came during a trip to the Palace Museum in Beijing, also known as the Forbidden City, when they approached local Chinese children and began chatting to them, and were understood perfectly.

They returned to Novosibirsk with even more passion for the language, Shchepina said.

Pop culture is also an important motivation for many teenage students who want to play Chinese video games and understand hit dramas and music in the original language.

Travel, Shchepina said, deepens this engagement, with family holidays to Asia becoming increasingly popular.

As Mandarin clubs sprout up in local schools, learning the language has evolved into a shared enthusiasm in which students inspire one another.

"Modern children have a clear vision of what they want to achieve. They are incredibly purpose driven," Shchepina said.