Chinese language gains traction in Ghana

ACCRA, Ghana — Bertha Asiedua Boadu, a young Ghanaian student, became fond of watching Chinese movies in 2020. To grasp the plot without relying on subtitles, she started using online Chinese-language learning applications to learn the basics.

What she did out of curiosity quickly became a fascination, leading her to start learning to speak Chinese on her own with a growing interest in the language and culture.

"I was practicing dialogues on my own. I gradually realized how interesting the language is," Boadu said.

The interest in Chinese culture also drove her to seek literature on Chinese culture online, focusing on the types of books the Chinese read from childhood, including The Analects of Confucius, comprising aphorisms of the Chinese philosopher Confucius.

Boadu is now a second-year Chinese language student at the University of Cape Coast.

"Sometimes I write one character 10 or 15 times and still can't obtain it, which makes me angry. But my teachers come in to encourage me. That has taught me to be patient," she said.

On May 22, Boadu won the best contestant award in the university category of this year's Chinese Bridge Competition hosted by the Confucius Institute at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, securing a ticket to represent Ghana in the global competition later this year in China.

Boadu's story shows the growing popularity of the Chinese language among Ghanaian students.

Of great interest

Prince Amissah, a 12-year-old at Winged Heights Creative Academy in Cape Coast, who emerged as the overall best candidate at the primary level in the competition, said the manner of writing the characters, pronouncing the words, and forming sentences are all matters of great interest to him.

As more students seek to learn Chinese in the West African country, the three Confucius Institutes in Ghana have been devising innovative ways to address the inadequate supply of Chinese teachers.

Early in May, the Confucius Institute at the University of Ghana launched a virtual classroom project with local partners to expand access to Chinese language education in the country.

The Confucius Institute at the University of Cape Coast, or CIUCC, is in charge of the national Chinese language curriculum development to ensure the language is taught across the length and breadth of Ghana in the near future, said Emmanuel Amo Ofori, Ghanaian director of CIUCC.

"Through that, we are also training a lot of local Chinese teachers to take up teaching within the various schools in Ghana. We hope that within the next five to ten years, we can train more local Chinese teachers to take over the teaching and training of students," Ofori said.

XINHUA