In the eyes of many expat students, teachers at the Training Centre affiliated with the China International Intellectech Corporation (CIIC) have "special magic wands" which can turn them into "China hands."

Mariko Hosokawa, a middle-aged Japanese woman who has studied at the training centre for about two years, is a case in point.

Though Hosokawa was unable to talk to locals in fluent Chinese before attending the training centre, she now has a good command of daily Chinese and a comprehensive understanding of Chinese culture.

"I want to credit my improvement to the unique and efficient teaching methods followed by the teachers at CIIC's training centre," Hosokawa said.

According to Zhang Ping, manager of the training centre, one of the most obvious characteristics of the training centre is that the teachers encourage their students to understand Chinese culture in addition to teaching the Chinese language.

"Such a unique teaching method is the direct result of the fact that most of our expat students are diplomats and high-ranking business people in world-famous transnational companies such as Motorola, Nokia, Siemens, IBM, NEC, Panasonic and Samsung," Zhang said.

Different from expat high school students who wish to attend Chinese universities, these diplomats and business people must fulfill their diplomatic duties and conduct business activities with Chinese traders. "As a result, a good command of Chinese language is not enough to them. Moreover, they need to learn something that is much more important - Chinese culture," Zhang said.

"In order to satisfy their specific demand, we are temporarily offering some interesting courses with practical uses that will make their work and life easier during their stay in Beijing."

These courses include traditional Chinese painting, Chinese calligraphy, Chinese cooking, Chinese-style tea ceremony and tai chi chuan (traditional Chinese shadow boxing).

According to Zhang, staff members with the training centre are flexible in arranging these courses. "The courses related to Chinese culture can be offered at any time once students express a desire to learn."

According to Hosokawa, the courses introducing aspects of Chinese culture have helped her to understand the merits and shortcomings of Chinese people's lives.

Under the guidance of her teachers, Hosokawa is able to write well-organized essays in Chinese which aim to analyze Chinese people's characters.

In these essays, Hosokawa criticizes some deficiencies of Chinese people, such as attitudes towards disabled persons and a lack of protection for courtyard houses, in addition to singing high praise for Chinese people's hospitality and diligence.

"Owing to their logic, Hosokawa's articles have won wide praise and been published by 'Vision,' a CIIC magazine," Zhang said.

At the same time, the training centre has also put emphasis on helping expats who want to pass the HSK - Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi, also known as the Chinese Proficiency Test.

According to Zhang, many expats learning at the training centre have passed the examination with high scores. They are sure that a good command of Chinese language can benefit their life and work.

It is estimated that about 10,000 expat students have chosen to study at the training centre, which was founded in 1998. They come from Finland, Germany, Britain, France, Japan, South Korea, Italy, Sweden and the United States.

"We try our best to make our teaching perfect in order to attract more and more expat students," Zhang said.

(HK Edition 07/31/2003 page1)