By Victor Asije
Lagos – Prof. Wang Yongjing, the Director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Lagos(UNILAG) on Tuesday revealed that about 14, 000 Nigerians had in the last three years learnt Chinese Mandarin language in Lagos.
Wang told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that there was currently a growing interest of Nigerians in learning to speak and write in China’s official language, Mandarin.
According to her, parents of children in primary and secondary schools; undergraduates, graduates, universities, governments, school operators, business owners and other Nigerians are increasingly
approaching the institute to learn the language.
“We are happy that today, there are more and more Nigerians becoming interested in learning to speak and write in the Chinese Mandarin language.
“And this is one reason that the Confucius Institute was established at the University of Lagos, as requested for by Nigerians.
“The institute is being co-operated by the Beijing Institute of Technology and the University of Lagos (UNILAG).
“Let me say that since 2016, when I was posted to this institute, until this year, 2018, about 14, 000 Nigerians have learn to speak and write in Mandarin,’’ she said.
Wang said that the Nigerians that had been taught by the institute were currently happily speaking and writing in the Chinese language.
The Chinese official, who was deployed from the Beijing Institute of Technology, said that the institute had expanded its semester courses from two to three semesters, to accommodate more Nigerians.
Wang said that there were already positive evidences in Nigerians learning the language, as the knowledge had started promoting more people-to-people relationships and economic relations between Chinese and Nigerians.
She said that as much as the institute would want to train more Nigerians in the speaking and writing of Mandarin, it currently had a dearth of trainers.
Mandarin is one the of Chinese language forms which developed from the regional variants of the Chinese people.
The language is famous for being the most natively spoken in the world, with nearly a billion speakers.
Mandarin is one of the six official languages of the United Nations, and is spoken in China, Taiwan and Singapore.
(NAN)
