By Victor Asije
Lagos – The Confucius Institute in Nigeria on
Thursday said that it was already being overwhelmed by increasing
demands from Nigerians willing to learn the Chinese Mandarin language.
Prof Wang Yongjing told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that
there was a growing interest of different categories of Nigerians in learning
to speak the language.
“We are currently being faced with the challenge of many Nigerian
students wanting to learn the Chinese Mandarin language.
“There are more and more parents who want their children to learn this
Chinese language. They are even approaching us that our teachers can
begin to teach their children at weekends.
“But we do not have enough teachers to do this. The few Chinese
teachers we have are only able to teach in 16 schools in Lagos alone,’’
she said.
The Director said that it was not within the responsibility of the
Institute to increase the number of its teachers, but it is up
the Nigerians to apply for more Chinese teachers.
She said that the Institute was only working as a bridge between China
and Nigeria, maintaining that it was the duty of Nigeria to request
for more teachers from China.
Wang, who said that the institute had recently received eight
teachers, four of whom were student-teachers, added that the teachers
would stay in Nigeria for one or two years.
“Every one or two years, we would have new Chinese Mandarin teachers come
to teach Nigerians the Chinese language before returning to China.
“But with the increasing number of Nigerians interested in learning
our language, we do not have enough teachers to satisfy the needs of
Nigerians and even non Nigerians.
“However, if there is a request from Nigerians for more Chinese
Mandarin language teachers to be sent here, we are encouraged to send
more of our teachers to Nigeria.
“Our Institute is only working here to build bridges between China
and Nigeria,’’ she said.
There are Chinese Mandarin Language Institutes in Abuja and Lagos. (NAN)
