South Sudanese foresee limitless opportunities in learning Chinese language

Several South Sudanese are rushing to enroll for free Chinese language lessons due to the immense opportunities the language offers in a country, where job opportunities are getting scarce amid the prevailing economic hardship.
Kong Dejun, (Right) the Director General of the Agency for International Economic Cooperation in the Ministry of Commerce of China and Kuyok Abol Kuyok, (Left) Undersecretary for the Ministry of General Education and Instruction inside the Chinese Language Center in Juba.

By Denis Ejulu

Several South Sudanese are rushing to enroll for free Chinese language lessons due to the immense opportunities the language offers in a country, where job opportunities are getting scarce amid the prevailing economic hardship.

Amou Santo Domic, a 20-year-old South Sudanese is among the new students enrolled since January 2024 at the Chinese Language Learning Center located at Juba Day Secondary School under the China-Aided Phase II Technical Cooperation Project of Education in South Sudan.

She told Xinhua on Saturday during the visit of a high-level delegation from China’s Ministry of Commerce to inspect the China- aided projects in the country, that she enrolled for the Chinese language in order to grasp a little bit of the language before her trip to China in July for her degree studies in petroleum engineering at Nanjing University of Science and Technology.

“The reason why I am here, I will be going to China in July for my studies. I heard from South Sudanese who went before me to China that the Chinese people value their language more than anything,” Domic said in Juba.

She said that proficiency in Chinese language provides limitless opportunities because of the huge presence of Chinese -owned companies in South Sudan and across the African continent.

“As you can see Chinese people are nearly everywhere and almost all the goods that we are buying in the market are manufactured goods from China, and so to learn their language is very good. The Chinese people I have met are very happy whenever they see an African person speaking their language,” Domic said.

The Chinese delegation led by Kong Dejun, the Director General of the Agency for International Economic Cooperation in the Ministry of Commerce of China arrived on Friday in Juba, to inspect the progress made in several China-Aided projects including the Technical Cooperation Project in Education with the Ministry of General Education and Instruction of South Sudan.

Phase II of the China-Aided Technical Cooperation Project in Education involves developing, review, printing, and provision of textbooks for some primary and secondary schools in South Sudan, organizing capacity-building programmes for the teachers and the educational administrators, developing and providing an evaluation system for the usage of the textbooks, and dispatching Chinese teaching personnel to Juba to facilitate the Chinese language and cultural exchange programmes.

The delegation was accompanied by the Hon. Undersecretary of Ministry of General Education and Instruction, and the Hon. Counsellor from Chinese Embassy in South Sudan. The Director General, Mr. Kong expressed his acknowledgement and congratulations to the learners for their wonderful performance in language learning and cultural sharing. He appreciated the commitment of the service provider, Shanghai Educational Publishing House and the support from Ministry of General Education and Instruction of South Sudan for the implementation of the China-Aided Technical Cooperation Project of Education.

Kong Dejun, (Left) the Director General of the Agency for International Economic Cooperation in the Ministry of Commerce of China challenging Mayiik Deng Mayiik in Chinese language proficiency.

 Mayiik Deng Mayiik,27, who is among the pioneer students  since the inauguration of the Chinese language learning and cultural exchange programme in July 2021, said that learning Chinese language has endeared him to many Chinese people whom he likes to tease in fluent Chinese language.

“I can speak Mandarin better than some indigenous Chinese people because some Chinese people know how to speak the local language (Arabic) in the market, but they don’t speak fluent Chinese language,” Mayiik said.

“We see many Chinese companies in our country, if I learn Chinese language very well I will get an opportunity to go and work in the oil fields and some other Chinese companies of which it is a very good decision,” he added

He said he would encourage more young South Sudanese to take up the opportunity of learning Chinese language despite it appearing to be tough for first learners.

“I would encourage more young South Sudanese to learn Chinese language because China is among the countries which are technologically advanced, of which if you study and learn Chinese language you will be able to learn technology skills of the Chinese people, so cultural exchange is very good for South Sudanese people,” Mayiik said.

Chol Makur Malek,47, a soldier with the engineering department of the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) said he was inspired by his friend Mayiik to enroll for Chinese language course in February this year.

He said that he anticipates to one-day to be sent by his superiors for training in China, adding that learning Chinese language in advance is a necessity.

“In the engineering department I am working in, you can be sent anywhere like China and elsewhere in the world, so you must have knowledge about the country you are going to. I have been here for two weeks now but I have learnt a lot,” Makur said.

Ustaz George Kenyi, head teacher at Juba Day Secondary School said that the Chinese language centre has been a blessing because it has realized the very essence of the cultural exchange programme agreed upon by the two countries.

 “We South Sudanese used to see the Chinese symbols here just like drawings, but it is good that within these three years many South Sudanese have been attending this course,” Kenyi said.

“One day if all these students are given chance to visit China, the Chinese people will be surprised to see that they have their brothers in South Sudan. So I want to assure you that language is a bridge, in fact the whole world when they become one it is through a language because it will build bridges so that we can understand ourselves,” he added.

Hon. Kuyok Abol Kuyok, Undersecretary of the Ministry of General Education and Instruction said that language does not only break barriers but it creates opportunities.

“Chinese language is an international language/UN language, so any one of you can work within the UN system as an interpreter and also with many Chinese companies that are all over Africa. So it is an important asset that you can have and use to advance yourself as an individual,” Kuyok said.

He said that Phase II of the China- Aided Technical Cooperation Project in Education is soon coming to an end, adding that they are working with their Chinese counterparts to develop Phase III.

“In this Phase III we are very ambitious because we feel that the success of this particular project (Phase II) should be the foundation for us to move on, so we want to, except for all the other major components of the technical cooperation, have three classrooms for the language learning and cultural exchange, one for the beginners, middle learners and one for advanced learners,” Kuyok said.

He also disclosed that they want Chinese language learners to be given opportunity to visit China and interact with Chinese people.

 “I think it will be a very good opportunity for them to advance their language and understanding, some of these learners should have the opportunity to go to China and interact with the Chinese people, so that they come back with something small from China which they can use here to advance the relationship that we have with China,” Kuyok said.

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