Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: People's Republic of China in Russian – People's Republic of China in Russian –
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Source: People's Republic of China – State Council News
Bishkek/Urumqi, September 30 (Xinhua) — In a classroom of over 20 square meters in Karakol, Kyrgyzstan's Issyk-Kul region, Aidai Kubanychbekova practices speaking Chinese with several children around 10 years old. Their humorous answers occasionally draw laughter from the class: "What are you going to do this weekend?" "I'll do my Chinese homework." "Well done! And you?" "I'll sleep at home."
The "Hello, China!" Chinese language training center was founded by A. Kubanychbekova last year. It has about 40 students. "I've always wanted to open a center like this because teaching Chinese is my dream," she says.
The 26-year-old has been fascinated with Chinese characters since childhood: "Each character is a picture imbued with special meaning." With her parents' encouragement, she began studying Chinese language and culture in tenth grade. "At first, the language was difficult for me. But one day, when I was communicating with Chinese friends in Chinese, they immediately understood me perfectly. This gave me confidence that I would definitely learn the language," she says.
During her university studies, A. Kubanychbekova specialized in translation, and Chinese became a required subject. During this period, she also completed an online Chinese language course offered by Lanzhou University (Gansu Province, Northwest China). In 2023, she completed a scholarship to train Chinese language teachers at Dalian International Studies University (Liaoning Province, Northeast China), further solidifying her vision of opening a Chinese language teaching center.
"This was my first trip to China, and it left a lasting impression. The streets were cleaner, transportation was more convenient, and life was more modern than I thought," she said. "Many children here want to learn Chinese, but there aren't many educational institutions. I want to help them realize their dream—to go to China, to experience the real China and Chinese culture."
The girl said she plans to collaborate with Chinese universities in the future to send children to China to study or to participate in summer camps on Chinese language and Chinese culture, as well as to invite Chinese students to Kyrgyzstan to deepen mutual understanding between the youth of the two countries through exchanges.
At the Confucius Institute at Osh State University (OSU) in Kyrgyzstan, third-year student Erbol Keldibaev and his classmate sing a popular Chinese song, "The Way of the Common Man" (Pingfan Zhi Lu) by Pu Shu, to the guitar after class. "Chinese songs bring me great pleasure," he says.
As a child, Erbol loved watching Chinese kung fu films, which is how he got the idea to learn Chinese. "I once dreamed of meeting Jackie Chan," he admits. At university, he's studying Translation and Interpretation Studies. "I enjoy learning Chinese: writing characters, rewriting phrases, watching Chinese-language films—I don't feel tired, even when I study late at night," he says.
In his second year, Erbol had the opportunity to study at Hainan Normal University (HNU, Hainan Province, southern China) for six months. "I made a lot of Chinese friends there, and my Chinese improved significantly," he recalls enthusiastically. "I even saw the sea for the first time!" A keen singer, Erbol also had his own "moment of success" in China: he won a Chinese-language singing competition for international students, organized by the university. "This was a great incentive for me to continue studying Chinese."
This year, Erbol added participation in the "Chinese Language Bridge" competition to his "bucket list." "If I win the competition in Kyrgyzstan, I'll have the opportunity to represent my country in the finals in China. It would be a great honor for me," he says.
As contacts between China and Kyrgyzstan become increasingly close, learning Chinese is becoming increasingly popular among young people in Kyrgyzstan. For example, the Confucius Institute at OSU has trained approximately 17,000 people since its founding in 2013. Of these, nearly 600 have studied or are studying in China on scholarships. At the same time, Kyrgyz specialists proficient in Chinese are becoming an important force in developing trade and economic ties between the two countries.
At the 15th Kashgar – Central and South Asia Commodity Fair, held this August in Kashgar, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (northwest China), the Kyrgyz exhibition area was particularly busy. Bermet Kurmanbaeva, an expert at the Kyrgyz Export Center for Export Development and Promotion, explained to visitors in Chinese the advantages and characteristics of Kyrgyz honey: "Our honey from the pastures of the Tian Shan Mountains is distinguished by its naturalness."
According to her, more and more people in Kyrgyzstan's business community are choosing to learn Chinese, considering it the key to accessing the Chinese market. "Knowledge of Chinese isn't just an additional language skill, but also a way to gain trust and seize opportunities," she believes.
At this fair, many representatives of Chinese companies were impressed by B. Kurmanbaeva's professional presentation and detailed explanations in Chinese and immediately decided to move on to detailed negotiations with Kyrgyz companies on issues such as cooperation models and product import conditions. With her assistance, several companies from both sides reached agreements of intent to cooperate. This allowed her to deeply understand the value of her work.
“May the friendship between Kyrgyzstan and China and the peoples of the two countries be as sweet as honey,” she sincerely wished. –0–
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