First Motswana Chinese lecturer represents steps towards China's world domination?
Eight years later, Jin is vindicated as the Confucius Institute at the University of Botswana (CIUB) for the first time has a Motswana Chinese lecturer. Meet Opelo Pearl Mokgaoganyi (26) one of the local first generation success stories of China's ambitious foreign policy aim of 'Going Global Cultural Diplomacy.'Mokgaoganyi is an ordinary young woman from Senyawe in the North East armed with an unusual passion. Just like most Batswana of her age, her first encounter with China was through those Jackie Chan movies that 'nurtured her fascination for China.? She however traces her real Chinese language encounter from a "cute Chinese girl named Martina" from Maruapula School who taught her "two Chinese characters every day."? This was during her part-time gig at Kumon International where she tutored English. She says after six months she only got a "handful of characters" from Martina.
In 2009 at a best friend's wedding, Mokgaoganyi met a Chinese woman and she says, "after listening to my wild day dreams of going to China and learning the Chinese language she suggested I give her niece and nephew English lessons in exchange for Chinese lessons. I agreed and from then on I never looked back." Coincidentally this was a few weeks before the Confucius Institute introduced Chinese lessons at the University of Botswana.?
According to Xin Zhang, former Chinese lecture and author of 'Friendly Chinese' the only prescribed book for the programme, "CIUB is part of a global network promoted by Chinese Government foreign policy initiative to develop Chinese as an international language and promote better understanding of China throughout the world."
Mokgaoganyi was among the first Batswana students to enroll for this ambitious Chinese initiative for world supremacy. Studying Chinese as formal course with a proper syllabus and examinations, Mokgaoganyi sailed through three levels in a year's time.? The young lecturer now beams with excitement as she recalls the events of the year 2010 when her lifelong dream of touring China finally came through.? "2010 was my best year," she adds with child-like enthusiasm. In that year, the Confucius Institute took her and 22 other students for a cultural experience of the country that was a mystery to the world until the 70s.? The Summer Camp's activties included touring famous Chinese cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Xi'An.
From the Summer Camp, Mokgaoganyi's Chinese fairytale took another turn as she arrived to the news that she has been selected for Confucius Institute scholarship to study in China for a year at Shanghai Normal University.
After a "tough" year in China, her hardwork was rewarded by the university's recommendation for her to be admitted into a Master's degree programme in Teaching Chinese as a second language. Her full admission into the programme however came with a tough condition that she must pass advanced Level six of an international Chinese exam called HSK.? She says; "it was obvious that it was a bit of a long-shot, and inevitably I didn't make it."
She did not give up. She then registered for the lower HSK5,? passed it and was conditionally admitted into the programme if she could pass the highest Chinese proficiency test before the year end. In August this year Mokgaoganyi began her internship programme at UB where she taught Level One and Three students. Her students call her 'Ou Laoshi' (Teacher Ou - her name is pronounced 'Ou bei luo' in Chinese). Speaking to Mmegi, one of her Level Three students, Ayanda Motlhabatlou said, "Ou Laoshi gave me the hope and belief that I too can learn and speak Chinese. When I met her, I was like, Wow, if she can do it, I can do it as well."
She says through her first levels, she was doubtful that an ordinary Motswana student could reach "Ou Laoshi's level."Motlhabatlou shares that being taught by Motswana also helped her understanding of Chinese better than native Chinese lectures because "Ou Laoshi pronounced words the way we could relate to."
Lecturer Mokgaoganyi admits that some Chinese words are better explained using Setswana language concepts.She gives an example of the Chinese word "nin" which is a polite way of saying "you," similar to the way some Batswana use "lona" instead of "wena" to show respect. This is crucial as it helps learners to think in their first language (Setswana) and translate straight to Chinese, without putting it in English first. However both the lecturer and student agree that there are pros and cons of being taught by Motswana because apart from the language one needs to understand the culture and history which are crucial in learning the language.
Mokgaoganyi's stay in China gave her an invaluable lesson on the "rich Chinese culture and history." She observed that due to its high population (over 1.3 billion), the Chinese are extremely competitive.? The world had a chance to "see and feel" China's competitive culture during the London Olympics when? Chinese Men's weightlifter Wu Jingbiao broke down in tears after losing a "sure" gold to his North Korean competitor. While anywhere else in the world he could have celebrated for winning Silver, Jingbiao in an emotional address apologised for coming second saying, "I shamed my country, my team and all of those who cared for me.
I'm sorry!" Mokgaoganyi tells us that, Jingbiao words summons up what China is all about.? It is with such robust competitive aggressiveness that China has set a 'big hairy goal' of making Chinese an international language and promoting their culture, thus reshaping her global image. We ask Mokgaoganyi about her future with the Chinese language and she responds, "I just love teaching."
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