Witnessing the Flowers of Chinese Language Flourish in Saudi Arabia

In April 2019, I saw a message for an international Chinese language teacher at the China Culture and Arts Exchange Center at King Abdulaziz University (KAU) in Saudi Arabia, and submitted my resume. What I didn't expect was to get a call for an interview two months later. After that, it was as if time had pressed the fast-forward button. I went to the Minzu University of China for pre-service training, and then went to Saudi Arabia to start teaching Chinese.

Li Bowen (first from the right) monitoring the HSK at the test center of Saudi Arabia Photo provided by Li Bowen

Welcome the First Batch of Short-term Chinese Classes' Students

On June 13, 2019, I arrived in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia's second largest city. On the way to the university, the car was speeding along, and outside the window was a blazing sun and sparse date palms. When I arrived at my destination, my dormitory was furnished for college students with a bed, a table, and a chair.

Afterwards, my colleague and I went to teach Chinese at the China Culture and Arts Exchange Center. At first, we encountered some difficulties. The center did not have a fixed Chinese language classroom, so we had to borrow an office and a computer room from other departments; the center also did not have a printer, and we could only ask for help by gesture language. In addition, we faced with the challenge of insufficient teaching resources. However, we finally overcame all the difficulties and welcomed the first batch of students with excitement.

On June 16, 2019, we welcomed our first batch of short-term Chinese classes' students, with a total of more than 100 students. On the opening day of the course, the Rector of King Abdulaziz University attended the opening ceremony. As Chinese teaching progressed, our classes were acknowledged by the students and our Chinese language teaching went smoothly by and by.

In the first semester, the center mainly offers different types of short-term Chinese courses. The course design has received full support from the Minzu University of China, and the number of students has been gradually stabilized while the quality of teaching has been ensured.

The School Offers Undergraduate Chinese Language Programs

Since most of the students in our short-term Chinese classes are not in-school students, we usually schedule our classes in the afternoon or evening. Therefore, the class sometimes lasts three or six hours in a row. After class, I was hungry, but I had to rush to catch the school bus and then prepare dinner after I returned to the dormitory. At the end of August 2019, I had to return to my home country for a short period of recuperation, due to health problem.

In October 2019, I returned to Saudi Arabia and immediately began teaching in the Chinese language program. In September of that year, King Abdulaziz University (KAU) opened an undergraduate program in Chinese language. I was in charge of teaching Chinese to male undergraduate Chinese majors in the School of Liberal Arts, KAU, and encountered new challenges. Not only was there no decent Chinese language classroom, the temporary classroom did not have a multimedia projector, nor enough tables and chairs; the students did not even have Chinese language textbooks and exercise books.

The student's classroom problem was imminent, and I contacted the Dean of the School of Liberal Arts. With the coordination of the dean, the classroom where where we are having classes now held was selected. We decorated the classroom, got enough tables and chairs, and thus the Chinese language class started. Although the teaching task was arduous, I designed interactive games and composed Chinese songs to make students sing and dance. Gradually, the students' interest in learning Chinese was stimulated. The director of the foreign language department saw the changes and invited other leaders to visit the Chinese language class.

As the Chinese language teaching became better and better, the school further improved the teaching conditions. After one semester of hard work, the students made great progress in their Chinese learning and passed the mock exam of HSK Level 2.

Flowers of Chinese Language Flourish One by One

In January 2020, King Abdulaziz University launched a two-year diploma course in Chinese language. On December 19, 2021, the first graduation ceremony of the Chinese Language Diploma Program was held, which was an important moment in the history of Chinese language teaching in Saudi Arabia.

After nearly two or three years of efforts, the team of Chinese language teachers in Saudi Arabia has been expanding and the number of Chinese language learners is increasing. Currently, King Abdulaziz University has more than 200 students studying Chinese language.

The seeds of Chinese language are still sprouting and bearing fruit, and the online winter camp program of "Chinese Bridge" in Saudi Arabia, organized by the Minzu University of China, has thousands of students, marking a new chapter in Chinese language teaching in Saudi Arabia. In July 2022, Saudi Arabia hosted the first "Chinese Bridge" Chinese Proficiency Competition, which brought its Chinese language teaching to a new level.

Looking back, memories haunted me. The rapid development of Chinese language teaching at King Abdulaziz University is the result of the joint efforts of all parties, and a story written together by people who are destined to meet together.

The flourishing of flowers of Chinese language in Saudi Arabia has pleased me and made me aware that the journey ahead is long and arduous but with determined steps, we will reach our destination.

(The author, Li Bowen, an international Chinese language teacher at King Abdulaziz University)