Every International Chinese Language Teacher Is a Drop of Water Along the Belt and Road

Every international Chinese language teacher is like a drop of water along the Belt and Road. This drop of water sets off from China and travels through time and space, landing in every corner of the world, nurturing the flowers of knowledge and embodying the essence of Chinese language teaching.

Heading south, I went from China to Thailand, a country with bright and scorching sunlight, azure skies and white clouds, as well as lush greenery: banana trees, coconut trees, tamarind trees, frangipani trees... And the colorful amber sunset always touches my heart. With the glaring morning sun that greets us when we wake up, we stand at the school gate together with local teachers, welcoming our lovely students. They come, lining up and chatting, passing by us with greetings such as "good morning," "you look nice today," and "teacher, I love you" in Chinese. The campus is bustling during the day until students gradually go home on school buses or motorcycles in the afternoon, and the campus and surroundings become quiet.

Everyday life with students

Our office is near the school canteen. After lunch, some students often stop by our office to chat for a while before returning to their classrooms. When they see me eating in the canteen, they warmly invite me to join them, eating and chatting together. Most students do not rush home after school in the afternoon, but instead, they form small groups to rest in cooler areas of the campus, sitting or lying down. They also like to pick some fruits from the tamarind trees on campus, pile them up and eat them with seasoning sauce. When I pass by, they often invite me to join them, sitting together, learning each other's languages, talking about interesting cultures. They teach me dialects from northeastern Thailand, and every time I master a sentence, they start screaming and laughing. So, we made a deal: for every five sentences they say from the lessons, I will say one sentence in their dialects. At the end of the school day, there are often small vendors pushing carts selling fruit juice, shumai, and special Thai buns at the school gate. I like to stroll around the campus, watching these innocent and carefree students chatting, singing, and dancing. This is the best age for them.

I accompany my student during military training

Heading west, I left Thailand for Egypt, which is also a sunny country with clear skies every day. Being a pivotal country along the Belt and Road, there are many Sino-Egyptian cooperation projects. I truly feel the dedication of Chinese infrastructure and companies there, which also provide many employment opportunities for students who graduate from the Chinese language department of Confucius Institutes.

At the end of the semester, nearing the Spring Festival, I would take out red envelopes and new RMB notes brought from China. Although the amount is not large, it is a token of my goodwill. Many students saw real RMB for the first time and got very excited when they received it. At the beginning of class, I joked that the group with the best performance would get the red envelope, and they were all eager to win. After class, students who received the red envelopes were very happy, while those who did not felt a little disappointed. At this time, I secretly took out the remaining red envelopes and gave them a surprise, telling them that every student who studied hard would receive a red envelope. I let them look at the back of the red envelopes, where their names were written, and beneath each name was a message of my expectations and blessings for them. There were some words and phrases in the messages that I hadn't taught yet. Much later, a student sent me a message: "Teacher, I finally fully understood what you wrote to me before. At that time, I didn't immediately use Google Translate, and I told myself to save it and wait until one day I could read these Chinese words by myself."

Red envelopes prepared for students

After returning to China for the summer vacation, I received a long letter written by a student. I increasingly feel that human emotions are a magical thing, sometimes independent of different languages and cultural backgrounds. Now I still keep in touch with my students, and I feel like I just left them last month during every conversation. Some students want to apply for graduate school in China and ask me which universities are better; some students plan to start their own businesses while studying in university, doing trade work related to China, and they come to me for advice when they encounter difficulties. Some students share their competition videos after winning awards in the "Chinese Bridge" or "Tell Stories in Chinese" competitions to share their joy. There are also students who excitedly send me their HSK 4 certificates, telling me as soon as their results are released, and they assure me that they will continue to study even harder.

I take my students to the Chinese calligraphy exhibition at the Library of Alexandria

Heading north, I left Egypt for Poland. Setting sail again, I am more expectant, calm, and fearless. I believe that youth should be a process of daring to follow one's heart to pursue dreams and explore, doing what you like, doing what you are good at, and doing what you think is meaningful. In every stroke, every word, and every sentence, students have gained language skills, knowledge, and cultural insights. I have also gained growth, friendship, and happiness. I think every Chinese language teacher is like a drop of water, watering every seedling in the world that thirsts to learn Chinese, nourishing their growth with solid knowledge, interesting Chinese culture, and touching teacher-student relationships. Although this drop of water may be ordinary, it also shines like a diamond in the sunshine. And at least for that moment, it is so brilliant. Every dream chaser is brave.

(Author: Yan Yaning)