Going to Africa Three Times for International Chinese Language Education

With the passion for international Chinese language education, Xu Wei, an international Chinese language teacher, has gone to Nigeria three times to teach Chinese language there. He has demonstrated the significance of this profession through actions, committed to making Chinese language a bridge connecting different cultures and nationalities. 

In September 2012, Xu Wei was admitted to the Overseas Education College, Xiamen University to pursue a master's degree. At that time, like many young students, he was full of passion and dreams. At a volunteer recruitment event held by the College in 2013, he was first exposed to the Chinese language teaching situation in Nigeria.

At that time, Wu Qunbin, the first volunteer teacher in Nigeria, finished his work overseas. He returned to his alma mater to give a speech, briefing his volunteer experience in Nigeria to his juniors. That speech deeply impressed Xu Wei, who decided to register for the test of volunteer Chinese language teachers.

With the passion and unremitting efforts of youth, after numerous selecting rounds, Xu Wei finally realized his dream and became a volunteer Chinese language teacher to Nigeria.

When first setting foot on the strange land of Nigeria, he felt alien and uncomfortable. But a warm scene at the airport quickly conciliated him.

When he and his companions communicated with airport staff, he found that local people were very enthusiastic about Chinese teachers. Learning that Xu Wei came here to teach Chinese, a staff member on duty left his contact information, hoping that his son could study Chinese at Xu Wei's school. The episode added to Xu's familiarity with this unacquainted city, and showed him the bright future of Chinese language teaching.

However, the poor local teaching conditions challenged him. Courseware cannot be used without multimedia devices. Many of his prepared learning software and e-books could not be put into use due to lack of smartphones and computers.

Without proper conditions, Xu Wei created his own. To amuse students in study, he designed knowledge points into games and stimulated their enthusiasm with competitions. At the same time, he manufactured many teaching aids for them to understand the meaning of Chinese words and phrases more effectively. With Xu Wei's efforts, the Chinese class gradually became lively and interesting.

In October 2014, Xu Wei ended his volunteer duty and returned to Xiamen University to continue his master's studies. After becoming an international Chinese teacher as wished, he returned to the Confucius Institute at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Nigeria as an international Chinese language teacher in 2017.

When asked why returned to Nigeria to teach Chinese, his answer was simple and plain: "I can't leave local children hungry for knowledge."

His students featured a wide age range, including children, his peers, and the elders who are much older than him. Whatever, he always got along well with them. The daily companionship in learning tightened the bonds among them, who looked like a family.

After class, Xu Wei always interacted with students happily and integrated education with entertainment. For example, he leveraged his interests and expertise to teach his students Chinese chess and Go in their spare time, exploring the mysteries of Chinese culture together with joy.

Xu Wei also actively organized the "Chinese Bridge" Competition. He hoped to promote the Chinese language locally through this Competition and to seize better opportunities for his students through this platform. With the assistance of Xu Wei, the Confucius Institute at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University hosted the Nigeria round of the 2018 "Chinese Bridge" Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students for the first time. In addition, Ding Jiaming, a seeded contestant became the first African champion of the "Chinese Bridge" Competition in Nigeria under his guidance. "Chinese Bridge" also demonstrated the important role that international Chinese language education plays in cultural exchange with local people.

Now, Xu Wei, who has completed his second term, has to make choice for the third time. Without hesitation, he decides to return to Nigeria to teach the "children hungry for knowledge".

Informed of Xu Wei's return, Chinese Director Yu Zhangbao of the Confucius Institute beamed with delight. "He once showed the most beautiful posture here, and his return will realize his beautiful legend again, which will continue here."

For Xu Wei, who sets foot on this land for the third time, the people and things here are no longer unfamiliar. He hopes to deepen and solidify Chinese language teaching this time, so as to promote educational and cultural exchanges between China and Nigeria and better injecting more vitality and momentum into the friendship and cooperation between the two countries.