"Center for Chinese Language and Professional Skills" at Sinoma International Engineering Co., Ltd.: Build a New Platform for Cultural Exchange and Vocational Skills Improvement between China and Nigeria

The "Center for Chinese Language and Professional Skills" at Sinoma International Engineering Co., Ltd. is a "Chinese + TVET" characteristic classroom, a program set up by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation (CLEC), the Ministry of Education of China. It was jointly built by Jiangxi College of Applied Technology and the Nigeria subsidiary of Sinoma International Engineering Co., Ltd., aiming to help enterprises cultivate local technical and skilled talents who understand Chinese language and Chinese culture through "Chinese + TVET" training and cultural exchanges. The "Center for Chinese Language and Professional Skills" has developed a comprehensive Chinese language training course to build Chinese language proficiency, including pinyin recognition, Chinese character writing, Chinese culture, daily communication, and more. More than 130 local employees have registered for the training, involving more than ten job types. Most employees could communicate with each other daily in simple Chinese language.

中材国际职工程少博的一天

Based on the needs of the Nigeria subsidiary of Sinoma International Engineering Co., Ltd., the courses were customized as over 10 training programs, including international Chinese language, business negotiation, logistics customs clearance, civil construction, and mechanical electronics. They improve the Chinese proficiency of overseas employees, introduce them to Chinese culture, and enhance their technical skills and cross-cultural communication abilities.

Luo Xiaodong, Head of the Organization Department of Jiangxi College of Applied Technology, stated that "Chinese + TVET" training is an important task in the joint application of the College and the Nigerian subsidiary of Sinoma International Engineering for co-constructing CLEC "Center for Chinese Language and Professional Skills". The College has organized outstanding teachers for the training, with 3-6 teachers assigned to each training program to ensure the training quality. The College will further develop international vocational education models in an innovative manner, and construct the Center in Nigeria in a down-to-earth and in-depth manner, so as to contribute to the development of the enterprise and the China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era.

Zhu Defeng, Deputy General Manager of the Nigeria subsidiary of Sinoma International Engineering, hoped that the training could vigorously drive the individual career of the students and the development of the enterprise. At the same time, the enterprise will strive to create a favorable educational environment for the Center and work together to promote overseas vocational education in Nigeria to a new level.

Zhu Lihua, Deputy Director of the Education and Training Department of the China Nonferrous Metal Industry Talent Center (CNMITC), said that the training is a measure taken by the CNMITC to explore the cooperation between universities and enterprises to help vocational education "go global" and promote the internationalization of "Chinese + TVET".

This training session is a solid foundation for the "Center for Chinese Language and Professional Skills", and a key step for universities and enterprises to jointly facilitate vocational education to "go global", serve the needs of the "Belt and Road", and cultivate talents for international production capacity cooperation.

In addition to Chinese language courses, the Center organized cultural experience activities of traditional Chinese festivals to spread excellent traditional Chinese culture, impress students with the joy of traditional Chinese festivals, enhance mutual understanding, and deepen the friendship between the two countries. The activities attracted staff from Chinese funded enterprises like the Nigeria subsidiary of Sinoma International Engineering, XCMG Nigeria and AUCMA Nigeria.

In the cultural exchanges of Spring Festival, teachers led Nigerian students to learn "Spring Festival vocabulary and blessings", explore "Spring Festival cultural origins", experience "paper cutting art" and appreciate "couplet art and writing", which were well received by the students.

In cultural experience activities of the Loong Boat Festival, the teacher introduced the origin, customs and morals of the Loong Boat Festival with graphics and text, and taught the traditional greetings and classic poems of the festival to students. In an interactive session, students learned more about the cultural connotation of the festival through participating in games and Q&A. They all expressed that this event made them feel the profoundness of traditional Chinese culture and also enhanced their understanding and love for China.

In the experience activities of the Mid-autumn Festival, teachers led the students to appreciate "Mid-autumn stories", experience the "Mid-autumn customs", enjoy the "Mid-autumn cultural celebration", express "Mid-autumn blessings" to each other, and taste "Mid-autumn moon cakes" together, presenting a colorful Mid-autumn cultural feast for Nigerian students.

The series of cultural activities promotes excellent traditional Chinese culture, enhances people-to-people exchanges between China and Nigeria, and adds fun to the "Chinese + TVET" classroom. In the future, the "Center for Chinese Language and Professional Skills" will accurately connect with the overseas talent needs of enterprises and the local socio-economic development, jointly exploring an international development path that integrates Chinese language education and vocational education.