Many Chinese students embrace a dream of being proficient in Chinese and foreign cultures and versed in Eastern and Western learning. But their yearning of reading original books, watching foreign movies without Chinese subtitles when enjoying the splendid performance in external languages, is still out of reach. The memory of not knowing what and how to learn a language as beginners is not forgettable and the melted feeling of languages and cultures makes them confused. When we enter the world of foreign students and view the Chinese language and culture from their perspectives, we may wonder what the international students at JISU will encounter when learning a distinctly different language.

Vlasenko Aleksei (a Russian Student)

I learnt the Chinese language for the first time as an undergraduate. Thereafter, I resolved to study the Chinese language while choosing alternative languages in my future. I believed that it’s very promising to pursue Chinese with an admiration to acknowledge Chinese culture. 

What I did was considered recklessness by my family members and friends. In their opinion, Chinese could not be mastered in the roots, yet they still gave me an abundance of encouragement. If I can take charge of the language, I would be regarded as an extraordinary person. 

I come from Russia, where Chinese is regarded as a difficult language, with  mysterious but interesting cultural factors. Today, Russia is now cooperating with China. In this sense, Chinese are treated as friends in Russia.

If only one saying can be used to describe my experience of learning the language, it may be “Make proactive efforts.” I’m convinced that we must do whatever we dream for. If not, we will fail to reach our goals; only through great endeavors can proficient Chinese be achieved. 

After completing my language study at JISU, I want to be a translator and acquire abilities to watch movies and read books in Chinese, and I want to have a lot of Chinese friends. 

Shmatko Polina (a Russian Student) 

I initially generated the dream of learning the Chinese language when graduating from my high school. At that time, I had picked up English and I hoped to study more languages. Even though Chinese was popular in Russia, many Russians argued that it’s extremely hard to command Chinese in aspects of the difficult characters and spoken Chinese. But I decided to learn Chinese, however difficult it was, because the language was very interesting and mysterious to me. 

As a freshman, I was able to choose a lot of foreign language programs, but not Chinese. Although I was unhappy about that circumstance, I made up my mind to learn Chinese by myself. At the start, I hardly understood what the language was. I could not figure out the importance of tones, the structure of characters and the popularity of Mandarin Chinese. For me, it looked like a study of two different languages in the same procedure of pinyin and characters, which pushed me to nearly give up learning Chinese. Fortunately, I met a Chinese instructor working in my school. I accepted his advice to study abroad in China without any hesitations. 

Now, though there are some obstacles to my Chinese study in grammar and new words, I am glad to see my dream is gradually coming true.

Bolan Mariia (a Russian Student)

When it comes to the ties connecting me with Chinese, it happened four years ago. My best friend in high school and I, inspired by the dream to become Chinese translators, determined to go to the same military academy. I finally was admitted to the Southwest State University in Russia. During that time, I had the first access to learning Chinese.

I coincided with difficulties in the study of ancient Chinese during the first few months, which deeply impressed me. Then I realized that if I wanted to be good at Chinese, I must be fond of it.

All my family members and friends encouraged me to seek after Chinese. Although they had little knowledge of Chinese and Chinese culture, they believed learning Chinese is promising and prosperous. My family always supported my dream against the backdrop that most Russians were not familiar with Chinese characteristics and customs.

Although the difficulty sometimes forced me to give up the study in Chinese, I believe that my interest in Chinese will help me overcome the difficulties.

As a junior, I am truly grateful for my university, which offered an opportunity for me to study in China. I must exert arduous efforts in order to realize my dream to be an expert scholar in Chinese.

GARBUZOVA SOFIA (a Russian Student)

My story of “China and Me” started about five years ago. My mother often traveled to China because my hometown is not far from China. When she came back, she always brought Chinese candies for me to eat. Because of this, I’ve been exposed to Chinese food and languages since my childhood.

For my 15th birthday, my mother gave me a bracelet with the Chinese character “囍” on it. The salesman told my mother that the meaning of the Chinese character was very good but I didn't care about the actual meaning at that time. A year later, I started to learn Chinese but I gave up halfway through the year because I thought it was too hard. In 2016, I went to college and I chose Management Science as my major, but I was itching to give Chinese another try. Half a year later, I decided to change my major to Chinese.

At the very beginning, Chinese lessons were extremely difficult for me. I was often absent from class because I could not understand anything and felt discouraged. I could only say “Hello, my name is Sofia” and “Goodbye” in Chinese. I wanted to give up again, but my mother said to me “Everything starts hard,” and encouraged me to persevere.

In the autumn of 2017, when I first came to China, I was very excited. But I was also worried about speaking Chinese because my oral Chinese was poor. During the four months in Changchun, I worked hard every day and my Chinese improved rapidly. As a result, I found a great passion for the language, and no matter what difficulties I may encounter in future, I will never give up again.

SOKOLOVA YEKA TERINA (a Kazakhstan Student)

It was my first time to come to China in 2016. At the very beginning, I thought every Chinese person could speak English, but I soon realized that I was wrong. 

Once I wanted to ask a boy where the train station was. He didn't understand what I was talking about. Then I repeated it again, and he found a way to leave me quickly. After that, I decided to study Chinese intensely because I wanted to talk to Chinese people and understand what they are saying.

I think Chinese is very difficult to learn, especially Chinese characters. Chinese characters have many strokes, many tones, and many meanings. I find it difficult!

At first, my Chinese was not very good. A lot of Chinese I spoke was not standard. Fortunately, my friends were willing to help me learn. They taught me to speak Chinese and corrected my mistakes. And I managed to remember a lot of Chinese characters every day so that I could make rapid progress in my Chinese study. When I was studying in China, I enjoyed Chinese culture very much. The Chinese way of life really attracted me. I learned that Chinese people treat others very warmly and thoughtfully. After I graduate from university, I want to go to graduate school in China.