Why Study Chinese?

Louise Freckelton

Louise Freckelton has been involved in various aspects of international education for over 20 years having worked at a number of universities in Australia, China and Britain. She was inspired to get involved in this area of work after having been an international student herself, studying in Beijing for one year.

Studying Chinese is more than studying a language, and because it is such a different language to English and other European languages, learning Chinese is like receiving a very special key to enter a completely different world. And this key doesn’t just open the door to China’s history and culture, but it also opens you to a brand new world – the dynamic powerhouse that is modern China.

When I began studying Chinese in the early 1990s it was because I wanted to feel comfortable when travelling there and because I thought I should have a second language. My friends, however, thought it was a bit unusual....

I started with a six-month program at the Beijing Language and Culture University as an international student. My fellow students were from around the world: Sierra Leone, Ghana, USA, Cuba, Vietnam, Laos, Germany, Portugal, Brazil and Argentina. We all lived on campus in cold brick buildings built in the 1930’s, in rooms just big enough to turn around. Heating was provided because we were north of the Yangtze but because of the calcium in the water the heating didn’t work. That meant wearing gloves, beanies and scarves inside while the Beijing winter sent white snow in dry drift from the heavens.

Each morning began with loud marching music being broadcasted through the crackling campus intercom which roused us from sleep and prepared for our first class at 8am. Rote learning was the teaching method employed and the Beijing accent was difficult to master, full of its curled ‘r’ and crisp tones. Back then, ‘comrade’ – 同志 – tongzhi was what you call everyone. It was an alien environment for an Australian but an experience I wouldn’t have missed and one that I have became very fond of.

Forward fifteen to twenty years, China and the Chinese language have undergone huge changes. One certainly doesn’t call anyone 同志any more. It has come to mean something completely different…and now, it is considered a bit ‘regional’ to speak with a Beijing accent; a geographically neutral ‘standard’ accent is now the height of linguistic fashion…! My accent and vocabulary now betray me as a Beijing bumpkin!

Now no-one thinks it strange to learn Chinese…everyone recognises the economic and cultural importance of China. Its economic growth in recent years has been nothing short of spectacular. Cities like Shanghai have become the ultimate in cool and glamour once again and with Beijing about to host the 2008 Olympic Games in some of the most wonderful examples of contemporary architecture, who doesn’t want to pave a way into understanding this bustling giant of a country?

Working with China is now part of my day job and working in international relations for the University of Sydney so there is even greater motivation to study. Not a day goes past without the opportunity to read, write or speak Chinese. After a break of several years I have started to study Chinese again.

I am looking forward to seeing what programs the Confucius Institute might offer, I am really keen to improve my vocabulary in the areas of Chinese for Business, Chinese for Medicine, and Chinese for education. Perhaps the Confucius Institute can even help me to acquire the latest fashion in spoken Chinese and help me lose my socialist vocabulary…

My final word of advice? Don’t let characters put you off. They are one of the most fascinating aspects of learning Chinese. Take for instance one of the words for movie -电影 dianying - literally translates to ‘electric shadows’, and train - 火车 – as ‘fire chariot’. They conjure up such wonderful images that, despite the difficulty of writing the character, make the word so much easier to remember. They are the visual poetry in a language.