JOURNEY TO THE EAST

     Veda Vaidyanathan, Reasearch Scholar Mumbai University

  Harvard Yanqing Scholarship winner for China-African economic studies

Learning Chinese is complex as it is graceful, the language is not bound by strict grammar that smothers, but instead with structures that are logical and comprehensible. Sentences are bound together by words from a vast vocabulary, where tones determine the meaning. The oft used example is of the word ‘ma’, which has an array of meanings such as ‘mother’, ‘to bother’, ‘horse’ or ‘to scold’, depending on whether it is pronounced in the 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th tones respectively. The written forms of the words themselves have evolved from pictograms of ancient China. These elaborate characters are made up of several strokes which have to be written in the correct stroke order.

The language has incredible depth and history that it can only be learnt in layers, uncovering one before heading to the next and the whole process can be perceived as a linguistic adventure. The romanticism associated to the language, however, does not in any measure discount the sheer hours that need to be put in, to memorize the hanzi (characters) and learn the extensive vocabulary and of course, training the ears to catch the tones. 

In the last two decades, there has been a surge in the number of people wanting to learn Chinese across the world. Considering China’s geopolitical standing, its economic powers and its sheer population, it naturally becomes one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. To cater to this increasing demand and to create the demand in places it did not previously exist, the Chinese Government as a part of its soft power projection has set up over 480 Confucius institutes worldwide as of 2014.

In India although universities have had schools for Chinese language Studies, it is no longer exclusive to a particular domain. With Sino-Indian trade reaching 100 billion US dollars in 2015, the Mandarin-learning frenzy has caught on among Indian corporates, entrepreneurs and students as well. There are several private institutes across the country catering to this. One among these is the Yeh China Institute in Mumbai, run by Mrs. Usha Sahoo and her team. It is one of the first institutes in the city that recognized this demand and created a network of teachers and language trainers that not only helped students learn the language, but also encouraged them to give examinations such as HSK and YCT that provide internationally recognized certificates. For students who approach Mrs. Sahoo with a very specific syllabus and a precise time table, she goes out of her way to ensure that they have access to the best language teachers and constantly check in on their progress. Having been a student of this institute, the dedication of its staff and the learning environment it creates is something I can vouch for. As Federico Fellini famously said ‘A different language is a different vision of life’- Yeh China helps you build that vision.

http://www.yehchina.com/