China Radio International Online (By Li Jingjing and Deng Ying): The Confucius Institute at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus (the UWI at Mona) jointly run by the UWI at Mona, the largest comprehensive higher education institution in the Caribbean, and Taiyuan University of Technology (TYUT) is the only Confucius Institute in Jamaica and also the first one in the English Caribbean region.
Mr. Li, “Many people don’t like tofu and cabbage.”
Students, “No, they like.”
Mr. Li, “They like tofu and cabbage very much.”
The Confucius Institute at the UWI, Mona Campus jointly run by the UWI at Mona, the largest comprehensive higher education institution in the Caribbean, and TYUT is the only Confucius Institute in Jamaica and also the first one in the English Caribbean region. It was officially unveiled on July 19, 2010. Feng Lei, the Chinese dean of the Confucius Institute, said that after ten years of development, the Jamaican people have become more and more passionate about learning Chinese, and people in all walks of life in Jamaica have paid more and more attention to the Confucius Institute and the Chinese culture it promotes. At present, the Confucius Institute has two teachers from China, one from the local area and more than 200 students, including the students of three grades who have Chinese as their minor in the Department of Modern Languages and Literature in the UWI at Mona, the adult evening class students recruited from the society, and participants in the Chinese culture classes and the Chinese language club. The Confucius Institute is also a center for the Chinese Proficiency Test in Jamaica and holds the “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students every year. According to Dean Feng Lei, there are two main reasons why local people learn Chinese: “We have conducted a survey. One is because China has become stronger than before, and Jamaica is influenced by China in all aspects. Secondly, more and more Jamaicans have the opportunity to go to China through various channels such as scholarship or exchange programs. After returning home, they passed from mouth to mouth what they had learnt. They feel that China is developing very fast. And it is their belief that Chinese is a very useful language in the future and mastering Chinese will have a (positive) influence on their future.”
On July 15 this year, Webber, Principal of the UWI at Mona, visited China and signed an agreement with TYUT to continue their cooperation in the construction of the Confucius Institute. On October 14, Chinese ambassador to Jamaica Tian Qi and State Minister in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information Hon. Alando Terrelonge signed the intergovernmental transfer certificate for the Jamaican Confucius Institute Teaching Building, a project aided by China. The new teaching building, aided by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, has a total area of 2,400 square meters. It was designed as a courtyard surrounded by three-story buildings, which reflects the fusion of the Chinese and Jamaican architectural style and culture. In addition to offices and five classrooms that can accommodate a total of 150 people to have classes at the same time, the new building also has a library, an exhibition room, a culinary art classroom for teaching and display of cooking knowledge and skills, and an auditorium with more than 300 seats that can be used as a venue for lectures and performances. The new building has not only eliminated the lack of sufficient teaching and office space in the Confucius Institute, but also provided a venue for hosting events such as the Chinese culture promotions, cultural exchanges between China and Jamaica and cultural activities organized by embassies and overseas Chinese associations.
Dean Feng Lei told reporters that with the new classroom now, the biggest difficulty facing the Confucius Institute is the shortage of manpower. Many local primary and secondary schools, enterprises and institutions all want to invite the Confucius Institute to set up teaching points at their places. To this end, the Confucius Institute has applied to Hanban to send two more teachers and two volunteers.
During the break, two students in Mr. Li Kailin’s class were interviewed by the reporter.
Bai Jieni is a student from class 2. She likes the Chinese language and art. As the only student in the class who has been to China, she hopes to find a job related to China in the future with her strength in the Chinese language.
Andrew Lee is a second-generation Chinese immigrant in Jamaica. His parents are from Guangdong Province, China. Andrew said that he enjoyed the Spoken Chinese class most. Because his parents speak Hakka at home, he hopes to learn Mandarin well in the Confucius Institute so that he could return to his motherland with his parents to live and work in the future.
Mr. Li Kailin said that, although the several teachers (in the Confucius Institute) have been working at their full capacity, the passion of the students about learning Chinese has greatly inspired them. They have also been constantly exploring methods in their teaching that suit local students. “They are very enthusiastic about learning Chinese,” Li said, “When courses are open for first graders to select, there are usually cases where students cannot register for Chinese courses because there are simply too many people. Besides, they are all motivated and obedient, and the atmosphere is very good in class.”
