HARARE, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Inside a classroom at a Chinese language center in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, Herbert Mushangwe patiently demonstrated the intricate strokes of Chinese characters, guiding his students toward a firm grasp of the language.
Word by word, the students recited new vocabulary in unison, following their teacher's lead as he emphasized the nuances of pronunciation and intonation.
Mushangwe is among Zimbabwe's first locally trained Chinese language teachers and has been teaching for about 15 years.
As Chinese is written in characters rather than an alphabet, he simplifies the learning process by sharing the origins and stories behind the script, allowing learners to build vivid, memorable mental images of each character.
"When we try to teach the characters, we use simplicity. We go into history. We dig the history of the characters. We try to extract where the character started from, go step by step, explaining how that character built the total meaning that you have at the end," he said following a lesson at the XLM Chinese Language Center.
While Chinese characters are among the world's oldest written languages, dating back thousands of years, Mushangwe has proven that their pictorial roots can also make them easier to learn.
By breaking characters down into visual stories, he transforms what can appear to be a complex system into intuitive, memorable patterns. His students say the approach makes learning both engaging and accessible.
Student Joachim Mutombwa said the engaging lessons had made learning a pleasant experience rather than a daunting task.
When the teacher explains the characters in pictorial form and links them to objects or stories, students can quickly grasp the meaning because they can relate it to something familiar, he said.
For Mushangwe, the effort required to master the language is outweighed by its rewards. He said Chinese proficiency is opening new doors for Zimbabwean students, from career prospects to educational opportunities and a deeper understanding of a major global economy.
"People are now beginning to understand why we need to learn this language, so it has been a great journey, and there is great improvement," said Mushangwe. "Also, the fact that we now have a lot of Chinese companies coming to Zimbabwe to invest ... There are so many people who are also getting opportunities to go to China."
With China serving as a key investor and trading partner for Zimbabwe, Mushangwe noted that Chinese proficiency has become a strategic tool for local youth to unlock opportunities. "If you have a skill, you are marketing it to 1.4 billion people ... It enlarges the market; it enlarges the territory," he said.
Another student, Tinashe Mutizwa, described Chinese as a competitive advantage for young Zimbabweans. With Chinese enterprises expanding across sectors from mining to diplomacy, she said that language skills are becoming increasingly essential.
"The need for Chinese translators, even for people working in various fields... They require someone who is able to speak Chinese and then work with them," she said.
For Rannie Madangwa, the motivation is practical. After encountering communication barriers in his professional life, he turned to language learning as a tool for navigating a globalized economy.
"If I go back into a Chinese working environment, the communication will be very easy between me and the Chinese, then I can also bring efficiency in communication," he said. ■
