Across Latin America, Mandarin Is in the Air

Universities across Latin America, from Mexico to Buenos Aires, are founding Asian studies programs and teaching Chinese. Institutions of all kinds -- some are expensive one-on-one tutorials and others are fly-by-night language academies staffed by illegal Chinese immigrants -- are being inundated with new students.

The University of Buenos Aires started its Chinese-language department in 2004 after Hu led a high-level delegation to Argentina, Brazil and other countries.

"It generated so much interest, and people started to say, 'Where is there a place to learn Chinese?' " Maria Chao, the coordinator of the department, said by phone from Buenos Aires. "They see the language as a way to communicate and cut some distance between the two countries."

But in her wildest dreams, Chao said, she could not have foreseen how intense the interest would be. Instead of twenty students, as she expected, more than 600 signed up for classes. Now there are more than 1,000 students studying Chinese at the university, she said, in nearly 70 classes.

Chao, who was born in China and immigrated to Argentina at age 5, said she has been astounded by the interest people have in China. She recently asked a policeman for directions and, without missing a beat, he responded: " Ni hao ma ," Mandarin for "How are you?"

In Peru, which has a dynamic Chinese immigrant community and an economy that is growing at 5 percent annually, business people are looking for classes that can quickly give them an advantage as the country's trade with China grows.

Joseph Cruz, 46, who has been teaching Chinese for 23 years, will soon launch a course for executives costing $2,200 a year, a hefty sum in Peru.

The course, to be taught at Lima's Catholic University, will not just deal with grammar and vocabulary, but with the trappings of Chinese culture and history, from Confucian philosophy to the importance of tea.

"The idea is to use these courses to teach people how Chinese thinking is reflected in modern China," Cruz said. "We're not going to waste their money."

China, too, sees great opportunity in Latin America, said Zhao Xingtian, cultural counselor at the Chinese Embassy in Bogota. He spoke on a recent night as a Colombian-Chinese salsa band -- singing in both Mandarin and Spanish -- prepared to play at a cocktail party given by the Colombo-Chinese Chamber of Commerce.

"Many Chinese would like to come to this country, know its people, drink its coffee," said Zhao, speaking a fluid Spanish. "It makes us very happy that many Colombians want to learn Chinese. It's a good beginning. It's a good cultural exchange between Latin America and China."

China is dispatching teachers abroad, sending people like Yuan Juhua to countries that just a few years ago gave short shrift to the idea of strengthening ties with Beijing. Yuan arrived here just two years ago to help launch the National University's Mandarin program.

Now, her 12-year-old daughter speaks fluent Spanish, and Yuan divides her time between teaching university students during the day and business people on weekends.

The university "didn't have any resources for the Chinese program, so after I came here, everything was a challenge for me," Yuan said. She also found teaching Spanish speakers a challenge.

"These two languages are very different, and because of that, it's difficult for Chinese people to study Spanish and people here to study Chinese," Yuan said. Many drop out after level one, the first of four offered. "If they don't have patience and enthusiasm, it's hard to get to level two," she said.

In a break from Yuan's class, Miguel Aroca, a petroleum engineer for France's Total oil company, recounted the difficulties of reaching level two. Aroca, 33 and fluent in English and French, said he wanted to study Mandarin as a hobby.

Now he realizes it is a career tool. Mastering it will not be easy. "It went from being a hobby to being real work," he said. "The last exam, I was really stressed out."