Ｉ Ｔｅａｃｈ Ｃｈｉｎｅｓｅ ｉｎ Ｃｈｉｔａ

The Chinese language mania surely is not a new phenomenon in Chita， the administrative center of Zabaykalsky Krai in eastern Siberia， Russia. Thanks to its propinquity to China， the city enjoys close business and cultural ties with China and many people there learn Chinese for better job prospects. I have been teaching Chinese since 2006 at a local teachers’ college in Chita， where the Chinese language course has been offered since 1960. The course employs 15 teachers of the Chinese language and more than 160 students study there. It is one of the few schools recognized in Russia for the best Chinese language course. Students at the college come from Chita， Irkutsk， Ulan-Ude， and Yakutsk.

I am in charge of teaching listening comprehension and spoken Chinese to the fourth-year and fifth-year students. Each class has no more than 20 students and most of them are women. It is really rare to find one or two male students. Sometimes I joke to my colleagues that Russian girls prefer Chinese more than Russian boys do. My real guess， however， is that the disproportion probably means that the population is not well balanced in terms of gender.

The girls in my classes are averagely 20 years old. Their backgrounds vary: a few are a few years older and married and even with a kid or two; many are from neighboring urban and rural areas; most of them are Russian， some are Byelorussian， Ukrainian or Mongolian. They take great pride in choosing the Chinese language as their college major， for the Chinese language means very exciting and excellent job prospects.

These girls are fully committed to their studies. The Siberian winter can be very chilly. It is usually dark at 8:30 in the morning when classes at the college begin and the grueling classes end usually at 4 or 5 in the afternoon. I’ve learned that these classes are costly. In addition to the tuition， girls need to pay for their transport， telephone， lunches， copying， notebooks and pens. They need spend money on cosmetics and clothing. Occasionally they go to movies and café. In total， a student needs 4，000-5，000 rubles a month.

They are busy. Some girls work for Chinese real estate businesses and they are often late for classes. Now and then they can’t hand in their assignments in time. But they earn 15，000 rubles a month， much more than an associate professor makes at the college. Some moonshine by working as interpreters for Chinese and selling cell phones; some translate in their spare time; some sell American cosmetics， some work in tour agencies， some help their parents at local markets.

But all of them believe they have chosen a good major. The Chinese language allows them to find a good job with handsome salary. Students majoring in German， English， and French are not so lucky there. No wonder more Russian students want to learn Chinese. The certainty of a future fuels these girls to study assiduously.

These tall and bright-eyed blonds are vivacious， smart and gorgeous. Now and then a girl will play a piece of music on her record player and dance in the classroom during a 10-minute recess. It is not unusual to see a girl applying lipstick to her rouged lips or looking herself in a small mirror during a class.

But some of them are quite naughty. Seven girls in my class this year are a good example of what I mean by naughtiness. Before they came to my class， I was told that they would challenge their teachers on minor issues. They did challenge me because I changed the final examination arrangement and decided to test them one by one. No sooner had I declared my plan than my authority was questioned: “Why do you make our examination more difficult?” A student asked， her two fists hitting the table to accentuate her frustration. Other girls protested in a chorus. I replied “I am doing this to help you learn more”.Then I went on to ask them why they chose not to cooperate with their teacher while girls in other classes found the arrangement okay. I gave them the final blow by asking if they were letting their parents and themselves down by protesting so vehemently. They did not expect that I would flare up. They backed down sheepishly.

It is probably a Russian custom that the would-be graduates would throw a party a few days before the national examination to express their gratitude to their teachers. Such a party is usually held at a relatively good restaurant or a café. These girls are dressed in their best cloths and tables are laden with alluring food such as caviar， salad， sausages， meat cakes， cucumbers， tomato， fruit， champagne， vodka， and other drinks. They propose toasts to teachers and invite teachers to dance.

I am deeply impressed by the girls who have studied Chinese with me and graduated. The certificate-issuing ceremony for top graduates is held in the Lenin Square in the downtown Chita whereas certificates to the rest are just issued by departments respectively. The issuing ceremony is always a gala， attended by parents， boy friends， teachers.#8194;□