Languages prove a study in success between China and Spain
By Gladys Nieto |
Updated: 2018-11-23 11:33
Gladys Nieto
One key area in bilateral relationships between Spain and China has to do with the promotion of language and culture. Although in this matter the exchanges have widened in the last decade, it is necessary to know from where we began in order to contextualize the stage where we are.
The history of institutionalization of Chinese and Spanish language at the university level has seen great differences over time. Studies of the Spanish language in China were established in 1953 at Beijing Foreign Studies University due to the need to receive foreign delegations from Latin America. With few methods and means, those pioneer teachers studied Spanish through mimeographed sheets of Russian methods of learning the Spanish language. In the case of Spain, the Center for East Asian Studies at the Autonomous University of Madrid, dedicated to the teaching of Chinese and Japanese was founded in 1992, with limited human resources. During the 1990s Chinese was studied as a second or third foreign language in translation and interpreting degrees at the University of Granada and the Autonomous University of Barcelona.
It was not until 2003 that a second-cycle degree in East Asian Studies was opened in universities in Madrid and Barcelona. Such example shows how late Spain established regulated Chinese language university studies compared to the rest of Europe, and compared to the early training of Hispanists in China.
Now, Chinese and Spanish languages are spoken globally, they are even studied in a growing number of countries as a second language in regulated education. The cooperation between China and Spain has contributed to broaden the scope of the knowledge of these languages and cultures in both countries. Such development has been the result of the impact of two interdependent elements: the signing of many agreements and the establishment of key institutions that have worked on language and cultural promotion in both sides.
It was in 1981 that a cooperation agreement was signed in educational, cultural and scientific fields between the People’s Republic of China and Spain. It was followed by many other agreements that allowed the recognition of degrees and diplomas among the two countries that eased the access of Chinese students to the Spanish university system with the only requirement of selectivity score from the Chinese educational system (gaokao) and a language level test. Such agreement became an attractive factor for Chinese young people to study in Spain, especially for those who didn’t have the marks to access a renowned Chinese university. In 2005 China and Spain also signed an agreement for the establishment of cultural centers in both countries, and they were limited to one in every case. As a result of such arrangement, the Cervantes Institute was established in Beijing in 2006 and one year later, a Cervantes Library was opened in Shanghai.
There are currently 40,000 Spanish-language students in China at all levels of education. After the results of some pilot programs implemented in previous years, in 2018 the Chinese government announced that Spanish language could be introduced as a second-language subject in the Baccalaureate curriculum along with Japanese, English and Russian. The possible expansion of Spanish language in secondary education has led the Royal Spanish Academy to establish a center at Shanghai Foreign Studies University in September this year, to foster the teaching of Spanish in China and promote its resources, such as a digital platform that combines many language tools, such as dictionaries, interactive classes, texts correction, etc.
In the case of the promotion of the Chinese language and culture in Spain, bilateral agreements allowed the establishment of the Chinese Cultural Center in Madrid in a testing phase in 2012, that depends on China’s Ministry of Culture, which enjoys the same status as the Cervantes Institute in Beijing. But also, many agreements at the university level enabled the founding of eight Confucius Institutes and nine Confucius Classrooms in Spain, between 2007 and 2017. Such projects have fostered the teaching of Chinese language and culture. Eight of the Confucius Classrooms are in Andalusia as a result of an agreement in force until 2020, between the Andalusian Counseling of Education and Hanban, the Confucius Institute Headquarters, that has allowed the introduction of the Chinese language within the curricular plan in primary and secondary schools.
The model of Confucius Institutes is based on a collaboration between Hanban and two partner universities, one Chinese and one Spanish. Nowadays, the Education Office of the Chinese Embassy in Spain estimates 40,000 students are studying the Chinese language in Spain. Within this figure, around a quarter of such students are enrolled in Confucius Institutes and Classrooms. The growing interest in Chinese language in Spain is reflected in the fact that our country is currently the one that has more students enrolling for the official language level exams (Hanyü Shuiping Kaoshi) than in other European countries. The expansion of the study of Chinese language in Spain has also to do with the growth of Chinese immigrant community, as migrants’ associations establish language academies that aim to transmit the national language to their offspring.
As a conclusion, in the last decade bilateral relations in educational and cultural fields have entered an expansive phase due to the incorporation of China to the globalization process and the recognition in Spain of the key role China has in the international arena. The promotion of Chinese and Spanish languages in both countries are in need to reach the level they have as languages spoken by a large population in the world. Hence, we all hope that the cooperation between both countries can converge in that direction, especially after President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Spain on Nov 27 this year.
Gladys Nieto is professor of Chinese Anthropology at the Autonomous University of Madrid, and director of Madrid Confucius Institute. The author contributed this article to China Watch exclusively. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of China Watch.
All rights reserved. Copying or sharing of any content for other than personal use is prohibited without prior written permission.
Gladys Nieto
One key area in bilateral relationships between Spain and China has to do with the promotion of language and culture. Although in this matter the exchanges have widened in the last decade, it is necessary to know from where we began in order to contextualize the stage where we are.
The history of institutionalization of Chinese and Spanish language at the university level has seen great differences over time. Studies of the Spanish language in China were established in 1953 at Beijing Foreign Studies University due to the need to receive foreign delegations from Latin America. With few methods and means, those pioneer teachers studied Spanish through mimeographed sheets of Russian methods of learning the Spanish language. In the case of Spain, the Center for East Asian Studies at the Autonomous University of Madrid, dedicated to the teaching of Chinese and Japanese was founded in 1992, with limited human resources. During the 1990s Chinese was studied as a second or third foreign language in translation and interpreting degrees at the University of Granada and the Autonomous University of Barcelona.
It was not until 2003 that a second-cycle degree in East Asian Studies was opened in universities in Madrid and Barcelona. Such example shows how late Spain established regulated Chinese language university studies compared to the rest of Europe, and compared to the early training of Hispanists in China.
Now, Chinese and Spanish languages are spoken globally, they are even studied in a growing number of countries as a second language in regulated education. The cooperation between China and Spain has contributed to broaden the scope of the knowledge of these languages and cultures in both countries. Such development has been the result of the impact of two interdependent elements: the signing of many agreements and the establishment of key institutions that have worked on language and cultural promotion in both sides.
It was in 1981 that a cooperation agreement was signed in educational, cultural and scientific fields between the People’s Republic of China and Spain. It was followed by many other agreements that allowed the recognition of degrees and diplomas among the two countries that eased the access of Chinese students to the Spanish university system with the only requirement of selectivity score from the Chinese educational system (gaokao) and a language level test. Such agreement became an attractive factor for Chinese young people to study in Spain, especially for those who didn’t have the marks to access a renowned Chinese university. In 2005 China and Spain also signed an agreement for the establishment of cultural centers in both countries, and they were limited to one in every case. As a result of such arrangement, the Cervantes Institute was established in Beijing in 2006 and one year later, a Cervantes Library was opened in Shanghai.
There are currently 40,000 Spanish-language students in China at all levels of education. After the results of some pilot programs implemented in previous years, in 2018 the Chinese government announced that Spanish language could be introduced as a second-language subject in the Baccalaureate curriculum along with Japanese, English and Russian. The possible expansion of Spanish language in secondary education has led the Royal Spanish Academy to establish a center at Shanghai Foreign Studies University in September this year, to foster the teaching of Spanish in China and promote its resources, such as a digital platform that combines many language tools, such as dictionaries, interactive classes, texts correction, etc.
In the case of the promotion of the Chinese language and culture in Spain, bilateral agreements allowed the establishment of the Chinese Cultural Center in Madrid in a testing phase in 2012, that depends on China’s Ministry of Culture, which enjoys the same status as the Cervantes Institute in Beijing. But also, many agreements at the university level enabled the founding of eight Confucius Institutes and nine Confucius Classrooms in Spain, between 2007 and 2017. Such projects have fostered the teaching of Chinese language and culture. Eight of the Confucius Classrooms are in Andalusia as a result of an agreement in force until 2020, between the Andalusian Counseling of Education and Hanban, the Confucius Institute Headquarters, that has allowed the introduction of the Chinese language within the curricular plan in primary and secondary schools.
The model of Confucius Institutes is based on a collaboration between Hanban and two partner universities, one Chinese and one Spanish. Nowadays, the Education Office of the Chinese Embassy in Spain estimates 40,000 students are studying the Chinese language in Spain. Within this figure, around a quarter of such students are enrolled in Confucius Institutes and Classrooms. The growing interest in Chinese language in Spain is reflected in the fact that our country is currently the one that has more students enrolling for the official language level exams (Hanyü Shuiping Kaoshi) than in other European countries. The expansion of the study of Chinese language in Spain has also to do with the growth of Chinese immigrant community, as migrants’ associations establish language academies that aim to transmit the national language to their offspring.
As a conclusion, in the last decade bilateral relations in educational and cultural fields have entered an expansive phase due to the incorporation of China to the globalization process and the recognition in Spain of the key role China has in the international arena. The promotion of Chinese and Spanish languages in both countries are in need to reach the level they have as languages spoken by a large population in the world. Hence, we all hope that the cooperation between both countries can converge in that direction, especially after President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Spain on Nov 27 this year.
Gladys Nieto is professor of Chinese Anthropology at the Autonomous University of Madrid, and director of Madrid Confucius Institute. The author contributed this article to China Watch exclusively. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of China Watch.
All rights reserved. Copying or sharing of any content for other than personal use is prohibited without prior written permission.
