Cultural activities held in Ethiopia to celebrate upcoming UN Chinese Language Day

Students of Confucius Institute participate in the Chinese Language Day celebrations at Addis Ababa University in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on April 15, 2022. Addis Ababa University (AAU) on Friday marked the upcoming UN Chinese Language Day with various cultural activities aimed at promoting the Chinese language and culture. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

ADDIS ABABA, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia's Addis Ababa University (AAU) on Friday marked the upcoming UN Chinese Language Day with various cultural activities aimed to promote the Chinese language and culture.

The Chinese Language Day celebrations, which were jointly organized by the AAU and the Confucius Institute at the AAU, are said to serve as an important platform for creating awareness of the Chinese language in particular and Chinese culture in general to Ethiopians.

In welcoming participants, Academic Vice President of AAU Emebet Mulugeta said the celebrations would inject much-needed momentum into promoting the Chinese language in Ethiopia and boost the people-to-people ties between the two countries.

"Beyond the celebrations, it has a lot of implications. Learning the Chinese language means learning the Chinese culture, expanding cultural exchanges, expanding business and expanding academic exchanges. It has a very important implication," she said. "While celebrating this day, we also try to see the broader perspective of learning the Chinese language."

A series of cultural activities were held, in which Chinese language students at the Confucius Institute at the AAU demonstrated various elements of the Chinese culture and language, including the calligraphy, paper-cutting, Chinese traditional costumes, and Peking Opera facial masks.

In addition, members of the 23rd Chinese medical team to Ethiopia demonstrated traditional Chinese medicine including acupuncture and cupping to a crowd of the AAU community who gathered together inside the premises of the AAU main campus in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital.

Amenuael Alemayehu, dean of the College of Humanities, Language Studies, Journalism and Communications at the AAU, stressed the celebrations would serve to further promote the Chinese language and culture across the East African country.

"The Confucius Institute at Addis Ababa University is one of the vibrant institutes we have today. It is the only foreign language institute in our college to attract students every year," he said.

He emphasized that amid the growing demand for Chinese language studies among young Ethiopian students, the Confucius Institute at the AAU in partnership with the AAU will welcome new students for the Master of Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages (MTCSOL) as the first MA program in the Chinese language for the next academic year.

He said celebrating Chinese Language Day will further promote the Chinese language in Ethiopia.

"I believe this international Chinese Language Day (celebrations) will also help the institute to be more visible; it will increase the awareness of students within and outside the institute. People can learn about the Chinese language and culture from such events," said Alemayehu.

Melaku Mekonene, a third-year Chinese language student of the Confucius Institute at the AAU, said the celebrations showcased the growing popularity of the Chinese language in Ethiopia, Africa's second populous nation.

"Today we have seen the huge significance given to the Chinese language here in Ethiopia. As a Chinese language student, this gives me great pleasure due to the growing future prospects," Mekonene said. "I am certain that with the growing significance given to the Chinese language here, more and more students and the general public will learn the language in the years to come."

Yohanis Elias, another Chinese language student, said such celebrations would serve to further deepen students' awareness of Chinese culture.

"We all are happy to attend this Chinese Language Day celebration events. It also helped us to know more about Chinese culture, such as the Chinese dressing style, costume and traditional Chinese medicine," he said.

Che Zhaoguang, the cultural counselor at the Chinese Embassy in Ethiopia, said the celebrations will have huge significance as language plays a very important role in deepening and enhancing Ethiopia-China ties.

"Chinese is one of the official languages of the United Nations and in recent years more and more people around the world are learning the Chinese language to better understand contemporary China," Che said. "We believe the future cooperation between our two countries in the fields of education, culture, tourism, and economy, among others, will be surely promoted."

The Confucius Institute at the AAU, in collaboration with its partners, commemorated the Chinese Language Day in line with the decision by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2010 to mark the Chinese Language Day on April 20. The decision envisaged celebrating multilingualism and cultural diversity as well as promoting equal use of all six of the UN's official working languages throughout the organization's structure and activities.

April 20 was chosen as the Chinese Language Day to pay tribute to Cangjie, an imaginary figure in traditional Chinese lore regarded as the inventor of Chinese characters. 

Students wearing Peking Opera masks attend the Chinese Language Day celebrations at Addis Ababa University in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on April 15, 2022. Addis Ababa University (AAU) on Friday marked the upcoming UN Chinese Language Day with various cultural activities aimed at promoting the Chinese language and culture. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)