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| Chen Hsiu-yin teaching Chinese at the French-speaking Institut de la Providence de Champion. The 165-year-old school added Chinese classes in 2011.( Liu Ge / for China Daily) |
Increasing demand for Chinese classes stems from surge in Sino-EU trade relationship, reports Tuo Yannan in Brussels.
Instead of entering a university after his graduation from high school next year, Kieran-Jack Costello will travel to China alone and spend a year exploring the world's most-populous country.
From the perspective of a Chinese family, his decision would be considered wild or crazy, but instead, the 17-year-old who lives in Belgium has the full support of family and friends. Some admit they envy him.
"My school hasn't introduced Chinese classes yet, but we have French, German, Dutch and Japanese," said Kieran-Jack, who spends three hours a week learning Chinese in his spare time to prepare for his adventure.
"I think going to China for a year is a very good opportunity before the university. I'm excited about putting my Chinese into practice!"
Kieran-Jack's strongest supporter has been his father, Nicholas Costello, deputy head of unit at the European Commission's department for employment and social affairs. That's hardly surprising, because Costello senior was posted to Beijing several years ago and speaks Mandarin well. He believes his son's generation will benefit from the ever-closer ties between Europe and China.
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